NCPC Resource Sheet
June 2010
Child abuse and neglect statistics
Compiled by Leah Bromfield & Briony Horsfall
National Child Protection Clearinghouse
Published by the Australian Institute of Family Studies
ISSN 1448-9112 (Online) ISBN 978-1-921414-37-4
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In this resource sheet we present and discuss a snapshot of data describing child protection activity in Australia.
In Australia, state and territory governments have the statutory responsibility for protecting children from child abuse and neglect. Definitions of what constitutes child abuse and neglect vary across the different states and territories. It is therefore difficult to obtain consistent and comparable national statistics. (For more information, see Australian Legal Definitions: When is a Child in Need of Protection? (Holzer & Bromfield, 2010).)
Since 1990, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has compiled annual national figures for child protection activity. The 2010 AIHW statistics can be found at <www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/10859>
How many reports are made to child protection services in Australia each year?
The most recent national figures from the AIHW indicate that in Australia, during 2008-09, there were 339,454 reports of suspected child abuse and neglect made to state and territory authorities, which is an increase of 6.9% from the 317,526 reports made in 2007-08. This is a significant increase compared to the increase between 2006-07 and 2007-08, which had the smallest increase over the last 10 years of just 2.5%.
Figure 1 illustrates the trends in total notifications recorded across Australia from 1999-00 to 2008-09. Table 1 contains the numbers plotted in Figure 1.
The figures do not necessarily mean that the amount of child abuse and neglect that occurs in the community has increased over this time, but they do show that the reporting of cases to child protection services has increased.
A child may be the subject of more than one notification - in 2008-09, the 339,454 notifications recorded during the financial year concerned 207,462 children. The number of children subject to a notification has increased by 28% in the last 5 years (161,960 to 207,462) in Australia. Nationally, notifications were most commonly made by members of the police force, followed by hospital/health centre staff and school personnel (AIHW, 2009).

Source: AIHW (2010)
Notes:
(a) Due to the implementation of a new information management system, New South Wales could not provide data for investigations, substantiations or children on orders in 2003-04.
(b) Due to the implementation of a new information management system, Queensland was unable to provide investigation data in 2006-07
(c) The data Victoria for previous years were updated in 2009. This data may not match data published in prior publications of Child Protection Australia.
Figure 1. Total number of notifications, investigations and substantiations across Australia from 1999-00 to 2008-09,
and total number of children on orders and in out-of-home care at 30 June 2000 to 2009
Table 1: Total number of notifications, investigations and substantiations across Australia from 1999-00
to 2008-09,
and total number of children on orders and in out-of-home care at 30 June 1999 to 2009
| Total notifications |
Total finalised investigations |
Total substantiations |
Children on orders |
Children in OOHC |
|
| 1999-00 | 107,134 | 47,007 | 24,732 | 19,262 | 16,923 |
| 2000-01 | 115,471 | 66,265 | 27,367 | 19,917 | 18,241 |
| 2001-02 | 137,938 | 80,371 | 30,473 | 20,557 | 18,880 |
| 2002-03 | 198,355 | 95,382 | 40,416 | 22,130 | 20,297 |
| 2003-04 | 219,384 | (a) | (a) | (a) | 21,795 |
| 2004-05 | 252,831 | 121,292 | 46,154 | 24,075(c) | 23,695 |
| 2005-06 | 266,745 | 137,829 | 55,921 | 26,215(c) | 25,454 |
| 2006-07 | 309,448 | (b) | 60,230 | 28,854(c) | 28,379 |
| 2007-08 | 317,526 | 148,824 | 55,120 | 32,642(c) | 31,166 |
| 2008-09 | 339,454 | 162,259 | 54,621 | 35,409(c) | 34,069 |
Source: AIHW (2010)
Notes:
(a) Due to the implementation of a new information management system, New South Wales could not provide data for investigations, substantiations or children on orders in 2003-04.
(b) Due to the implementation of a new information management system, Queensland was unable to provide investigation data in 2006-07
(c) The data Victoria for previous years were updated in 2009. This data may not match data published in prior publications of Child Protection Australia.
How many reports are investigated by child protection services in Australia each year?
The total number of finalised investigations increased in 2008-09, with 162,385 total finalised investigations recorded across Australia (AIHW, 2010). The 2008-09 figure is an increase of 8.35% on the number of finalised investigations recorded in 2007-08 (148,824) (see Figure 1).
How many confirmed cases of abuse and neglect are there in Australia each year?
The pattern for total substantiations in 2008-09 differed from the pattern observed for notifications and investigations. The total number of substantiations (of notifications received in 2008-09) across Australia was 54,621. This is a decrease of 0.9% on the number of substantiations recorded in the previous financial year (55,120). The 54,621 notifications recorded during the financial year concerned 34,078 children.
