Child abuse and neglect in Indigenous communities bibliography

This annual report series reviews the performance of federal and state governments in providing a range of services, measured against a set of agreed performance indicators. These indicators assist governments to assess the performance of the services provided in their jurisdiction in order to achieve improvements in the quality and efficiency of service delivery. The report for 2012 covers the following service areas: children's services; school education; vocational education and training; police services; court administration; corrective services; emergency management; public hospitals; primary and community health; mental health; aged care services; services for people with a disability; protection and support services; housing; and homelessness services. It also includes information on services provided to Indigenous people, as well as a discussion of performance measurement.

This report provides statistics on child protection services in Australia for the 2010/2011 period. It provides data on child protection notifications, investigations and substantiations, children on care and protection orders, characteristics of children in out-of-home care, kinship care and foster care households, and Intensive family support services. Statistics are provided by state and territory, with comparisons with previous years where appropriate, and with statistics for Indigenous children. This report also contains feature sections on mandatory reporting requirements, child protection legislation, policy and practice differences across Australia, recent policy changes, differences in data systems across Australia, and a glossary. Though the number of children subject to a notification has decreased significantly in recent years, the number of children in out of home care has increased, with 37,648 children in care in 2011.

This series provides an annual snapshot of the status of children and young people in Queensland. It is designed to inform social policy planning and to support improvements to the safety and wellbeing of young Queenslanders. The 2011 report updates and expands on information provided in previous reports, and draws together population data and statistics on issues including health, child care, parental involvement in education, vocational education and training, bullying and cyberbullying, mortality, causes of death, child abuse and neglect, child protection system, out of home care, criminal justice system, offending patterns, outcomes for young offenders, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children

This policy statement outlines what the Australian Government will do to address the unacceptable levels of disadvantage faced by Indigenous people. It describes new legislation - the Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory Bill 2011 - and policies and initiatives in the areas of job creation and support, improving school attendance and enrolment, tackling alcohol abuse, community safety and child protection, food security, and housing and land reform.

The Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER) was developed by the Australian Government in 2007 to address findings of the Little Children are Sacred inquiry report. Now known as Closing the Gap in the Northern Territory, this strategy is aimed at closing the gap in outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in the Northern Territory, focusing on policies and programs in the areas of early childhood, schooling, health, economic participation, land tenure, safe communities, and governance and leadership. This document reports on the progress of the strategy for the period 1 January to 30 June 2011, with comparisons for the entire period from July 2007 onwards. Part one of the report provides background information and a summary of key results for the first two years of the NTER. Part two provides information against each measure and includes achievements and progress to date against targets and milestones. It also includes what has not been achieved and any 'lessons learned' or impacts.

This chapter reviews the impact of the Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER) on children's health and wellbeing in Indigenous communities. It reviews Improving Child and Family Health initiatives developed under the NTER and in the Closing the Gap under the Northern Territory National Partnership Agreement, including: The Child Health Check Initiative (CHCI), The Expanding Health Service Delivery Initiative (EHSDI), and the Northern Territory Sexual Assault Mobile Outreach Service (MOS).

This discussion paper reflects on the achievement of the Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER) over the last 4 years and invites feedback on future directions. It sets out priorities for building on the work of the NTER, in the areas of school attendance and educational achievement, economic development and employment, tackling alcohol abuse, community safety and the protection of children, health, food security, housing, and governance.

This chapter reviews the impact of the Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER) on supporting families and improving the safety, health, and wellbeing of Indigenous children. The chapter is part of a larger evaluation of the NTER over the last 4 years, and relates to the 'Supporting families' measures under the Northern Territory National Partnership Agreement (NTNPA). The objective of these measures is to support families and communities by supporting the safety and wellbeing of children, and are closely related to efforts to prevent and respond to child abuse and neglect. Therefore, this chapter focuses on risk factors associated with child protection concerns, such as poverty, parental alcohol/substance misuse, domestic violence, unemployment, and inadequate housing. Often, the risk factors that lead to child abuse or neglect are also those that are closely associated with family dysfunction. Sections include: methodology, overview of NTER measures, data sources, background on family wellbeing, NTER context, community safety, parenting programs, child protection services, out-of-home care placement, welfare and support services, risk factors, and data limitations.

The Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory discussion paper invited feedback from Indigenous people on the future directions of the Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER). Questions for discussion were grouped in the areas of school attendance and educational achievement, economic development and employment, tackling alcohol abuse, community safety and the protection of children, health, food security, housing, and governance. This report summarises the findings of this consultation, which featured public meetings in almost 100 communities, town camps, and major towns, as well as private meetings with individuals, families and groups.

The Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER) was developed by the Australian Government in 2007 to address findings of the Little Children are Sacred inquiry report. Now known as Closing the Gap in the Northern Territory, this strategy is aimed at closing the gap in outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in the Northern Territory, focusing on policies and programs in the areas of early childhood, schooling, health, economic participation, land tenure, safe communities, and governance and leadership. This document reports on the progress of the strategy for the period 1 January to 30 June 2010, with comparisons for the entire period from July 2007 onwards. Part one of the report provides background information and a summary of key results for the first two years of the NTER. Part two provides information against each measure and includes achievements and progress to date against targets and milestones. It also includes what has not been achieved and any 'lessons learned' or impacts.

The Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER) was developed by the Australian Government in 2007 to address findings of the Little Children are Sacred inquiry report. Now known as Closing the Gap in the Northern Territory, this strategy is aimed at closing the gap in outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in the Northern Territory, focusing on policies and programs in the areas of early childhood, schooling, health, economic participation, land tenure, safe communities, and governance and leadership. This document reports on the progress of the strategy for the period 1 July to 31 December 2010, with comparisons for the entire period from July 2007 onwards. Part one of the report provides background information and a summary of key results for the first two years of the NTER. Part two provides information against each measure and includes achievements and progress to date against targets and milestones. It also includes what has not been achieved and any 'lessons learned' or impacts.

