The intake phase is the initial decision making point where the department determines its response to reports of suspected harm, or risk of harm, to a child or unborn child who may be at risk of harm after he or she is born.
It is initiated when information is received by the department from a notifier about harm or risk of harm to a child.
Each day, the department receives a large number of such reports from a variety of sources including parents, neighbours, health sources, friends and relatives, police and school personnel.
The department may respond by:
- recording a general enquiry
- recording a child concern report if the concerns raised suggest that a child is not in need of protection
- recording a notification when the concerns raised suggest that a child needs protection. This decision involves assessing the concerns raised, checking any child protection history, and completing other checks such as seeking additional information from other agencies or professionals.
Table of contents:
Graphs
Number of intake responses to child protection information, by response type, Queensland, 2006-07 to 2010-11
| Year | Child concern report - protective advice response | Notification recorded - investigation and assessment response |
|---|---|---|
| 2006-07 | 41615 | 28511 |
| 2007-08 | 46882 | 25003 |
| 2008-09 | 59662 | 23408 |
| 2009-10 | 79471 | 21885 |
| 2010-11 | 90863 | 21655 |
Proportion of intakes by primary source, Queensland, 2010-11
| Year | Parent/ guardian | Other relative | Friend/ neighbour | School personnel | Police | Health sources | All other sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-10 | 12.7 % | 5.7 % | 5.3 % | 13.1 % | 35 % | 11.9 % | 16.3 % |
| 2010-11 | 12.8 % | 6.2 % | 5.7 % | 12.7 % | 35.3 % | 12.1 % | 15.2 % |
Tables
| Description | Annual | Quarterly |
|---|---|---|
| I.1: Intake, by intake type, Queensland | Excel | Excel |
| I.2: Intake, by intake type and primary source, Queensland | Excel | Excel |
| I.3: Intake, by intake type and child safety zone, Queensland | Excel | |
| I.4: Intake, by intake type and region, Queensland | Excel | Excel |
| I.5: Children subject to an intake, by Indigenous status, Queensland | Excel | Excel |
| I.6: Children subject to an intake, by intake type and region, Queensland | Excel | Excel |
Trends
There has been an overall increase in total intakes recorded by the department over the past five years, excluding general enquiries. From 2006-07 to 2010-11 total intakes increased by 60.5 per cent, from 70,126 to 112,518. In 2010-11 the major sources of intakes were police followed by parents/guardians and then school personnel.
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