Queensland Government
Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services

Table of contents:

Graphs

Number of children subject to long-term child protection orders, by Indigenous status, Queensland, as at 30 June, 2007 to 2011

YearIndigenousNon-Indigenous
2007 611 1735
2008 760 1973
2009 976 2272
2010 1233 2550
2011 1488 2815

Rate of children subject to long-term child protection orders, per 1,000 children aged 0-17 years, by Indigenous status, Queensland, as at 30 June, 2007 to 2011

YearIndigenousNon-Indigenous
2007 9.1 1.8
2008 11.2 2.1
2009 14.3 2.3
2010 17.7 2.5
2011 21.2 2.8

Tables

DescriptionAnnualQuarterly
LT.1: Children subject to long-term child protection orders, by Indigenous status, Queensland Excel (XLS, 28 KB) Excel (XLS, 27 KB)
LT.2: Children subject to long-term child protection orders, by age group and sex, Queensland Excel (XLS, 27 KB) Excel (XLS, 27 KB)
LT.3: Children subject to long-term child protection orders, by child safety zone, Queensland Excel (XLS, 27 KB)  
LT.4: Children subject to long-term child protection orders, by region, Queensland Excel (XLS, 27 KB) Excel (XLS, 41 KB)

Table notes

What are long-term child protection orders?

Children who cannot be safely returned to their parents require stable, long-term out-of-home care. To achieve this, the department can make an application to the Childrens Court for a long-term child protection order.

There are three different types of long-term orders:

  • long-term guardianship orders that grant guardianship to the chief executive (Director-General)
  • long-term guardianship orders that grant guardianship to a relative
  • long-term guardianship orders that grant guardianship to another suitable person.

Guardianship matters about children in the child protection system are defined in the Child Protection Act 1999 .

A person who has guardianship of a child effectively has parental responsibility for their daily care and makes decisions about their long-term welfare and development.

Examples of decisions that must be made by the guardian of a child include medical procedures such as immunisation and blood tests, and decisions about the child's education such as enrolling in a new school or participating in work experience.

Why this topic is important

Long-term child protection orders are an essential part of the child protection system as they enable the department to pursue long-term, stable living arrangements for children who cannot be safely reunified with their families.

Trends

Of the 8,371 children subject to child protection orders as at 30 June 2011, 4,068 were subject to short-term orders and 4,303 were subject to long-term orders.

Over the last five years, the number of children subject to long-term orders increased by 83.4 per cent (from 2,346 as at 30 June 2007 to 4,303 as at 30 June 2011).