The report tracks progress towards ensuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people grow up safe, cared for and connected to their families, communities, Country and culture. It examines what governments are doing to turn the tide on the overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in child protection systems across Australia. 

The report highlights Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led solutions, presents evidence and recommendations and calls on governments to support and invest in the strengths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to lead child wellbeing, development and safety responses.

This tenth edition of the report shows that while Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled early intervention, prevention and family support programs are keeping Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children safe and connected to family, they remain critically underfunded. Case studies throughout the report demonstrate how Aboriginal-led services are strengthening families, keeping children connected to culture and improving lifelong health, learning and wellbeing.

The findings indicate that Australia is still far from achieving Target 12 of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap – which aims for a 45% reduction in over-representation by 2031 – and that there is an urgent need for system-wide reform, greater investment in prevention and family support, and the scale-up of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led, community-controlled, culturally safe services to keep children safe in family, community and culture.

Key findings

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are 6× more likely to be in out-of-home care or on third-party parental responsibility orders than non-Indigenous children.
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander infants are 9× more likely to be placed in out-of-home care than non-Indigenous infants.
• Only 3% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care or on third-party parental responsibility orders were reunified with family, compared to 10% of non-Indigenous children.
• 6% of total child protection expenditure was spent on family support services, meaning roughly 16 cents of every $1 is invested in prevention.
• Nationally (excluding WA), 8% of child protection spending was directed to Aboriginal community controlled organisations (ACCOs), with most jurisdictions spending under 10% of their child protection budgets through ACCOs.