Foster respite care is often misunderstood. Many people assume becoming a foster carer requires a full-time commitment, without realising the flexibility respite care offers. From an hour on the weekend to a school holiday outing, there are many ways to provide respite care.

Our challenge was to increase respite foster carer applications across South Australia by showing that anyone, from any walk of life or profession, can make a meaningful difference to a foster child, while also giving full-time carers the support and break they need.

Respite foster carers are an important part of a foster child’s wider web of care. And while their time together might be limited, the impact can last much longer.

Even a day or two together can create lasting memories, meaningful connections and moments that stay with both carer and child long after they go home.

You can make a full-time difference, part time.

We reframed respite care around the lasting impact of small moments, showing that you don’t need to commit full-time to have a full-time impact.

We brought the idea to life through a warm, emotionally driven brand video centred on the small reminders that make a relationship meaningful.

From painting nails and leaving behind a sticker, to a child’s piece of artwork or a keepsake on the fridge, these seemingly small moments become lasting reminders of the connection between respite carer and child. They’re also moments we can all places ourselves in, whether you’re a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, sibling or friend.

The creative demonstrated that while a respite carer might only have a child in their care for one or two days a fortnight, the impact of that time together can last far longer.

The creative direction also needed to complement and extend Centacare’s 2025 foster care recruitment campaign, creating a connected approach while giving respite care its own distinct story.