How many reports are made to child protection services in Australia each year?
The most recent national figures from the AIHW indicate that in Australia, during 2007-08, there were 317,526 reports of suspected child abuse and neglect made to state and territory authorities. While the number of notifications increased, the increase observed was not as great as that observed between previous reporting periods. In fact, the increase observed between 2006-07 and 2007-08 is the smallest national increase recorded for total notifications over the past 10 years. Figure 1 illustrates the trends in total notifications recorded across Australia from 1998-99 to 2007-08. Table 1 contains the numbers plotted in Figure 1. Source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2009) Notes: (a) The Northern Territory could not provide substantiation data in 1998-99. (b) Due to the implementation of a new information management system, New South Wales could not provide data for investigations, substantiations, or children on orders in 2003-04. (c) Due to the implementation of a new