The decrease in the total number of substantiations recorded in Australia continued the trend of numbers decreasing set in the previous report which had an 8% decrease from the previous year. The last 2 years have seen the only decreases for total substantiations over the past 10 years. As can be seen from Figure 1, overall, the number of total substantiations increased by approximately 121% between 1999-00 and 2008-09. Not all jurisdictions in 2008-09 recorded decreases in substantiations. Following a similar trend to 2007-08, Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory all recorded increases in total substantiations recorded for 2008-09 (see Table 2). Although the last 2 financial years have shown a decrease in substantiations, further years' data are necessary to determine whether the decrease will be a continuing pattern.
Table 2: Number of substantiations, states and territories, 1999-00 to 2008-09
| Year | NSW(a) | VIC | QLD | WA | SA | TAS(b) | ACT | NT | Total |
| 1999-00 | 6,477 | 7,359 | 6,919 | 1,169 | 2,085 | 97 | 233 | 393 | 24,732 |
| 2000-01 | 7,501 | 7,608 | 8,395 | 1,191 | 1,998 | 103 | 222 | 349 | 27,367 |
| 2001-02 | 8,606 | 7,687 | 10,036 | 1,187 | 2,230 | 158 | 220 | 349 | 30,473 |
| 2002-03 | 16,765 | 7,287 | 12,203 | 888(c) | 2,423 | 213 | 310 | 327 | 40,416 |
| 2003-04 | n.a. | 7,412 | 17,473 | 968 | 2,490 | 427 | 630(d) | 527 | n.a. |
| 2004-05 | 15,493 | 7,398 | 17,307 | 1,104 | 2,384 | 782 | 1,213 | 473 | 46,154 |
| 2005-06 | 29,809 | 7,563 | 13,184 | 960 | 1,855 | 793((e) | 1,277 | 480 | 55,921 |
| 2006-07 | 37,094 | 6,828(f) | 10,108(g)(h) | 1,233 | 2,242 | 1,252(e) | 852(i) | 621 | 60,230 |
| 2007-08 | 34,135 | 6,365 | 8,028 | 1,464 | 2,331 | 1,214 | 827 | 756 | 55,120 |
| 2008-09 | 34,078 | 6,344 | 7,315 | 1,523 | 2,419 | 1,188 | 896 | 858 | 54,621 |
(a) The data for 2002-03 onwards should not be compared with previous years. New South Wales implemented a modification to the data system to support legislation and practice changes during 2002-03 which would make any comparison inaccurate. New South Wales was able to provide limited data for 2003-04 due to the introduction of a new client information system. (b) The increase in substantiations in Tasmania is considered to be in part due to increased application of the Tasmanian Risk Framework as well as greater adherence to the definition of 'substantiation' published by the AIHW. (c) The decrease in substantiations in 2002-03 reflects the decrease in notifications in Western Australia. (d) The increase in substantiations in 2003-04 relates to the increase in notifications in the ACT. (e) Data relating to substantiations for Tasmania for 2005-06 and 2006-07 should be interpreted carefully due to the high proportion of investigations in process by 31 August (see Table 2.1). (f) Due to new service and data reporting arrangements, the Victorian child protection data for 2006-07 may not be fully comparable with previous years' data. (g) 2006-07 data for Queensland was updated in 2008. Data is different to the interim data published in Child Protection Australia 2006-07. (h) 2006-07 substantiation figures for Queensland are affected by a change in recording practice. From March 2007, any new child protection concerns received by the department that relate to an open notification or investigation and assessment are recorded as an additional concern and linked to the open notification/investigation and assessment. Previously, any new child protection concerns received by the department were recorded as an additional notification. If an investigation relating to these notifications was substantiated, each notification was recorded as a separate substantiation. Because new concerns are now recorded as additional concerns and not notifications, only the original notification is counted as a substantiation, where the investigation outcome is substantiated. (i) The decrease in the number of substantiated investigations reflects a requirement of staff to substantiate emotional abuse or neglect only if there was, or is likely to be, significant harm and there was no-one with parental responsibility willing and able to protect the child/young person. Recording an outcome of an appraisal as not substantiated does not exclude ongoing work with the child or young person.
Notes:
1. Data may include unborn children
2. Data is not reported for Tasmania for unborn children since the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1997 does not currently enable Tasmania to accept reports on unborn children. It is anticipated that such reports will be able to be accepted from July 2009 following an amendment to the current act.
Source: AIHW (2010, p. 13; AIHW, 2001, p. 15
What are the most common types of child maltreatment?
Substantiations are categorised into one of four maltreatment types: physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse and neglect. Table 3 shows the breakdown of substantiations for the four different types of maltreatment in Australian states and territories. In New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory emotional abuse was the most commonly substantiated maltreatment type. In Western Australia, and the Northern Territory neglect was the most commonly substantiated maltreatment type.