This annual report series reviews the performance of federal and state governments in providing a range of services, measured against a set of agreed performance indicators. These indicators assist governments to assess the performance of the services provided in their jurisdiction in order to achieve improvements in the quality and efficiency of service delivery. The report for 2011 covers the following service areas: children's services; school education; vocational education and training; police services; court administration; corrective services; emergency management; public hospitals; primary and community health; health management issues; aged care services; services for people with a disability; protection and support services; housing; and homelessness services. It also includes information on services provided to Indigenous people, as well as a discussion of performance measurement.

This report provides statistics on child protection services in Australia for the 2009/2010 period. It provides data on child protection notifications, investigations and substantiations, children on care and protection orders, characteristics of children in out-of-home care, characteristics of foster carer households, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in care, and Intensive family support services. Statistics are provided by state and territory, with comparisons with previous years where appropriate. This report also contains feature sections on mandatory reporting requirements, child protection legislation, policy and practice differences across Australia, recent policy changes, differences in data systems across Australia, and a glossary. In 2009/10, over 187,000 children were the subject of a child protection notification; just over 31,000 children were the subject of a substantiation; around 37,000 children were on care and protection orders; almost 36,000 children were living in out-of-home care; and there were almost 8,050 foster carer households.

This resource sheet is an overview of out-of-home care in Australia. Information is presented on the number of children in out-of-home care, trends in out-of-home care placements, the placement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, different types of care placements such as kinship care and residential care, the costs of foster care, and some of the key issues and challenges for the sector today.

In this resource sheet we present and discuss a snapshot of data describing the rates of involvement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in child protection and out-of-home care.

This article investigated what child and parental factors increase the risk of child abuse. Using health and child protection data from Western Australia for children born between 1990-2005, the study examined child and parental factors including child disability, parental age, socio-economic status, parental mental health, substance use and assault-related hospital admissions, with separate analyses for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children.

This article investigated the extent to which children with a hospitalised with an assault, maltreatment, or a notified sexually transmitted infection have had contact with the child protection system in Western Australia. The study used hospital admissions and child protection data from Western Australia for children born between 1990-2005. The findings highlight the important role of the health system in child abuse surveillance and research.

This article describes the 'Weaving the Net' community development program, which aims to inform Indigenous Australian communities about child abuse and family violence. Community responses, a history of the program, and how it operates are also discussed.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are placed in out of home care in New South Wales at a rate 10 times that of non-Aboriginal children - though represent only 4% of all 0-17 year olds in New South Wales, they make up over 31% of the population in care (2008 figures). In this article, the author describes the problem and introduces her new research project, 'Put in our Proper Place: What are extended Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families' experiences of child placement policies in the NSW welfare system?' This project employs a community case study approac to contribute to the knowledge about the effectiveness of child placement policies in practice and their appropriateness for Aboriginal communities.

Families have the most significant and influential role to play when it comes to nurturing, educating, protecting and providing for children, and the greatest impact on well being throughout childhood and into adult life. Recognising the importance of this role, and the many challenges facing modern families, government and the broader community has an important role to play in supporting families and promoting positive outcomes for children. The Child Protection and Other Acts Amendment Bill 2010 was introduced this year, and one of the functions of the bill is to provide the legislative foundation for the government's Helping Out Families initiative.

Through this research, the National Child Protection Clearinghouse aimed to explore the Canadian experience of implementing Indigenous led child welfare services in two Canadian provinces. Interview data was analysed, and categorized into five areas of interest for Australia, in terms of considerations for implementing Indigenous led child protection services. These were: considerations of what a truly Indigenous led approach constitutes, capacity requirements, the level of responsibility desired by Indigenous communities, funding models, and trust.

A series of harrowing reports across the 1990s on the past removal of children, black and white, from their families have impacted on children and family policy in contemporary Australia, and on the way in which this is reported by the media and understood by the public. This paper briefly surveys some of these consequences and asks how we, as a community, can learn from the past with respect to questions of the welfare of children, without being burdened by that past.

This chapter examines trends in family reunification in two states of Australia. It draws on findings from a longitudinal study of foster care children in South Australia as well as the New South Wales Reunification Study, to explore placement trajectories, legislation and policy, and reunification rates and probability by age, Aboriginal status, and placement types. The chapter features a commentary by Elaine Farmer.

This study investigates measures and perceptions of safety in Indigenous communities in Australia. It details the development of a questionnaire designed to capture perceptions of community safety in Indigenous communities, which is hoped will be utilised by organisations and service providers in their work. It also presents findings from a survey of 159 workers from service providers in remote, regional, and urban areas. The results presented are intended to be illustrative, rather than representative, and include community strengths; crime and social problems - such as overcrowding, alcohol misuse, school attendance, and domestic violence; community services available; perceived safety of personnel/respondent; reasons for feeling safe or unsafe; perceived safety of Indigenous people, by age group and gender; times and places considered unsafe; community safety initiatives; perceived level of need for change; crime reporting and disclosure by victims; and who victims of violence turn to for support, for men, women, children, and female sexual assault victims.

This report presents the findings of the third Views of Children and Young People in Foster Care survey, conducted with children and young people living in foster care and kinship care in Queensland in 2009. This year, 2,727 children, young people, and carers of very young children responded, with 28% with an Aboriginal background. The survey asked about well being, satisfaction with care, placement history, satisfaction with child protection system, support, community visitors, case plans, education, health, contact with family, and the impacts of being in care. Comparisons are also made with findings from the 2006 and 2007 surveys.