A picture of Australia's children
'A picture of Australia's children' is the third national statistical report on the health, development and wellbeing of Australia's children aged 0-14 years. Childhood, particularly early childhood, has become a key priority for governments and non-government organisations across Australia. This is in response to emerging issues of concern for Australia's children in the context of rapid social change, as well as compelling evidence about the importance of the early years for laying the foundations for children's future competence and physical and mental wellbeing. This report has been broadened to bring together a wide variety of data, including information about individual, family and societal factors that influence the health, development and wellbeing of children. New topics include exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, homelessness, literacy and numeracy, children as victims of violence, neighbourhood safety, and parental health and disability.
Child protection Australia 2003-04
This report is based on information from three national child protection data collections - child protection notifications, investigations and substantiations; children on care and protection orders; and children in out-of-home care. These data are collected each year by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare from the community services departments in each state and territory. Most of the data in this report cover the 2003-04 financial year, although data on trends in child protection are also included.
Counting kids: developing a new national collection for childcare and preschool services
A number of organisations currently collect information on children's services. All of these data collections are undertaken at different times, collect different information and use different data definitions. While there is some duplication of information across the collections, there are also notable gaps, and no single collection or combination of collections, is able to provide an accurate measure of the number and proportion of children who attend child care and/or preschool. Therefore, despite a high level of government and community interest in the provision of children's services and the number of children who use them, no one data collection currently exists which gives a comprehensive and comparable picture of children's services in Australia. This bulletin identifies the requirements needed for developing a new national collection for child care and preschool services.
Children with disabilities in Australia
What is known about children with disabilities in Australia, in terms of their characteristics, and the needs and circumstances of them and their families? What is known about the services, benefits and assistance provided to them? The report Children with Disabilities uses a range of information sources to explore these questions and present for the first time, an overview of this important group in Australia.
Adoptions Australia 2003-04
This report presents adoption statistics provided by state and territory community services departments for the period 1 July 2003 to 30 June 2004. The report covers all finalised adoptions, including information on adopted children, adoptive families and birth mothers. It provides data on the number of requests for information and the number of contact and information vetoes lodged by parties to an adoption. Important trends in the number of adoptions occurring in Australia over the last 30 years are also a key feature of the report.
Key national indicators of children's health, development and wellbeing
Monitoring the progress of Australia's children is central to the National Agenda for Early Childhood (Department of Family and Community Services, 2004). The AIHW has been monitoring the health, development and wellbeing of Australia's children since 1996 with funding from the Department of Health and Ageing. To date the Institute has produced four comprehensive national reports in this area - Australia's Children (published in 1998 and 2002) and Australia's Young People (published in 1999 and 2003). In keeping in line with a new emphasis on a whole of government cross-sectoral approach to childhood policy, the AIHW has broadened its reporting framework in this area to encompass a wider set on influences on childhood development. This work has been guided by an Advisory Committee comprising key experts and jurisdictional representatives, the Australian Government Taskforce on Child Development, and the Australian Council for Children and Parenting. This bulletin provides an overview of the key indicators to be published in A Picture of Australia's Children 2005, as part of a national program of indicator development, data collection and regular reporting.
Juvenile justice: a new national collection
This bulletin reports on the history of the development of the Juvenile Justice National Minimum Data Set (NMDS), and provides an overview of its content.
Dental health differences between boys and girls: the child dental health survey Australia 2000
This publication provides descriptive epidemiological and service provision data concerning children's dental health in Australia. Data have been derived from the Child Dental Health Survey, which monitors the dental health of children enrolled in state and territory government-run school dental services. Data contained in this report covers the demographic composition of the sample, deciduous and permanent caries experience, the extent of immediate treatment needs and other relevant information. National trends and state/territory comparisons precede an examination of differences in dental health between boys and girls, and international comparisons.
Child protection Australia 2002-03
Child Protection Australia 2002-03 provides comprehensive information on child protection services provided by State and Territory community service departments. The report contains data for 2002-03, 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, the relationship of the person believed responsible 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.
Adoptions Australia 2002-03
Adoptions Australia 2002-03 presents adoptions statistics provided by the state and territory community services departments for the period 1 July 2002 to 30 June 2003. These cover all finalised adoptions reported to state and territory community services departments during that year. The report provides information on adopted children, adoptive families and birth mothers. It also provides data on the number of requests for information and the number of contact and information vetoes lodged by parties to the adoption.
Australia's young people 2003: Their health and wellbeing
This is the second national report on the health and wellbeing of young people in Australia. It provides comprehensive information on the health status of young people including causes of hospitalisations and deaths, chronic diseases, infectious diseases, injury, disability, reproductive and sexual health. The behavioural risk and protective factors influencing young people's health and wellbeing that are covered in this report include substance use, diet and nutrition, physical activity and overweight and obesity.Social conditions are also important determinants of health. The report therefore includes information on the family environment, relationships and social participation, education, employment and income.An overview of the health and welfare of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people is also presented.
Child protection Australia 2001-02
Child Protection Australia 2001-02 provides comprehensive information on child protection services provided by State and Territory community service departments. The report contains data for 2001-02, 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, the relationship of the person believed responsible 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.
Child protection Australia 2001-02, first national results
This preliminary report provides comprehensive information on children who come into contact with State and Territory community service departments for protective reasons. The report contains data for 2001-02, as well as trend data on child protection notifications and substantiations, children on care and protection orders and children in out-of-home care.
