Mr Hazzard’s visit also tied in with Youth Week and after meeting a Moree foster carer, he’s put out a call for the community to open their hearts and homes to vulnerable youth.

He spent the morning speaking with the new foster carer and learnt the task was every bit rewarding as it was tough.

“Every family has their challenges and the children who are taken into foster care are usually very damaged but foster carers add hope to young lives just as much as they hold the miracle of a better life to many of these children,” he said.

Across NSW there are over 9000 foster carers but Mr Hazzard said there was a need for at least 500 more.

“There is a high demand for foster carers and as we are celebrating national Youth Week I encourage anyone who may be interested to find out more information,” he said.

After meeting with the local foster carer, Mr Hazzard spent the day with Moree and Narrabri front-line FACS workers and sat in on a case assessment meeting.

“I was surprised of the detail and professionalism of the cases. There was so much information about the families in Moree who present challenges. It was an incredible mix of professionalism and personal commitment,” he said.

Mr Hazzard said as the former Shadow Minister for Aboriginal Affairs for 11 years, he was pleased to see the wisdom of Kamilaroi people who work in the agency.

“I’ve heard of their long knowledge of Kamilaroi culture and history, especially areas that impact on Aboriginal families, and it’s great to know the knowledge is being used locally,” he said.

Mr Hazzard’s passion for FACS and public housing arose when he saw, first-hand, what happens when the system fails.

“I saw an Aboriginal foster child who had huge problems not make it to where she should have and at a professional level I’ve seen too many families torn apart by drugs. I’ve seen the eyes inside prison cells and it’s not a good place to end up, and its with these personal stories that I am so passionate,” he said.

Mr Hazzard said a big issue faced in Moree was the lack of immediate services.

“This forces our front-line workers to go above and beyond their job description at times. Being here in Moree is good as now I can take the information and use it. I’ll be liaising with senior management to strategize what we can change to help our front-line professionals make more of a difference in people’s lives,” he said.

Mr Hazzard said FACS worked with police, health, mental health, education and non-government services to provide help to challenged families within Moree and across NSW.

For more information about foster caring, visit www.fosteringnsw.com.au or call 1800 236 783.