A report  on Child Protective Services released by the Australian Institute of Welfare (AIWH) on Thursday shows Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are 7 times as likely as non-Indigenous children to have received child protection services.

It was also reported that children from remote areas were 4 times as likely to be the subject of a substantial.

A case is considered substantial when the investigation leads to reason to believe the child is being, has been or is likely to be abused, The most common types of substantiated abuse includes emotional abuse, physical abuse and neglect.

One in 33 aboriginal children receives child protection services with the majority being repeating clients; 60percent of children who received this service were subjects of investigation, while 24 percent were on a ‘care and protection’ order or in out of home care.

Only 9 percent of children were involved in all three components of the system.

The total number of first nations children needing protective services has risen by 10 000 children every year of the last three years.

 

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