Guardian info
Guardians of children and young people in care
For carers who have legal guardianship of children and young people aged 10–18, we ask for your consent to enable young people to do the survey.
While the young person in your guardianship has limited involvement now with the child protection system, in most cases, they would have been a child in care for a number of years before you became their legal parent. It’s important that they’re provided the opportunity to have their say about their experience in care.
How do I give consent?
You can provide your consent by completing the consent form. We will then send a post card and information on how to access the survey to the young person in your care.
Is the survey voluntary?
Yes, completing this survey is voluntary — the young person in your care can decide if they want to do the survey or not. They can also stop the survey at any time and their responses won’t be recorded.
The survey will take about 20 minutes to complete. If they choose to do the survey, their answers will help us understand what parts of the system are working well and what needs to change to improve outcomes for all children and young people in care.
It’s ok if the young person needs help or support while completing the survey. However, it’s
important that the responses they give must be their own.
Are there any risks?
Yes, some of the survey questions may make the young person in your care feel sad or upset. Contact buttons for Kids Helpline and other children’s services will be available on each survey page.
There are a couple of questions in the survey that ask how safe and secure the young person feels. If they indicate they don’t feel safe or secure, they’ll be asked if they wish to speak to someone. If they indicate ‘yes’, they’ll be linked to a separate page on our website where they can leave their name and number for someone to contact them.
This ensures their survey responses remain anonymous. The person who calls the young person will not have access to their survey responses.
Some questions will also ask them about personal matters, such as their physical and mental health, if they have support to talk about puberty and sexual health, their gender identity and sexual orientation and whether they’ve experienced any discrimination as a result. Their answers will help us identify if the Queensland care system provides the right support to help all children and young people in care.
Is the survey confidential?
Yes, all answers are anonymous and will be stored securely. If the young person in your care decides to give their name and contact details because they want to talk to someone, this will be recorded separately to the survey to maintain confidentiality.
More information
If you’d like more information about the My life in care survey, please contact the Performance Reporting and Analytics team by:
Phone: 3097 5315
Email: mlicsurvey@cyjma.qld.gov.au