Advocacy in action: Victorian parents given more time to reunite with their children

Just months after long-overdue changes to Victoria's child protection laws came into effect, we are already seeing the positive difference they can make for children and their families. 

Earlier this year, the Children’s Court was given the power to give parents more time to reunite with their children when it’s in the child’s best interests. The change removes a major driver of unnecessary family separation in Victoria.

For years, parents were given just 24 months to make changes in their lives to safely care for their children again. For parents facing housing instability, disability, family violence or financial hardship, that timeline often ran out before they could access the support they needed. 

The Children, Youth and Families Amendment (Stability) Act 2026 removed that rigid 24-month limit, recognising the long wait times for support and essential services and that it takes time to make meaningful change at home. 

The first court decision under the new laws

Just weeks after the new laws came into effect, the Children’s Court used its new powers in a case involving two children. 

The court found the children could not safely return to either parent at that time. However, rather than closing the door on reunification, Magistrate Lever-Davidson recognised the effort and progress being made by the parents to get their family back together and found it was in the best interests of the children to extend the family’s Family Reunification Order for a further 12 months.

The decision gives the family more time to address the issues affecting the children’s safety, access support and work towards living together again. 

Just weeks earlier, the outcome would have been very different. 

Children do better when they stay connected to their families, culture, faith and identities

Armed with our first-hand experience working with parents in the Children's Court, Women's Legal worked alongside Aboriginal organisations, the legal assistance sector and frontline community organisations to make this change a reality.   

While it's a significant win for clients, there is still much more work to stop practices that break up families.  

Too many children – particularly Aboriginal children and children of victim‑survivors of family violence – are separated from their families without adequate support to keep them safely together. Residential care is associated with higher rates of harm, instability, exploitation and contact with police. 

Our ongoing advocacy is focused on shifting the child protection system to provide support before situations reach a crisis point, including taking active efforts to prevent children being separated from their families when safe to do so.