This inquiry spoke with more than 200 children and young people in or with experience of kinship, foster and residential care in Victoria. Their voices shape the 43 findings and 17 recommendations that this report makes to the Victorian government.

This report makes the economic case for additional, long‑term investment in targeted early intervention and intensive family preservation to prevent children entering out‑of‑home care in Victoria.

The ACT Community Services Directorate received over 40 submissions from individuals and organisations in response to their 2018 discussion paper. These highlighted several overarching themes, including a view that the dispensing with consent provisions should prioritise children’s best interests. Feedback from the submissions is outlined in this report.

The over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care is a complex issue. This year’s report shows that Indigenous children continue to enter statutory child protection systems at a greater rate, stay longer, and exit via reunification or restoration far less frequently.

This report explores what Tasmania's out-of-home care system looks like, who is in it, how it is being reformed, and how it can be strengthened.