NCPC Resource Sheet
June 2010


Children in care

Compiled by Nick Richardson, Mel Irenyi and Briony Horsfall
National Child Protection Clearinghouse.
Published by the Australian Institute of Family Studies
ISSN 1448-9112 (Online) ISBN 978-1-921414-39-8

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What is out-of-home care?

Out-of-home care refers to the care of children and young people up to 18 years who are unable to live with their families (often due to child abuse and neglect). It involves the placement of a child or young person with alternate caregivers on a short- or long-term basis (Victorian Government Department of Human Services, 2003).

There are three main types of out-of-home care:

Out-of-home care can be arranged either formally or informally. Informal care refers to arrangements made without intervention by statutory authorities or courts; and formal care occurs following a child protection intervention (either by voluntary agreement or care and protection court order). This resource sheet will describe those children in out-of-home care in Australia who are on care and protection orders.

How many children live in out-of-home care in Australia?

The most recent statistics from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW, 2010) report that, as of 30 June 2009, there were 34,069 Australian children living in out-of-home care. Table 1 shows the number of children in Australia admitted to out-of-home care, by age group, in each state and territory during 2008-09.

The number of children in out-of-home care has risen every year over the last 10 years (AIHW, 2010). Since 30 June 1999, the number of children in out-of-home care has more than doubled (increased by 117%). The numbers rose 9.3% in 2008-09. At 30 June 2009, the rate of children aged 0-17 years in out-of-home care was 6.7 children per 1,000 (AIHW, 2010).

Table 1. Children admitted to out-of-home care by age group, states and territories, 2008-09

Age (years) NSW VIC1 QLD WA SA TAS ACT NT Australia
<1 726 396 530 171 127 50 23 41 2,064
1-4 1,293 724 769 237 170 85 46 82 3,406
5-9 1,134 649 726 198 133 96 39 64 3,039
10-14 1,085 801 719 170 136 90 60 111 3,172
15-17 325 366 271 21 94 28 26 20 1,151
Unknown 1 - - - - - - - 1
Total 4,564 2,936 3,015 797 660 349 194 318 12,883
  Percent
<1 15.9 13.5 17.6 21.5 19.2 14.3 11.9 12.9 16.1
1-4 28.3 24.7 25.5 29.7 25.8 24.4 23.7 25.8 26.5
5-9 24.9 22.1 24.1 24.8 20.2 27.5 20.1 20.1 23.7
10-14 23.8 27.3 23.8 21.3 20.6 25.8 30.9 34.9 24.7
15-17 7.1 12.5 9.0 2.6 14.2 8.0 13.4 6.3 9.0
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Notes: (1) Due to new service and data reporting arrangements, the Victorian child protection data as of 2006-07 may not be fully comparable with previous years' data. The table includes all children admitted to out-of-home care for the first time, as well as those children returning to care who had exited care more than two months previously. Children admitted to out-of-home care more than once during the year were only counted at the first admission. Percentages exclude children of unknown age. Percentages in tables may not add to 100 due to rounding.

Source: AIHW (2010, p. 40).

What percentage of children in out-of-home care live in foster care in Australia?

The AIHW statistics show that 94% of all children living in out-of-home care in Australia are in home-based care. Of that figure, 47% are in foster care, 45% are in relative/kinship care and 1.4% are in a different kind of home-based care (AIHW, 2010).

Table 2 compares the proportion of children in out-of-home care by living arrangements for each state and territory. Of children in out-of-home care, the Northern Territory, Queensland and Tasmania had a relatively high proportion in foster care (64%, 60% ad 54% respectively), and New South Wales has a relatively high proportion placed with relatives or kin (57%) compared to other states and territories (AIHW, 2010).


Table 2. Proportion (%) of children in out-of-home care, by living arrangements, states and territories, as at 30 June 2009

Type of placement NSW VIC QLD WA SA TAS ACT NT Australia
Foster care 40.5 45.2 60.2 47.9 48.5 54.2 43.1 64.1 47.1
Relatives/kin 56.7 37.2 33.5 44.3 38.0 28.3 46.0 22.2 45.4
Other home-based care - 7.9 - - 0.1 8.8 - - 1.4
Total home based care 97.2 90.3 93.7 92.2 86.7 91.3 89.1 86.3 94.0
Family group homes - - - 3.4 - 3.6 - 2.5 0.4
Residential care 2.2 9.0 6.3 3.7 8.6 3.8 10.7 1.9 4.8
Independent living 0.6 0.7 - 0.6 1.0 0.1 - 0.6 0.5
Other - - - 0.1 3.8 1.1 0.2 8.7 0.4
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Note: Percentages in tables may not add to 100 due to rounding.

