Child protection system in Australia
Child protection refers to preventing and responding to violence, exploitation, abuse, neglect, and harmful practices against children (UNICEF 2021). When children cannot live safely at home, child protection systems prioritise children’s physical, mental and psychosocial needs to safeguard their lives and futures (UNICEF 2021). Child protection functions to protect the fundamental rights of children which include safety, freedom from violence and a stable family environment (UN General Assembly 1989).
The child protection system aims to protect children from maltreatment in family settings.
Child maltreatment is the abuse and neglect that occurs to children under 18 years of age. It includes all types of physical and/or emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect, negligence and commercial or other exploitation, which results in actual or potential harm to the child’s health, survival, development or dignity in the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust or power (WHO 2020).
For more information, see The process of determining child maltreatment.
The child protection system
In Australia, state and territory governments are responsible for statutory child protection. Relevant departments support vulnerable children:
- who have been, or are at risk of being, abused, neglected or otherwise harmed
- whose parents are unable to provide adequate care or protection.
This report looks at children aged under 18 years who came into contact with the child protection system in 2024–25. This includes being:
- subjects of investigations for alleged child maltreatment notifications
- on a care and protection order, which gives child protection departments partial or full legal responsibility for their welfare
- placed in out-of-home care as they were unable to live at home due to child safety concerns.
For more information, see Supporting children.
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 throughout 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.
Children in the child protection system
In 2024–25, around 1 in 42 (137,000) Australian children aged under 18 came into contact with the child protection system. About 1 in 154 (37,900) Australian children aged under 18 became subjects of substantiated maltreatment. That is, an investigation concluded that they were being, or were at risk of being, maltreated.
Sources: CPA 2024–25: Insights, data tables 1.1 and 2.4
Component of the child protection system | Number of events | Number of children |
|---|---|---|
Notifications of alleged maltreatment | 498,000 | 275,000 |
Notifications resolved without an investigation | 333,000 | 174,300 |
Investigations of alleged maltreatment notifications | 159,000 | 92,600 |
Substantiated maltreatment | 53,600 | 37,900 |
Not substantiated allegation of maltreatment | 58,100 | 43,000 |
Investigation in process | 42,200 | 8,300 |
Care and protection orders | 33,600 | 54,100 |
Out-of-home care placements | 76,700 | 42,400 |
Child protection system | 269,300 | 137,000 |
Notes
- 2024-25 data is not available for Queensland due to the transition to a new client management system during that financial year. Data will be updated in future years, where it becomes available.
- ‘Number of events’ includes the total occurrences of the specific component of the child protection system.
- For the 'Number of children’ count, a child is counted only once, even if they had multiple occurrences of the event during the year.
- For care and protection orders, the number of events are orders that were issued in 2024–25, while the number of children are those who had an ongoing care and protection order during 2024–25.
- For readability, numbers have been rounded.
Sources: CPA 2024–25: Insights, data tables 1.1, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.8, 3.5, T1.1
Child protection services
Nationally, the focus is increasingly on early intervention and family support services to:
- help prevent children entering or returning to the child protection system
- minimise the need for more intrusive interventions (Bromfield & Holzer 2008; DSS 2021).
Most jurisdictions have enacted strategies that help families in a more holistic way, by:
- coordinating family support service delivery
- providing better access to different types of child and family services (DSS 2021).
For information on the performance of governments in providing child protection services across Australia, see the Report on Government Services 2026.
Where do I go for more information?
For more information on child protection in Australia, see:
For more on this topic, see Child protection.
AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) (2022) National framework for protecting Australia’s children indicators, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 6 February 2026.
AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) (2026) Child Protection Australia 2024–25: Insights, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 30 June 2026.
Bromfield L & Holzer P (2008) A National Approach for Child Protection: Project Report, Australian Institute of Family Studies, Australian Government, accessed 6 February 2026.
DSS (Commonwealth of Australia Department of Social Services) (2021) Safe and Supported: the National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2021–2031, DSS, Australian Government, accessed 6 February 2026.
UN General Assembly (United Nations) (1989) Convention on the Rights of the Child, UN General Assembly, accessed 6 February 2026.
UNICEF (The United Nations Children’s Fund) (2021) Child Protection Strategy 2021–2030, UNICEF, accessed 6 February 2026.
WHO (World Health Organization) (2020) Child maltreatment, WHO, accessed 6 February 2026.