Care and protection orders
Care and protection orders are legal orders or arrangements that give child protection departments varying levels of responsibility for a child’s welfare. Children can be placed on care and protection orders for various reasons, including:
- having been seriously harmed
- being at risk or significant risk of harm
- having no other care options.
The 3 main categories of legal responsibility conferred by care and protection orders include arrangements where:
- parents retain legal responsibility
- departments are given legal responsibility
- nominated carers are given legal responsibility.
Refer to the Care and protection orders section of CPA 2023–24: Insights and Appendices for more information.
How many children were on care and protection orders?
Across Australia, as of 30 June 2024, around 25,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were subject to a care and protection order. The highest number of children on care and protection orders were children aged 10–14 (33% or 8,200 children) followed by children aged 5–9 years (28% or 7,100 children).
Source: CPA 2023–2024: Insights, data table S4.7
In 2022–23*, 23% (3,600) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who were the subject of a substantiation assessment were placed on a care and protection order within 12 months of the substantiation.
Source: CPA 2023–24: Insights, data table S4.2
*These data are from the 2023–24 data collection. The collection covers a two-year period that allows reporting for events beginning in 2022–23 with a 12-month follow-up period.
Over the 2023–24 reporting period, around 4,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were discharged from their care and protection orders. Of these:
- 27% (1,100 children) had been continuously subject to an order for 8 years or more.
- 20% (820 children) were continuously subject to an order for 2 to 4 years.
Source: CPA 2023–24: Insights, data table S4.4
The most common care and protection orders made with respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children at 30 June 2024 were finalised guardianship orders (70% or 17,500 children). Under finalised guardianship orders, the day-to-day responsibility of the child is given to a carer nominated by the relevant child protection department.
The second most common care and protection order made with respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were third-party parental responsibility orders (15% or 3,800 children). In these orders, both the day-to-day responsibility and legal responsibility of the child is given to nominated carers approved by the Court (Figure 3).
Source: CPA 2023–24: Insights, data table S4.10
Figure 3: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, by type of care and protection order
Interactive bar charts showing the number and per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who were on a care and protection order (CPO) at 30 June 2024, by type of CPO.
Has the number of children on care and protection orders changed over time?
Between 2020 and 2024, the rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children on care and protection orders increased from 61 per 1,000 to 63 per 1,000. In 2024, the rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children on a care and protection order was 9.8 times the rate of non-Indigenous children, an increase from 8.5 times the rate in 2020.*
Source: CPA 2023–24: Insights, data table T2
*These data use the Australian Bureau of Statistics' June 2024 update of estimated resident population data based on the 2021 ABS Census of Population and Housing.