Table 3. Primary substantiated maltreatment types in Australian states and territories in 2008-09
| NSW | VIC | QLD | WA | SA | TAS | ACT | NT | Australia | |
| Emotional abuse | 13,266 | 2,935 | 2,756 | 272 | 1,267 | 565 | 388 | 213 | 21,662 |
| Neglect | 10,381 | 518 | 2,174 | 631 | 802 | 388 | 341 | 344 | 15,229 |
| Physical abuse | 6,412 | 2,438 | 1,860 | 311 | 249 | 167 | 134 | 218 | 11,789 |
| Sexual abuse | 4,019 | 453 | 525 | 309 | 101 | 68 | 33 | 83 | 5,591 |
| Total | 34,078 | 6,344 | 7,315 | 1,523 | 2,419 | 1,188 | 896 | 858 | 54,621 |
Source: AIHW (2010, p. 52)
The maltreatment types most commonly substantiated across Australia were emotional abuse and child neglect (see Figure 2). Emotionally abusive behaviours include verbally abusing, terrorising, scape goating, isolating, rejecting, and ignoring. Children who witness domestic violence are also typically categorised as having experienced emotional abuse. The high proportion of substantiations of emotional abuse is a relatively new phenomenon (AIHW, 2010). The inclusion of children who have witnessed domestic violence is likely to be one of the key reasons for the high rates of substantiated emotional abuse (Holzer & Bromfield, 2008).
Neglect refers to the failure (usually by the parent) to provide for a child's basic needs, including failure to provide adequate food, shelter, clothing, supervision, hygiene or medical attention. The high rates of neglect are consistent with the disadvantaged socio-economic conditions prevalent in many families referred to child protection services (Becket, 2003).

Source: AIHW (2010, p. 52)
Figure 2. Percentage breakdown of primary substantiated maltreatment types in Australia in 2008-09
What are the characteristics of children who are the subject of reports?
In all jurisdictions, girls were much more likely than boys to be the subject of a substantiation of sexual abuse. In Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania, three times as many girls were subject to a substantiation of sexual abuse than boys.
The rates of substantiated abuse or neglect decreased as age increased. Children aged less than 1 year were the most likely to be the subject of a substantiation of abuse or neglect, followed by children aged 1-4 years. Children aged 15-17 years were the least likely to be the subject of a substantiation.
Nationally, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were more likely to be the subject of substantiated reports than were other children. Across Australia, Indigenous children were 7.5 times as likely as other children to be the subject of a substantiation in 2008-09. This in an increase in the level of over-representation from 2007-08, when Indigenous children were 6 times more likely than other children to be the subject of a substantiation.
How many children are removed and live in out-of-home care?
Some children who are found to have suffered abuse and neglect are removed from their homes by child protection authorities and placed in out-of-home care. Nationally, the number of children in out-of-home care has risen each year from 1999 to 2009. There were 34,069 children in out-of-home care on 30 June 2009. Almost one-third (30%) of children in out-of-home care were aged 10-14 years. A further 30% were aged 5-9 years, 25% were aged less than 5 years and 15% were aged 15-17 years.
Most children who were removed from their homes were placed in home-based care (94%). Home-based care is where placement is in the home of a carer. There are three categories of home-based care:
- foster care - where care is provided in the private home of a substitute family that receives payment that is intended to cover the child's living expenses;
- relative/kinship care - where the caregiver is a family member or a person with a pre-existing relationship with the child; and
- other home-based care - care in private homes that does not fit into the above categories.
Of those children in home-based care, 47% were in foster care, 45.5% were in relative/kinship care, and 1.5% were in some other type of home-based care.
A small proportion of children (5%) removed from their homes were placed in residential care where staff were paid to care for them. Children in residential care were considerably older than children in home-based care, with 41% aged between 10-14 years and a further 44% aged between 15-17 years.
At 30 June 2009, there were 10,512 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care. The national rate of Indigenous children in out-of-home care was just over 9 times the rate for other children.
Who makes reports to child protection authorities?
Anyone who suspects that a child is being abused and/or neglected or is at risk of being abused and/or neglected may make a report to child protection authorities.
Each state has its own legislation stipulating those people who are mandated by law to report suspected cases of child abuse or neglect. The requirements vary between each state. Mandatory reporting requirements are outlined in Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse (Higgins, Bromfield, Richardson, Holzer, & Berlyn, 2009).
The most recent AIHW statistics show that notifications most commonly came from police, hospitals and health centres, and school personnel.
Do child protection statistics tell us how many children are abused or neglected in Australia?
Child protection statistics tells us how many children come into contact with child protection services. It is the only data routinely collected in Australia that give an idea of the number of children experiencing child abuse and neglect. However there are several problems (see box inset for a discussion) with these data that result in some children who:
- have been abused or neglected not being included in child protection statistics; and
- have not been abused or neglect being included in child protection statistics.
