This report provides an overview of children in the child protection system in 2024–25, including children subject to notifications, investigations, and substantiations of maltreatment, and the ways children were supported. Over the next 12 months, quarterly updates will be made to the report to include content specifically focussing on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the system, the safety of children in care, and pathways from out-of-home care.
Please note this initial release of Child Protection Australia 2024–25: Insights does not include most 2024–25 data for Queensland due to a client management system upgrade. Data will be updated when available at a later date. As such, national figures for this release do not include Queensland and should not be compared with data published in previous Child Protection Australia releases.
- Cat. no: CWS 104
Key findings
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Children in contact with the system fell from 31 per 1,000 in 2023–24 to 30 per 1,000 in 2024–25
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Between 2020–21 and 2024–25, the rate of children who were subjects of notifications increased from 52 to 60 per 1,000
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Between 2020–21 and 2024–25, the rate of children with substantiations decreased from 8.8 to 8.3 per 1,000
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Between 30 June 2021 and 30 June 2025, the rate of children in out-of-home care decreased from 8.2 to 7.5 per 1,000