Child Protection Statistics

In Australia, child protection is the responsibility of the community services departments in each State and Territory. Departments are responsible for the protection of children who have been abused or neglected, or whose parents cannot provide adequate care or protection for them.

Through agreements with the State/Teritory governments the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare extracts, collates, and analyses child protection data and reports annually. The Institute is located in Canberra and more information on its work and publications is available from the AIHW Web site.

Child protection Australia 2006-07 provides comprehensive information on state and territory child protection and support services. The report contains data for 2006-07, as well as trend data on child protection notifications, investigations and substantiations, children on care and protection orders and children in out-of-home care. Detailed information on the characteristics of children in the child protection system is presented, specifically data on their age, sex and Indigenous status. In addition, for child protection substantiations, data on the family type and the source of notification are also included. For children on care and protection orders there are data on types of orders and living arrangements, and for children in out-of-home care there are data on types of placements and length of time in out-of-home care.

Contact AIHW, GPO Box 570, Canberra ACT 2601 for a copy. It is also available in full text via their web site at: http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/10566

Comparability of national data is critical to the benchmarking of service outputs, outcomes and key performance indicators. It is also crucial in national reporting on child protection services. The Comparability of Child Protection Data Project was commissioned by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare on behalf of the National Child Protection and Support Services Data Group (NCPASS), which is a sub-group of the National Community Services Information Management Group (NCSIMG). The project used a combination of document analysis and interviews with key personnel to examine the comparability of child protection data Australia-wide. Following finalisation of the project report, which is presented as Part 1 of this publication, NCPASS members conducted consultations in their respective jurisdictions on the recommendations contained in the report, and a report was drawn up for presentation to NCSIMG. Part 2 of this publication comprises the NCPASS report, and also lists the NCPASS recommendations accepted by NCSIMG. The Comparability of Child Protection Data Project found that there were significant differences across Australia in how child protection matters are defined and that these differences impact on comparability. However, once a matter has been defined as child protection, the way in which States and Territories respond is similar. Several options for improving comparability are described in the report.

Comparability of Child Protection Data is available online at http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/5183

Reports covering statistics in previous years are:

Child Protection Australia 2005-06.
Canberra, ACT: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2007, 92p (Child welfare series CWS 40), and Online: http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/10383

Child Protection Australia 2004-05.
Canberra, ACT: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2006, 81p (Child welfare series CWS 36), and Online: http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/10245

Child Protection Australia 2003-04.
Canberra, ACT: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2005, 79p (Child welfare series CWS 36), and Online: http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/cws/cpa03-04/index.html

Child Protection Australia 2002-03.
Canberra, ACT: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2004, 73p (Child welfare series CWS 34), and Online: http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/cws/cpa02-03/index.html

Child Protection Australia 2001-02.
Canberra, ACT: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2003, 72p (Child welfare series CWS 22), and Online: http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/cws/cpa01-02/index.html

Child Protection Australia 2000-01.
Canberra, ACT: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2002, 72p (Child welfare series CWS 29), and Online: http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/cws/cpa00-01/index.html

Child Protection Australia 1999-00.
Canberra, ACT: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2000, 94p (Child welfare series CWS 13), and Online: http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/cws/cpa99-00/index.html

Child Protection Australia 1998-99.
Canberra, ACT: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 1999, 68p (Child welfare series CWS 25), and Online: http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/welfare/cpa98-9/index.html

Child Protection Australia 1997-98.
Canberra, ACT: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 1999, 68p (Child welfare series CWS 8), and Online: http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/welfare/cpa97-8/index.html

Child protection Australia 1996-97.
Canberra, ACT: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 1998, 88p (Child welfare series no.21), and Online: http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/welfare/cpa96-7/index.html

Child abuse and neglect Australia: 1995-96.
Canberra, ACT: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 1997, 78p (Child welfare series; no.17)

Children on care and protection orders: Australia 1995-96.
Canberra, ACT: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 1997, 50p (Child welfare series no.18)

Child abuse and neglect Australia: 1994-95.
Canberra, ACT: Australian Government Publishing Service, 1996, 61p (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Child welfare series; no.16)

Children under care and protection orders, Australia 1994-95.
Canberra, ACT: Australian Government Publishing Service, 1996, 41p (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Child welfare series; no.15)

Child abuse and neglect Australia: 1993-94.
Canberra, ACT: Australian Government Publishing Service, 1995, 48p (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Child welfare series; no.13)

Children under care and protection orders, Australia 1993-94.
SO Canberra, ACT: Australian Government Publishing Service, 1995, 36p (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Child welfare series; no.12)

Child abuse and neglect in Australia 1992-93.
Canberra, ACT: Australian Government Publishing Service, 1995, 52p (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Child welfare series; no.9)

Children under care and protection orders Australia 1992-93.
Canberra, ACT: Australian Government Publishing Service, 1995, 30p (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Child welfare series; no.10)