Protective orders

Graphs

Number of children subject to protective orders, by order type, Queensland, as at 30 June, 2007 to 2011

Number of children subject to protective orders, by Indigenous status, Queensland, as at 30 June, 2007 to 2011

Tables

Table notes.

What are protective orders?

Protective orders include assessment orders (court assessment orders) made during an investigation and assessment and those orders for children subject to a child protection order during ongoing intervention.

A court assessment order is applied for in situations where an investigation and assessment is needed to determine the protection needs of a child, and it is not possible or appropriate for the department to work with the family on a voluntary basis.

A child protection order, that most appropriately meets the needs of the child, is applied for when the protection needs of a child or young person during ongoing intervention cannot be met by the use of community support or intervention with the consent of the family.

Why this topic is important

This measure is provided for national reporting to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare in accordance with nationally agreed reporting definitions and is also used within Queensland as a measure of the total number of children subject to an order (whether it be an assessment order or child protection order) on a certain date.

Trends

The total number of children subject to protective orders was 8,456 as at 30 June 2011, which comprised 85 court assessment orders and 8,371 child protection orders. This was an increase of 4.5 per cent from the previous year (8,090 as at 30 June 2010). Since 30 June 2007 the number of children subject to protective orders increased by 32.3 per cent.