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The Pathways of Care Longitudinal Study (POCLS) is the first large-scale prospective longitudinal study of children and young people in out-of-home care in Australia. It includes a cohort of all 4126 children and young people (age 0 to 17 years) who entered out-of-home care for the first time over an 18-month period from May 2010 to October 2011 in New South Wales, with a focus on 2828 of these…
Summary
Each year, around 3% of all children aged 0–17 are assisted by Australia’s child protection systems. Some children are unable to live safely at home as they may be at risk of being abused or neglected, or their parents may be unable to provide adequate care. Children and their families may receive support services to keep children with their families, or be subject to investigations of reports of child abuse/neglect, protection orders, and/or placement in out-of-home care, such as with a relative or foster carer.
This report presents statistics on state and territory child…
In 2019, the Australian Federal Police National Missing Persons Coordination Centre (the ‘NMPCC’) contracted The Community Restorative Centre Limited and Kath McFarlane Consulting Pty Ltd to produce a report setting out a national picture of children and young people reported missing in Australia.
The aim of the project was to aid insight into the incidence of missing person reports received by police, so as to allow the NMPCC to determine and implement prevention strategies with State and Territory police to safeguard at-risk youth. Particular attention was to be directed to youth (aged…
Adoptions Australia 2019–20, the 30th report in the series, covers the latest data on adoptions of Australia children and children from overseas, and highlights important trends in the number of adoptions dating back to 1995–96. Data cover characteristics of adopted children, their parents and adoptive families, as well as applications and vetoes for contact and information exchange.
Read previous reports here.
Child protection services aim to protect children from abuse and neglect in family settings. In 2019–20, 1 in every 33 Australian children—or 174,700 children—received child protection services, a similar rate to 2018–19 (AIHW forthcoming 2021).
Child abuse and neglect can take place behind closed doors, so it is difficult to know how often it occurs. Data on child protection services does not necessarily give an accurate picture of how many children are being abused or neglected, but can provide insight into how often suspected child abuse and neglect is detected.
Suspicions about…
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle (ATSICPP) is a framework designed to promote policy and practice that will reduce the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the child protection system. This report brings together the latest state and territory data on 5 ATSICPP indicators that measure and track the application of the Placement and Connection elements of the ATSICPP.
Family Matters – Strong communities. Strong culture. Stronger children. is Australia’s national campaign to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people grow up safe and cared for in family, community and culture. Family Matters aims to eliminate the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care within a generation, by 2040.
The Family Matters reports set out what governments are doing to turn the tide on over-representation and the outcomes for children and their families. The reports contribute to efforts to change the…
The childcare and early learning experiences of young children are important factors that influence their wellbeing outcomes. This Evidence to Action Note outlines key findings related to the childcare and early learning experiences of a group of children in out-of-home care (OOHC) in New South Wales aged 9 months to 5 years, drawing on the first interview with their carers for the Pathways of Care Longitudinal Study (POCLS). Links to current best practice and resources are also included.
POCLS Wave 1 data was collected during their first years in care. The study found that most young…
Summary
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are members of the Stolen Generations (people who were forcibly removed from their families as a result of government policies across Australian jurisdictions) are recognised as experiencing worse outcomes in a range of areas, including health, socioeconomic, justice and housing, compared with other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who were not removed from their families.
This report provides a new perspective on the intergenerational impact of removal, by looking at outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander…
Abstract
Background
Cross-agency administrative data can improve cost-effective triage systems for child protection and other human service delivery.
Objective
To determine the minimum set of cross-agency indicators that could accurately classify placement in out-of-home-care (OOHC) before age 13–14 years.
Participants and setting
Participants were 72,079 Australian children (mean age = 13.16 years; SD = 0.37; 51.4% male) and their parents, for whom linked administrative records spanning the years 1994–2016 were available for analysis within the ‘New South Wales Child…