---
title: "Permanent placement options table (NSW s 10A hierarchy)"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/precedents/child-protection-and-care-proceedings/permanent-placement-options-table"
type: "precedent"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "a52-permanent-placement-options-table"
area_id: "A52"
kind: "checklist"
ai_level: "yellow"
version: 1
task_ids: ["A52-X20260927-9"]
law_stated_as_at: "2026-10-22"
---

# 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.

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/precedents/child-protection-and-care-proceedings/permanent-placement-options-table  
Law stated as at: 2026-10-22

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

## Key facts

- Kind: Checklist. Steps or checks to work through and tick off.
- Practice area: [Child Protection & Care Proceedings](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/child-protection-and-care-proceedings.md)
- Jurisdictions: Australia, New South Wales
- AI level: Yellow. You and the tool draft together, with you directing. You check every statement you rely on.
- Law stated as at: 2026-10-22
- Status: Maintained. Checked on 2026-10-22 against the authority it cites, for Australia and New South Wales.

## 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

- [Build the kinship and placement options table against the placement principles](https://ailawframework.com/practice/child-protection-and-care-proceedings/build-the-kinship-and-placement-options-table-against-the-placement-prin.md)

## 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

## Authorities

- [Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 (NSW) s 10A (permanent placement principles: restoration, then guardianship, then a supported joint placement, then adoption except for an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child, for whom adoption is last)](https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/caypapa1998442/s10a.html)

## Full text and drafting notes

The full text and the drafting notes are not part of this public page. Signed-in firm accounts can read them at https://ailawframework.com/precedents/child-protection-and-care-proceedings/permanent-placement-options-table and through the signed-in MCP connector https://ailawframework.com/mcp/firm.

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*