Source: AIHW (2010, p. 42).

How many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children live in out-of-home care?

As of 30 June 2009, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children comprised 4.6% of all children aged 0-17 years in Australia (AIHW, 2010) yet in 2008-09 they constituted 31% of those children placed in out-of-home care. In all jurisdictions, the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children on placement orders was higher than that for other children. As of June 2009, there were 10,512 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care in Australia - a placement rate of 44.8 per 1,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 0-17 years. In contrast, the rate for non-Indigenous children was 4.9 per 1,000. This indicates that the national rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care was 9.2 times the rate for other children (AIHW, 2010). There was substantial variation across the states and territories, with the placement rate of Indigenous children varying from 13.2 per 1,000 in the Northern Territory to 71.3 per 1,000 in New South Wales (AIHW, 2010).

What is the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle?

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle has been endorsed in legislation or policy, in all Australian states and territories. The principle states the preferred order of placement for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child who has been removed from their birth family. The preferred order is for the child to be placed with:

Only if an appropriate placement cannot be found from these three groups can an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child be placed with a non-Indigenous carer (Lock, 1997).

The principle provides an important acknowledgement that previous policies caused suffering to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and reflects the right of Indigenous people to raise their children and retain them in their communities (Lock, 1997).

Children placed in one of the three preferred options are described as having been placed in accordance with the principle. The percentage of children placed in accordance with the principal varied substantially across jurisdictions from 27.7% in Tasmania to 84% of placements in New South Wales (see Figure 1). In Australia in 2008-09, 72.6% of Indigenous children were placed in accordance with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle (AIHW, 2010).

Figure 1. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care, states and territories, 30 June 2009

Source: AIHW (2010, p. 47).

Figure 1. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care, states and territories, 30 June 2009

For more information see Child Protection and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children (Berlyn & bromfield, 2010).

How are foster carers reimbursed?

State and territory governments pay foster care subsidies to carers. The size of the subsidy varies between the states and territories. With the exception of NSW, subsidies increase with the age of the young person in care. Table 3 shows the rates of subsidies provided to foster carers across each Australian state and territory as at 1 July 2006.

Some carers may be able to access additional payments from state governments; for example, if a child has been classified as having very high needs.

In addition, caregivers may be entitled to a range of benefits funded by the Commonwealth Government. For example, foster carers can access Family Tax Benefits and Health Care Cards for foster children in their care, regardless of means testing (Australian Foster Care Association, Centrelink, & Department of Family and Community Services, 2004; Higgins et al., 2005).


Table 3. Standard subsidy rates to foster carers across states and territories, as at 1 July 2006

Age TAS
(1/7/05)2,3		 WA
(1/3/06)2		 NT
(1/7/06)2		 SA
(1/7/06)2		 VIC
(1/7/06)2		 ACT4
(1/7/06)2		 QLD
(1/7/06)2		 NSW5
(1/7/06)2
2 130 109 114 94 119 122 135 187
3 86 109 114 94 119 122 135 187
4 86 109 114 94 119 122 135 187
5 110 109 123 101 119 138 135 210
6 110 109 123 101 119 138 158 210
7 110 137 123 101 119 138 158 210
8 110 137 148 108 124 161 158 210
9 110 137 148 108 124 161 158 210
10 129 137 148 108 124 161 158 210
11 129 137 148 108 141 161 192 210
12 129 137 167 131 141 184 192 210
13 129 165 167 131 190 184 192 210
14 169 165 167 131 190 184 192 282
15 169 165 201 161 190 222 192 282
16 169 165 201 161 190 222 182 282
17 138 165 201 161 190 222 182 282

Notes: (1) All amounts quoted above are rounded to the nearest dollar. These figures are only one component of many carer payments. State/territory policies and payments for contingencies and other child-related costs must also be considered in the broader payment context. (2) Indicates date on which payment first became operative. (3) The Tasmanian CPI is calculated in September-October each year and then back-dated and back-paid to 1 July. (4) The ACT rate was increased on 1 July 2006 by $5 across the board, as a fuel compensation, on 1 July 2006. (5) New NSW subsidy payments and contingency payment arrangements were announced on 10 September 2006 and were back-dated to 1 July 2006.

Source: Australian Foster Care Association (AFCA), 2006

What does foster care cost?

Recurrent expenditure on child protection and out-of-home care services was approximately two billion across Australia in 2008-09. Nationally, out-of-home care services accounted for the majority (66% or $1.4 billion) of this expenditure (Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service Provision, 2010). A study by the Social Policy Research Centre found that the cost of caring for children in foster care is, on average, 52% higher than the costs of caring for other children not in care (McHugh, 2002).

What are some of the key issues/challenges in foster care in Australia today?

