About the week

Foster and Kinship Carer Week is held annually from Saturday of the Labour Day long weekend in May to the following Saturday. In 2025 it will run from 3–10 May.

During the week we say thanks to more than 6,300 foster and kinship carer families in Queensland for their dedication and commitment.

Thank you for opening your hearts and homes to children and young people in need.

The week is an opportunity for everyone to acknowledge the valuable role they play in our communities.

Help us spread the word about the week. Download promotional resources, including a poster and a graphic for your e-signature.

A day in the life

Sandra grew up with a foster sibling and has now been a foster carer herself for more than a decade. Find out what a day in the life of Sandra is like.

Justin has shared what a typical day is like for him and the 2 kids he cares for.

Find out what everyday life is like for foster carer Karyn and her partner Ron.

Kate and Jess have four biological children and share insights into their experience adding foster children into their family.

Cheryl and Uncle Allan have been foster carers for three decades. Read Cheryl’s thoughts on their journey.

Helen shares what it has been like caring for her grandson. Read about a day in the life of a kinship carer.

We say thank you

We say thank you to foster and  kinship carers.

Duration 00:01:30

Audio description: A full screen graphic with a dark blue background. Across the middle are pictures of children with colourful backgrounds sliding across the screen. Each child is smiling and making a gesture that represents saying thank you such as holding flowers. White headline text reads: We say thank you to foster and kinship carer families. And smaller text reads: None of the children featured in this video are in care.

Video transitions to close up footage of an older man’s hand holding the hand of a young child as they walk away from the camera. White text appears reading: Thank you for opening your hearts and homes to children and young people in need.

Video shows hands close up stirring a bowl of chocolate baking mixture and then reveal Melissa and her biological son baking at a kitchen bench.

Melissa: A foster carer is someone who can provide love, a home.

Audio description: Steve is sitting at an outdoor table with glasses and a hat on.

Steve: We’re there to look after the child and provide for them a nice environment, spend time with them, do things with them, take them out, give them a nice warm bed and plenty of food.

Audio description: Joy, another foster carer makes a child’s bed. Steve is shown chopping vegetables. Video then transitions to a man pumping up a bike tyre. White text across the screen reads: Thank you for playing a valuable role in our communities. Video then transitions to Sandra is tidying books and then speaking to the camera.

Sandra: We can be a team and together we can give the children all of their needs.

Audio description: Anthony sits at a dining table talking to the camera the video transitions to footage of Anthony and his wife and their biological children on a fishing outing.

Anthony: Our kids, I think having the foster children in the home has opened their eyes a bit to there is an outside world and there is a community.

Audio description: A woman’s hands making a child’s bed and arranging plush toys followed by hands planting seedlings. White text across the screen reads: Thank you for supporting some of Queensland’s most vulnerable children. Video transitions to Karmen sitting in an outdoor chair speaking to the camera. Children’s hands and feet feature as Karmen juggles and laughs. The children are not identifiable.

Karmen: The reward at the end of it is seeing the changes in the kids. From having no stability to having stability and then just seeing them shine and smile and just laugh and be happy again.

Audio description: Hands put a book into a child’s backpack then video shows children’s toys close up. White text across the screen reads: Thank you for your dedication and commitment. Video transitions to Ron walking through a greenhouse and then talking to camera while sitting at a dining table. A woman is talking on a phone followed by close up video of colourful balloons.

Ron: It is an absolute roller coaster. You'll see great highs and you'll see dark lows. How it all balances out, it makes the trip worthwhile.

Audio description: Steve sits at an outdoor table talking to the camera. Joy sits on a couch holding a small child who is not identified.

Steve: Without us, where would the kids go?

Audio description: A full screen graphic with a dark blue background. Across the middle are pictures of children with colourful backgrounds sliding across the screen. Each child is smiling and making a gesture that represents saying thank you such as holding flowers. White headline text reads: Foster and Kinship Carer Week 3-10 May 2025. We say thank you. The Queensland Government logo sits at the bottom centre of the screen. The screen then transitions to an authorisation statement, reading: Authorised by the Queensland Government, William St, Brisbane.