Child protection statistics are the best available indicator of the extent of the problem of child abuse and neglect in Australia, but they do not tell us how many children in the community have been abused or neglected.
The limitations of child protection statistics as an indicator for child maltreatment incidence
Traditionally, child protection data have been perceived as a conservative estimate of the occurrence of child maltreatment (Bromfield & Higgins, 2004). Child abuse and neglect often goes undetected due to the private nature of the crime, the difficulties children experience in making disclosures and being believed, and lack of evidence to substantiate the crime (Irenyi, 2007). Child protection data only includes those cases of abuse and neglect that were detected and reported and is therefore likely to be an underestimation of the number of children abused or neglected.
In addition to the under-reporting of abuse and neglect, system issues may also contribute to the underestimation of the number who are abused or neglected. Child protection data exclude cases where the abuse or neglect was not perpetrated by the parent and the parent is protecting the child (e.g., child sexually abused by a non-family member who lives in the community) (Bromfield & Higgins, 2004). These cases are generally considered to be a police not a child protection matter.
Child protection data also include some children who were not abused or neglected:
• reports to child protection include cases in which children need care and protection, but the children have not been abused or neglected (e.g., parent hospitalised and there is no one to care for the child)
(Bromfield & Higgins, 2004); and
• child protection data include cases in which the state became involved to protect children who were at risk of being abused or neglected, but had not yet experienced any maltreatment
(e.g., mother's new partner is a known child sex offender) (Bromfield & Higgins, 2004).
The total number of notifications and substantiations reported by child protection services in any given year will also include some children who are reported to child protection services more than once in a twelve month period. Each new notification or substantiation does not necessarily represent a different child (AIHW, 2010).
Finally, it is worth noting that child protection data reflects only those families reported to child protection services. Economically disadvantaged families are more likely to come in contact with, and therefore under the scrutiny of, public authorities. This means that it is more likely that abuse and neglect will be identified in economically disadvantaged families if it is present (Beckett, 2003).
Other countries such as Canada, the US and the UK have undertaken national prevalence or incidence studies to enable more accurate estimates of how much abuse and neglect occurs in the community. "Prevalence" refers to the total number of children who have experienced abuse or neglect at some point in their childhood. "Incidence" refers to the total number of children who experienced abuse or neglect during a specified time period. Such information is usually collected via a large survey of the population.
References
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2010). Child protection Australia 2008-09. Canberra: Author. Retrieved from <http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/10859>
Beckett, C. (2003). Child protection: An introduction. London: SAGE Publications.
Bromfield, L. M., & Higgins, D. J. (2004). The limitations of using statutory child protection data for research into child maltreatment. Australian Social Work, 57(1), 19-30.
Higgins, D. J., Bromfield, L. M., Richardson, N., Holzer, P. J., & Berlyn, C. (2009, February). Mandatory reporting of child abuse (NCPC Resource Sheet). Retrieved from <www.aifs.gov.au/nch/pubs/sheets/rs3/rs3.html>
Holzer, P. J., & Bromfield, L. M. (2008). NCPASS comparability of child protection data: Project report. Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies. Retrieved from: <http://www.aifs.gov.au/nch/pubs/reports/ncpass/ncpass.pdf>
Holzer, P. J., & Bromfield, L. M. (2010). Australian legal definitions: When is a child in need of protection? (NCPC Resource Sheet). Retrieved from <http://www.aifs.gov.au/nch/pubs/sheets/rs12/rs12.html>.
Irenyi, M. (2007). Responding to children and young people's disclosures of abuse (NCPC Practice Brief 2). Retrieved from <http://www.aifs.gov.au/nch/pubs/brief/pb2/pb2.html>
Additional online readings
NCPC Resource Sheets
Mandatory reporting of child abuse.
Higgins, D. J., Bromfield, L. M., Richardson, N., Holzer, P. J., & Berlyn, C. (2009, February). Available at: <www.aifs.gov.au/nch/pubs/sheets/rs3/rs3.html>
Australian legal definitions: When is a child in need of protection?
Holzer, P. J., & Bromfield, L. M. (2010, April). Available at:
Child Protection Statistics from the AIHW
Available at: <www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/10687>
Authors
Dr Leah Bromfield is the Manager for the National Child Protection Clearinghouse at the Australian Institute of Family Studies.
At the time of writing, Briony Horsfall was a Research Officer for the National Child Protection Clearinghouse at the Australian Institute of Family Studies.
Acknowledgement
The authors acknowledge the work of Mel Irenyi on a previous version of this Resource Sheet.
2008 edition, Child abuse statistics
2009 edition, Child abuse and neglect statistics by Leah Bromfield & Mel Irenyi
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