With five adults, five children and 12 animals, Paula’s household couldn’t be much busier – but she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“It takes as long to feed the children as it does to feed the animals,” says the southern suburbs resident, who became a carer about 30 years ago.

“We have two dogs, three cats, two frogs, a lizard, two birds and two turtles – one of the girls wanted to be a vet.”

Paula, 61, won the Kinship Carer of the Year category at the recent SA Child Protection and Family Support Awards.

After spending six years living in Wales, Paula returned to Adelaide with her son, then 10, and took up a role at Aboriginal Family Support Services supporting children through activities.

This led her to become an emergency and respite foster carer.

“It was just me and my son and I had a big home with three bedrooms, and I decided that if I could help a child have some safety and normality, I’d do it. I had a lot of love to give,” she says.

Paula later met her husband-to-be, Ngarrindjeri, Narungga and Adnyamathanha man John ‘Bo’ Rankine, who was also a carer.

Paula and Bo had their own daughter and together also raised another seven of Bo’s relatives in kinship placements. “We’ve instilled in them a lot of pride in their Aboriginal heritage,” Paula says.

“My husband was very passionate about who he was as an Aboriginal man and the Dreamtime stories. When our kids faced questions about who they were and their identity, we were able to provide that to them – they know who they are.”

Sadly, Bo died in 2023, but Paula has plenty of help looking after the household’s children, with her daughter and other young adults who grew up with the family now helping raise the brood.

“It’s a tag team – everybody helps each other,” she says. “We love playing board games and doing arts and crafts together, and we love going to the butterfish competition every year in January, in Port Victoria.”

The spearfishing competition for Narungga men and boys, is part of the annual Gynburra cultural festival, on the Yorke Peninsula.

“Bo used to go speardiving and since he passed away, DCP has encouraged us to go every year in honour of his memory,” Paula says.

“The children give me a reason to get up every day – through their smiles and contentment, or their doing well at school.”

This story is part of the department's Caring Together newsletter, for South Australian foster and kinship carers.