Foster carers across the country are "exhausted" trying to get official help handling children who have been abused or are sexually abusing other children.
Some carers are not even told a foster child has problem sexual behaviour when they are asked to take the child into their homes.
A royal commission inquiry into Australia's out-of-home care system heard on Wednesday that people who foster vulnerable children have trouble getting help when they are faced with a crisis.
Holly Brennan, general manager of a Queensland support service for children and families at risk, says carers come to the non-government service because they are distressed and need expert help.
Sometimes they have tried for a long time to get support through the department which when offered is not practical and could mean the carer be "put on rounds" of having to take the child to a series of services.
"People are exhausted looking for help," Ms Brennan told commissioner Jennifer Coate who is chairing the hearing in Sydney.
On Monday the commission heard foster carers were quitting the system which relies heavily on them to take in children at risk.
There are more than 50,000 children in out of home care in Australia and just under half of those are in foster care. Another 51 per cent are in kinship care which is not as stringently regulated and just five per cent are in residential - small group home care.
The assistant director of a Victorian Child Protection Unit with the Department of Health and Social Services acknowledged carers in Victoria were "certainly not happy" with the level of support they receive.
Beth Allen says more needs to be done, especially to help carers dealing with complex child behaviours including sexually abusive behaviours.
Victoria outsources its care services to non-government organisations which are expected to support the foster carer.
"We would acknowledge that we need to do far more work in assisting all forms of carers and care types to develop their skills and knowledge about how to talk to children about helpful relationships and sexual education," Ms Allen said.
Justice Coate asked her if a new foster parent is given all available information about the child, including that the child might be a perpetrator of sexual abuse.
The commission has heard kinship and foster carers across the country complain about the lack of information given to them.
Ms Allen said carers in Victoria had complained about not being told of a child's sexually abusive behaviour "which leads to a whole range of unacceptable risks".
This happened not because of a deliberate attempt to withhold information but in the rush to fill out referral forms when a child needs a placement within an hour.
They were working to improve the system.
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