I saw people who were foster carers when I was growing up and it had a big impact on me, so much so, that we made the decision twenty five years ago to become foster carers.

We were living in Rockhampton at the time, Peter and I. We were in our twenties, before we had children of our own.

We had a home and thought we could make a difference for children in need. We went through and did the training and the next thing we knew we were foster parents.

Since then we’ve lived in Melbourne, China and for the last eleven years, fostering in Brisbane. At the moment we’re looking after a little one, a nine month old baby. Over the years we’ve probably cared for over a hundred children and raised our own kids too.

We’ve always loved children. It brings us a lot of joy being able to feel the love in our home.

These days you hear so much about the negative aspects of foster care, like that it can be hard. But we’ve had a very positive experience fostering children.

Some kids bring a lot of baggage with them and you have to work through that.

I think it’s about seeing the difference you can make in a kids’ life. If people have a nurturing environment in their home it brings so many benefits to the child.

The aim is always for the children to return to their biological parents, and being a foster carer helps give the child a safe and secure home in the meantime.

There are so many kids out there that need help. Our advice is to be tolerant. Be prepared that some of these children are coming to you with issues, so you’re not going to be able to change them overnight.

*To protect the identities of the children and carers in these stories, names and images have been changed.

“You need to have a compassionate heart and the preparedness to have a go.”

Our journey as foster carers began 15 years ago. In the space of six months, our family of two grew to become a family of six.

After hearing about foster care on the news, we enquired with an agency. When we met with them, they asked how serious we were. At that stage, we just wanted to learn more. The lady we were talking to at the time provided us with some information to get us started on our application journey. After hearing about how many kids needed a home, we knew that we had to do something.

After months of training and assessment, we became foster carers. We took on few short break placements over a few weekends, which helped us ease into it and to understand what is was all about.

One evening while I was pregnant, living in Darwin with my husband away with the Army, I received a call about these four children – all siblings – who needed a placement. They were apparently frightened and scared of being split up. After being asked if we were prepared to take them in, I instantly knew the answer was yes.

That night I asked them if they wanted to bunk all together in one bedroom. They did. And for dinner they asked for McDonalds, of course. The small things are important; like giving them choices over things, some control.

We’ve probably cared for more than 50 kids during our time as carers. Some because their parents weren’t quite capable of caring for them at the time, others because they were deemed to be in a position of danger.

Being a foster carer is the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done. Seeing the happiness on their faces makes it worthwhile, especially with the young ones at Christmas time. All of a sudden, they wake up on Christmas morning and there are presents there for them to open. It is a special feeling to see children of any age experience things for the first time.

When you’re a foster carer, you do see some of the best and worst things in life. We had one little girl who came in the middle of the night. She had been removed by the police. It was a pretty bad situation. She didn’t handle being around men, so my husband had to take a step back and let me handle things. She didn’t like loud noises or people laughing. She was also very malnourished. All she wanted to do was eat. We had to change the way we served meals in the house to help her cope, so we provided her with frequent small meals.

I remember she dropped a toy off the table and ran away and hid because she thought she was going to get in trouble. We cared for that little girl, just a toddler, for five months. By the end she would sometimes laugh. She would sometimes smile. But then she would look around as though she was about to be punished for laughing.

Our home at the moment can be chaotic. We have our three plus two little girls aged 18 months and two. We always talk to our kids before taking anyone in. When a new child arrives, I’ll make sure they have photos of their families in their room, so they feel connected.

We celebrate their big milestones, the first steps, their first birthdays and so on. It makes them feel cared for and stable. It’s one of the most rewarding things you could ever do. I wouldn’t give it up for anything. But you need to take the time to sit down and think about it.

Talk to your own kids. Talk to your extended family. Do your research. Have an understanding of what being a foster or kinship carer involves.  Go in with your eyes open

Tom and I have almost lost count of exactly how many children have come into our home.

We’ve cared for approximately 30 children over the last 17 years. And that was in between raising our sons and completing a Bachelors and Masters in Teaching. It’s a team effort. My work involves teaching children with a disability so Tom is the primary carer for our family. He’s really a great dad.

Our first contact with the care system was through my family. My five nieces (the youngest was 5 at the time) needed help. They were placed in three different houses as no one was able to take the five girls together.

They just needed to all be together as a family. It’s important to keep families together.

We just continued on as foster carers after the department asked us if we’d be interested in taking on a couple of boys. So we took in these two little boys with additional needs.

Some kids have been with us temporarily for respite or because of an emergency.

Because I work as a special education teacher, we often accept children with additional needs. Kids with additional needs just need a little bit more nurturing and attention. You have to work at building relationships with them.

We’ve got five children with us at the moment – three siblings and two other non-related children. The youngest of the children is three and the eldest is 14.

The most rewarding part is knowing that you’ve helped a young person in need to have as normal a life as possible. That’s precious. It may not be obvious at the time but you’ll see the results in the long term.

“The ultimate goal for carers like us is to see the children returning to their families.”

After 20 years in the police force, I was ‘living the dream’ on my acreage – just me and my horses. I can sit and watch them all day. It’s really beautiful out here, idyllic. That’s what made me think about foster care.

As a police officer, I’d met many kids who needed help, care and a safe place to call home. I always thought about those kids. I live on 200 acres with horses and as a child I would have loved this sort of lifestyle. This lead me to call an agency and learn about foster caring.

When I started foster caring I thought that I’d only ever be capable of respite care. I never thought I had the skills to look after a child full time. I enjoyed being on my own and I had been single for a long time. But it was just the right time for me.

Fast forward to one Christmas with my first foster child, she was 15 and a half and was a good kid who just had a rough start in life. She’d been in foster care since the age of four.

She loved staying here, being outdoors with the horses and riding school. It worked out really well for both of us.

She’s now 18 and off exploring the world like many young people her age do. She calls me ‘Mum’ and before she left I get a phone call from her, ‘Mum’ she says ‘I’ve got this’ and off she went. She’s visiting England and Scotland at the moment. It’s so different to look at her now. When I first met her, she was a young and timid teenager in need of a home and now she’s got enough self-confidence to plan and book her own trip overseas.

I’m so proud of her.

After she flew the nest, I told my case workers: “Bring on the next one!” I now have a second foster child, another girl that I care for.

It’s been an extremely rewarding experience for me to share my life with these two girls and watch them thrive.

There are some really good kids out there who just need the opportunity to prosper. I tell my girls ‘I know you won’t disappoint me. I trust you 100 per cent’. And they don’t disappoint. I tell the kids ‘you can do this’. That’s massive for them to hear this.

It’s the solidness of the carer that counts with these kids.

Being a foster carer is the main focus in my life now. I’ll be doing this for as long as I can.

“I really form a connection with the kids after a while and they decide they like me too and they know they will be alright.”