Socio-economic outcome area 12

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are not overrepresented in the child protection system

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Contextual information

Rates of substantiation of a notification by type of abuse

Including emotional abuse, neglect, physical abuse and sexual abuse

Data tables appear under figures

Measure

Rates of substantiation of a notification by type of abuse, including emotional abuse, neglect, physical abuse and sexual abuse

Nationally in 2022-23, 40.5 per 1,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 0–⁠17 years were subject to a substantiated child protection notification. The most common type of abuse leading to a substantiation was emotional abuse (20.8 per 1,000 children), followed by neglect (11.4 per 1,000 children), physical abuse (4.6 per 1,000 children) and sexual abuse (2.8 per 1,000 children) (figure SE12m.1).

Nationally, rates have decreased from the previous year (2021‑22) for physical abuse and neglect, however, they have increased for sexual abuse and emotional abuse. Since 2018-19 (the baseline year), the rate for emotional abuse has increased, however, the rates for the other abuse types are the same or have declined (figure SE12m.1).

Indicator data specifications

Indicator SE12m: Rates of substantiation by type of abuse

Related Outcome:

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are not overrepresented in the child protection system.

Related target:

By 2031, reduce the rate of overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children (0–17 years old) in out-of-home care by 45%

Indicator:

Rates of substantiation of a notification by type of abuse, including emotional abuse, neglect, physical abuse and sexual abuse

Measure:

This measure is defined as the rate of children (aged 0–17 years) that were the subject of substantiated child protection notifications, by type of abuse or neglect.

Numerator – number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 0–17 years that were the subject of substantiated child protection notifications, by type of abuse or neglect (physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect)

Denominator – number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 0–17 years, at 31 December

and is presented as a rate per 1,000 children.

Indicator established:

National Agreement on Closing the Gap July 2020

Latest dashboard update for the indicator:

31 July 2024

Indicator type:

Contextual information

Interpretation of change:

A low or decreasing rate is desirable

Data source(s):

Name (numerator): Child Protection National Minimum Data Set (CP NMDS)

Frequency: Annual

Name (denominator): Estimates and Projections for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population

Frequency: Annual

Documentation (links): https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports-data/health-welfare-services/child-protection/overview

https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-peoples/estimates-and-projections-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-australians

Data provider:

Provider name: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW)

Provider area: Child protection

Provider name (denominator): Australian Bureau of Statistics

Provider area: Demography

Baseline year:

2018‑19

Latest reporting period:

2022‑23

Disaggregations:

State and territory and Australia, by Indigenous status, by type of abuse.

Computation:

Numerator divided by Denominator multiplied by 1,000.

Counting rules

If a child was the subject of more than one type of abuse or neglect as part of the same notification, the type of abuse or neglect reported is the one considered by the child protection workers to cause the most harm to the child. Where a child is the subject of more than one substantiation during the year, the type of abuse or neglect reported is the one associated with the first substantiation decision relating to the earliest notification during the year. As such, only the abuse type for the first substantiation in the year that is most likely to place the child at risk, or be most severe in the short term, is reported.

In some cases, the abuse type for some substantiations was recorded as ‘not stated’ and could not be mapped to physical, sexual, emotional abuse or neglect. These substantiations are included in the totals; as such, the total may not equal the sum of categories.

Data on substantiations across all jurisdictions excludes children where abuse type is not stated, but these are still included in the total.

State and territory data are based on the child protection department responsible for the child.

Includes (numerator):

  • Children whose ages were not stated.
  • Unborn children in jurisdictions where they are covered under child protection legislation.

Excludes (numerator):

  • Children for whom Indigenous status was not stated. Data on the number of substantiations with unknown Indigenous status is provided for context.

Denominator:

  • The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population is calculated from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population estimates and projections at 30 June of the reference period (series B). The June projections for two years are averaged to obtain population figure for December of the relevant year.
  • The non‑Indigenous population is calculated by subtracting the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population from the 31 December total population.

Data quality considerations:

Data by Indigenous status are influenced by the quality of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identification of young people in the CP NMDS.

Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory have adopted a policy of suppressing numbers below five and above zero, and AIHW has applied additional suppression.

Tasmanian data on substantiations should be interpreted with caution due to a high number of children with an unknown Indigenous status.

Future reporting:

Future reporting will seek to include the following additional disaggregations:

  • age
  • gender.

The Productivity Commission acknowledges the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures, Country and Elders past and present.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website may contain images, voices or names of people who have passed away.