4.6 Leaving care plans

This indicator measures the same outcome as NOOHCS Indicator 13.1 and therefore both indicators report the same numbers.

Young people leaving out-of-home care and making the transition to independent living often do not have the level of support (emotional, social and financial) available to most young people in their transition to adulthood. The transition often occurs at an earlier age and in a more abrupt manner than it does for their peers not in out-of-home care.

A leaving care plan (also called a transition from care plan) is developed in preparation for a young person’s exit from out-of-home care into independent living. Leaving care plans are developed in agreement with the young person and usually include information on goals, planned actions, needs assessments, income support and post-care support (such as counselling, mentoring and ongoing care management).

Note: this indicator describes children who have a current and approved leaving care plan, as a proportion of all children who were required to have a leaving care plan.

Trend data: For all indicator displays, the yearly trend is limited to indicators with 3 or more years (including the current year) of comparable time series data. To see the trend click on “Yearly Trend” button on the display. Where 3 or more years of comparable data including the most recent year is not available, a “No time series data” message is shown on the display.

The figure shows the proportion of young people aged 15–17 who have a leaving care plan, 2012 to 2020. The proportion was 69.1% for 2020.

Source: AIHW Child Protection Data Collection

See the supplementary data tables for further information and footnotes about these data.

Indicator technical specifications

The information below provides technical specifications for the summary indicator data presented in the quick reference guide.

National Framework Indicator 4.6 Leaving care plans: Proportion of children aged 15-17 years who have a leaving care plan
  Definition Data source
Numerator Number of children in care aged 15-17 years who have a current and approved leaving care plan at 30 June AIHW National Child Protection Data Collection
Denominator Number of children in care aged 15-17 years who are required to have a current and approved leaving care plan at 30 June AIHW National Child Protection Data Collection

Explanatory notes

A leaving care plan (also called a transition from care plan) is developed in preparation for the young person exiting out-of-home care into independent living.

Children in ‘care’ are defined as those whose care arrangements have been ordered by the Children’s Court, where the parental responsibility for the child or young person has been transferred to the Minister/Chief Executive.