Many children in out-of-home-care still experience multiple placement changes (Ainsworth, 2001; Delfabbro, Barber, & Cooper, 2000; Forde, 1999). This can be a concern for young people in care. In a survey of 1,767 Queensland children and young people in care, almost 20% of respondents were worried about having to move to another placement in the next few months (Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian, 2008).

Recruiting enough carers to cope with the increased demand for foster carers is a concern for most states and territories (Rhodes, Orme, & Buehler, 2001; Rindefleisch, Bean, & Denby, 1998). Some are advocating for the professionalisation of foster carers in a bid to facilitate recruitment and help the increasing number of children coming into the system with complex and challenging behaviour problems (Butcher, 2005).

With the reliance on home-based care and the problems recruiting sufficient numbers of foster carers, there has a rapid increase in the proportion of children in kinship care (Ainsworth & Maluccio, 1998; Leslie, Landsverk, Horton, Granger, & Newton, 2000). It is now often considered to be the preferred option of alternative care for the child (Beeman & Boisen, 1999). However, at this stage, there is insufficient research evidence to demonstrate whether or not kinship care produces better outcomes for children (Bromfield & Osborn, 2007a, 2007b).

References

Ainsworth, F. (2001). After ideology: The effectiveness of residential programs for "at risk" adolescents. Children Australia, 26(2), 11-18.

Ainsworth, F., & Maluccio, A. N. (1998). Kinship care: False dawn or new hope? Australian Social Work, 51(4), 3-8.

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2007). 2006 Census tables: Australia. Age by Indigenous status and sex, July 2007 (Catalogue No. 20680). Canberra: ABS. Retrieved from <http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au>

Australian Foster Care Association. (2006). Comparison of state and territory foster care payments. Retrieved from <http://www.fostercare.org.au/docs/2006basicsubsidycomp270906.pdf>

Australian Foster Care Association, Centrelink, & Department of Family and Community Services. (2004). Australian Government financial support for foster families. Canberra: Australian Foster Care Association. Retrieved from <http://www.fostercare.org.au/info.html>

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2010). Child protection Australia 2008-09 (Cat. No. CWS 35). Canberra: AIHW. Retrieved from <http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/10859>

Beeman, S., & Boisen, L. (1999). Child welfare professionals' attitudes toward kinship foster care. Child Welfare, 78, 315-337.

Berlyn, C., & Bromfield, L. M. (2010). Child Protection and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children (NCPC Resource Sheet). Retrieved from <http://www.aifs.gov.au/nch/pubs/sheets/rs10/rs10.html>.

Bromfield, L. M., & Osborn, A. (2007a). Kinship care (Research Brief No. 10). Retrieved from <http://www.aifs.gov.au/nch/pubs/brief/rb10/rb10.html>

Bromfield, L. M., & Osborn, A. (2007b). "Getting the big picture": A synopsis and critique of Australian out-of-home care research (Child Abuse Prevention Issues No. 26). Retrieved from <http://www.aifs.gov.au/nch/pubs/issues/issues26/issues26.html>

Butcher, A. (2005). Upping the ante! The training and status of foster carers in Queensland. Children Australia, 30, 25-30.

Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian. (2008). Views of Children and Young People in Foster Care. Brisbane: Queensland Government.

Delfabbro, P., Barber, J., & Cooper, L. (2000). Placement disruption and dislocation in South Australian substitute care. Children Australia, 25(2), 16-20.

Forde, L. (1999). Commission of Inquiry into Abuse of Children in Queensland Institutions. Brisbane: Queensland Government.

Leslie, L. K., Landsverk, J., Horton, M. B., Ganger, W., & Newton, R. R. (2000). The heterogeneity of children and their experiences in kinship care. Child Welfare, 79(3), 315-334.

Lock, J. (1997). The Aboriginal Child Placement Principle. Sydney: New South Law Reform Commission.

McHugh, M. (2002). The costs of caring: A study of appropriate foster care payments for stable and adequate out-of-home care in Australia. Sydney: NSW Association of Childrens Welfare Agencies.

Rhodes, K. W., Orme, J. G., & Buehler, C. (2001). A comparison of family foster parents who quit, consider quitting and plan to continue fostering. Social Services Review, 75, 45-49.

Rindefleisch, N., Bean, G., & Denby, K. (1998). Why foster parents continue or cease to foster. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 15, 5-24.

Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service Provision. (2010). Report on government services 2010. Melbourne: Productivity Commission.

 

2008 edition, Foster care, by Nick Richardson, Mel Irenyi & Joan Kelleher.
2009 edition, Children in care, by Nick Richardson, Mel Irenyi and Briony Horsfall.

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