This report provides a snapshot of the academic performance, as assessed by literacy and numeracy test scores, of children on guardianship or custody orders in 2003. The educational performance of these children are compared with all children sitting these tests, and differences in academic performance between particular subgroups of children on guardianship/custody orders are also examined. This pilot project involved interdepartmental linkage (education and community services departments) of administrative data across multiple jurisdictions-the first Australian study in this field to have done so.