Accountability and oversighting
DoCS is accountable and responsible to a range of central and oversighting agencies.
Department of Premier and Cabinet
This Department coordinates government policy with all agencies, including DoCS. Policy is determined by the Cabinet, which includes the Premier and Ministers.
NSW Treasury
Each year, DoCS agrees with NSW Treasury the services that DoCS will deliver according to the resources that the Government will allocate to DoCS, and how results will be measured.
Audit Office of NSW
Each year, the Audit Office of NSW performs an audit on DoCS’ annual financial statements for the year ended 30 June.
NSW Ombudsman
The Ombudsman deals with complaints made by the public against NSW Government agencies, including DoCS. It conducts investigations itself, or refers matters for DoCS to investigate.
NSW Child Death Review Team
The independent Child Death Review Team is responsible for monitoring trends in child deaths in NSW and making recommendations to promote children's safety and welfare. The Commissioner for Children and Young People is the convenor of the team. The team aims to increase public awareness about ways to reduce the number of preventable child deaths.
Office of the Children’s Guardian
The Children’s Guardian promotes the best interests and the rights of children and young people in out-of-home care. This involves working with children and young people, their families and carers, government agencies such as DoCS and community based organisations. The Children’s Guardian is independent and reports directly to the Minister for Community Services. The functions of the Children’s Guardian are set out in Chapter 10 of the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998. For more information visit www.kidsguardian.nsw.gov.au.
Commission for Children and Young People
One of its main activities, under part 7, is the screening of people seeking child-related employment to determine their suitability. This includes potential staff and contractors of DoCS and other agencies, and people whose work involves direct contact with children where that contact is unsupervised, including foster carers, ministers of religion and members of religious organisations. The Commission’s functions are set out in the Commission for Children and Young People Act 1998. For more information visit www.kids.nsw.gov.au.
