STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

Ms WITTY (Melbourne) (16:25): 'Open Doors. Open Hearts. Open Opportunities.' This year's Foster Care Week is a chance to recognise the extraordinary people who open their homes, their hearts and their lives to children who need care, stability and support.

This issue is deeply personal to me—I hope you don't find my comments too self-serving—because, as a foster carer for more than a decade, I've seen firsthand the difference that a safe and caring home can make in a young person's life. I have also experienced the challenges. Foster care is incredibly rewarding, but it requires patience, resilience and an enormous amount of love.

I often say that the community puts foster carers on a pedestal and am often asked, 'How can you do it?' But, if you speak to carers, they'll always tell you that it's not about them; it's about the children. Foster carers step up during some of the most difficult periods in a child's life, providing stability, trust and a sense of belonging when it's needed most.

This week, I want to thank all foster carers, kinship carers, child protection workers and the many organisations that support children in care every day, because we know every child deserves safety, every child deserves support and every child deserves to know that they matter.