Checklist · Child Protection & Care Proceedings
Permanent placement options table (NSW s 10A hierarchy)
Table of the permanent placement hierarchy in section 10A, with a row for each option and the reason it is or is not practicable and in the child's best interests.
- Kind
- Checklist. Steps or checks to work through and tick off.
- Where it applies
- Australia, New South Wales
- AI use
- Yellow You and the tool draft together, with you directing. You check every statement you rely on.
- Law stated as at
- 22 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked on 22 October 2026 against the authority it cites, for Australia and New South Wales.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Written for this library
When to use it
Use when a long-term placement is being considered after removal, including when restoration is not the Secretary's assessment. It records options. It does not choose the placement.
Used for these tasks
Each task page says how far AI may help with the task and what the lawyer must review.
How AI may be used
AI may list people already named in the file as possible carers. The lawyer applies the hierarchy and decides what is practicable and in the child's best interests.
AI may
- List relatives, kin and other people named in the material, with the source of each name
- Mark which statutory preference each name might sit under, as a hypothesis for the lawyer
- Flag that adoption is not the next preference for an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child
AI must not
- Must not rank the options or recommend a carer
- Must not state what is in the child's best interests
- Must not describe sections 8, 9, 79, 153 or 161 beyond the cross-references in s 10A
The lawyer checks
- The hierarchy is applied subject to sections 8 and 9, which s 10A(2) names and which are read before the table is used
- Each earlier preference is addressed before a later one is treated as the proposal
- For an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child, paragraph (c) does not apply and paragraph (e) places adoption last, after paragraphs (a), (b), (b1) and (d)
- "Parent" for restoration is the parent within the meaning of s 83, as s 10A(3)(a) states
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
Read the full text
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- read the whole precedent, with its drafting notes beside it;
- copy it, or download it as a Word file or Markdown;
- add it to your firm’s knowledge base, so colleagues can find it;
- let the AI tools you connect read it from that knowledge base.
The summary, the law it rests on and the AI-use guidance above stay public. Privacy.
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