Table of contents:
Graphs
Number of notifications and children subject to a notification, Queensland, 2006-07 to 2010-11
| Year | Notifications | Children notified |
|---|---|---|
| 2006-07 | 28511 | 24102 |
| 2007-08 | 25003 | 22333 |
| 2008-09 | 23408 | 20959 |
| 2009-10 | 21885 | 19636 |
| 2010-11 | 21655 | 19353 |
Rate of children subject to a notification, per 1,000 children aged 0-17 years, by Indigenous status, Queensland, 2006-07 to 2010-11
| Year | Indigenous | Non-Indigenous |
|---|---|---|
| 2006-07 | 60.3 | 21.4 |
| 2007-08 | 63.3 | 18.9 |
| 2008-09 | 68.6 | 16.6 |
| 2009-10 | 69.2 | 14.7 |
| 2010-11 | 70.7 | 14.1 |
Proportion of notifications, by primary source, Queensland, 2010-11
| Year | Parent/ guardian | Other relative | Friend/ neighbour | School personnel | Police | Health sources | All other sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-10 | 6.8 % | 5.4 % | 5.8 % | 14.2 % | 28.7 % | 17.9 % | 21 % |
| 2010-11 | 7.1 % | 6 % | 6 % | 14.1 % | 29.8 % | 17.1 % | 20 % |
Proportion of children subject to a notification, by age group, Queensland, 2010-11
| Year | Unborn (a) | 0 to 4 | 5 to 9 | 10 to 14 | 15 to 17 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-10 | 0 % | 40 % | 27 % | 25 % | 7 % |
| 2010-11 | 4.1 % | 36.9 % | 26.5 % | 24.4 % | 8 % |
Tables
| Description | Annual | Quarterly |
|---|---|---|
| N.1: Notifications and children subject to a notification, by Indigenous status Queensland | Excel | Excel |
| N.2: Notifications, by primary source, Queensland | Excel | Excel |
| N.3: Notifications, by most serious type of harm notified, Queensland | Excel | Excel |
| N.4: Children subject to a notification, by age group and sex of child, Queensland | Excel | Excel |
| N.5: Notifications and children subject to a notification by child safety zone, Queensland | Excel | |
| N.6: Notifications, by response timeframe, Queensland | Excel | Excel |
| N.7: Notifications and children subject to a notification, by region, Queensland | Excel | Excel |
What is a notification?
A notification is recorded when child protection information received suggests a child needs protection.
Children and young people in need of protection are those who have suffered significant harm, are suffering significant harm, or are at unacceptable risk of suffering harm and do not have a parent able and willing to protect them from the harm.
When a notification is recorded, the department must conduct an investigation.
Why this topic is important
Harm to a child or young person can be caused by physical or emotional abuse, neglect, or sexual abuse and can range from mild to life-threatening.
These types of harm can often occur together and can have a significant and detrimental effect on a child's emotional and/or physical health, development and wellbeing.
If the information received by our department indicates that an unborn child may be at risk of harm after they are born and will not have a parent able and willing to protect them from harm, a notification will be recorded.
Trends
In 2010-11, the department recorded 21,655 notifications relating to 19,353 children. Since 2006-07 there has been a steady decrease in the number of overall notifications and children subject to a notification.
This decrease is due to a combination of practice and recording changes:
- The introduction of Structured Decision Making (SDM) tools in 2005-06 has assisted the department to improve consistency in assessment and target resources to those children and young people most at risk.
- With the statewide implementation of the department's Integrated Client Management System (ICMS) in March 2007, any new child protection concerns received by the department that relate to an open notification or investigation and assessment are recorded as an additional concern and linked to the open notification/investigation and assessment. Previously, any new child protection concerns received by the department were recorded as an additional notification. This recording change has contributed to the decrease in notifications recorded from 2006-07 onward.
However, although notifications decreased the number of Indigenous children subject to a notification increased over the last five years from 4,041 in 2006-07 to 4,953 in 2010-11 (22.6 per cent increase).
As a rate per 1,000 of the Queensland population aged 0-17 years, 70.7 per 1,000 Indigenous children were subject to a notification in 2010-11 compared to 14.1 per 1,000 for non-Indigenous children. Since 2006-07, Indigenous children subject to a notification have increased from 60.3 per 1,000 to 70.7 per 1,000 in 2010-11, while non-Indigenous children subject to a notification have decreased from 21.3 per 1,000 to 14.1 per 1,000 over the same period (based on preliminary 2010 estimated resident population figures).
This trend is likely a result of the department's enhanced service provision to Indigenous communities and improved recording of Indigenous status over the past five years.
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