AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) (2019) Child protection Australia 2017–18, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 25 June 2026.
PDF | 1.7MB
During 2017–18, 159,000 (28.7 per 1,000) Australian children received child protection services (investigation, care and protection order and/or were in out-of-home care). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were 8 times as likely as non-Indigenous children to have received child protection services. Children from geographically remote areas were more likely to be the subject of a substantiation, or be in out-of-home care than those from major cities.
Data visualisations were added to this report on 1 July.
1 in 35 children received child protection services
72% of children who received child protection services were repeat clients
31,800 children have been in out-of-home care for 2 years or more
Children from Very remote areas are 4 times as likely as those from Major cities to be the subject of a substantiation
