The child, their family and all those involved with the child's care need to work together in deciding what actions to take to continue the child's Cultural and personal growth. The decision-making process needs to be fair and open, and the decisions made need to be agreed upon by all those involved.
In making a decision or taking an action in relation to a child, the Secretary or a community service must also give consideration to the following principles—
- (a) the child's parent should be assisted and supported in reaching decisions and taking actions to promote the child's safety and wellbeing;
- (b) where a child is placed in out of home care, the child's care giver should be consulted as part of the decision-making process and given an opportunity to contribute to the process;
- (c) the decision-making process should be fair and transparent;
- (d) the views of all persons who are directly involved in the decision should be taken into account;
- (e) decisions are to be reached by collaboration and consensus, wherever practicable;
- (f) the child and all relevant family members (except if their participation would be detrimental to the safety or wellbeing of the child) should be encouraged and given adequate opportunity to participate fully in the decision-making process;
- (g) the decision-making process should be conducted in such a way that the persons involved are able to participate in and understand the process, including any meetings that are held and decisions that are made;
- (h) persons involved in the decision-making process should be—
- (i) provided with sufficient information, in a language and by a method that they can understand, and through an interpreter if necessary, to allow them to participate fully in the process; and
- (ii) given a copy of any proposed case plan and sufficient notice of any meeting proposed to be held; and
- (iii) provided with the opportunity to involve other persons to assist them to participate fully in the process; and
- (i) if the child has a particular cultural identity, a member of the appropriate cultural community who is chosen or agreed to by the child or by his or her parent should be permitted to attend meetings held as part of the decision-making process.