Trends in long day care services for children in Australia, 1991-99
The report provides comprehensive information on Commonwealth supported long day care services (long day care centres and family day care services) during the 1990s - a period in which there was enormous growth in the number of service providers and in children using these services.Detailed information is presented on service provision, such as the supply of places for young children, access to preschool programs, hours of service operation, and fees charged. Characteristics of children's use of long day care services are examined, including age, the amount of time children spend in care, and the reasons they are in care. The report also discusses staffing of services, particularly the qualifications and training levels of workers.
Adoptions Australia 2001-02
Adoptions Australia 2001-02 presents adoption statistics provided by the State and Territory community services departments for the period 1 July 2001 to 30 June 2002. These cover all finalised adoptions reported to State and Territory community services departments during that year.The report provides information on adopted children, adoptive families and birth mothers. It also provides data on the number of requests for information and the number of contact and information vetoes lodged by parties to the adoption.
Australia's children 2002: Their health and wellbeing
Australia's Children: their health and wellbeing 2002 is the second national report on the health of children in Australia. It provides comprehensive information on the current and long-term status of children's health, and on the risk and protective factors influencing their health and wellbeing.The 2002 report builds on the previous report by examining in more detail the health status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and children living in metropolitan, rural and remote areas. It is an important reference for anyone interested in child health.
Guidelines for interpretation of child protection and out-of-home care performance indicators
Each year the Report on Government Services publishes performance data on a range of government services. These guidelines were developed to assist readers to interpret the performance indicator data for child protection and out-of-home care services. For each of the performance indicators, the guidelines provide information on what is being measured, the importance of the indicator, factors that might affect performance, performance ranges for similar indicators within Australia and internationally and the views of professionals on what might be considered an 'adequate' performance range.
Child protection Australia 2000-01
This report provides comprehensive information on children who come into contact with State and Territory community service departments for protective reasons. The report contains data for 2000-01, as well as trend data on child protection notifications 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, the relationship of the person believed responsible and the source of notification are 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.
Accidental poisoning of preschool children from medicinal substances, Australia
The most common agent of poisoning amongst preschoolers admitted to hospital in Australia was the group of aromatic analgesics including paracetamol. However, the more important agents, in terms of health burden, were anticoagulant medications, tranquillisers, barbiturates and antipsychotic and neuroepileptic medications. Thankfully, very few preschoolers die from medical poisoning in Australia. The low severity of medicinal poisonings could reflect the effectiveness of the legislative controls on the availability of poisons in Australia.The hospitalisation rate of preschoolers from medicinal poisoning was higher in rural and remote areas than in urban areas. This result does not seem to reflect differential hospital admission practices, because there were no significant differences in the length of stay distributions by area. It is likely to reflect a higher incidence of poisoning in rural and remote areas.
Adoptions Australia 2000-01
Adoptions Australia 2000-01 presents adoption statistics provided by the State and Territory community services departments for the period 1 July 2000 to 30 June 2001. These cover all finalised adoptions reported to State and Territory community services departments during that year.The report provides information on adopted children, adoptive families and birth mothers. It also provides data on the number of requests for information and the number of contact and information vetoes lodged by parties to the adoption.
Report on the field testing of the proposed children's services National Minimum Data Set
Current until 10 December 2002. This is a report on the first stage of the development of a National Minimum Data Set (NMDS) for children’s services (child care and preschool services) in Australia. It specifically reports on a field test of the data elements contained in the data manual (Version 1.0) as endorsed by the National Community Services Information Management Group (NCSIMG) Children’s Services Data Working Group. However, as a result of issues identified during discussions of the data elements, the report goes beyond the field test, to examine more fundamental issues relating to the structure of the NMDS.
Report on the development of a Juvenile Justice NMDS
This report details a project undertaken by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare on behalf of the Australasian Juvenile Justice Administrators and the National Community Services Information Management Group, to develop a National Minimum Data Set for juvenile justice. It provides a description of the methodology used to develop the NMDS, a detailed flow chart of the juvenile justice system in the broad context, a data model and a draft data dictionary for the Juvenile Justice National Minimum Data Set Version 1.0.This report and the data dictionary contained within the report are an initial stage in the process of moving toward a national data collection on juvenile justice. A number of recommendations on the further steps required to achieve a national collection are also detailed in this report.
Child injuries due to falls
This is a statistical report on fall-related injury among children aged 0-14 years. It describes the epidemiology of childhood falls resulting in death and hospital admission, as well as the profile of cases seen at emergency departments in a large number of Victorian hospitals. The report discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the three data sources used in regard to injury surveillance of fall-related injury among children. It also highlights the impact of the transition to ICD-10(-AM).It will be relevant to those interested in childhood injury, including community practitioners, health planners and administrators, academic researchers and the public.
Child protection Australia 1999-00
The report provides comprehensive information on children who come in contact with State and Territory community service departments for protective reasons. The report contains data for 1999-00, 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, the relationship of the person believed responsible and the source of notification are included. For children on care and protection orders, there are data on types of orders and living arrangements; for children in out-of-home care, there are data on types of placements and length of time in out-of-home care.
Trends in the affordability of child care services
Current until 1 May 2002. This working paper examines changes in affordability over time for different types of families at different income levels using long day care services.