Infant and Pre-birth Involvement With Child Protection Across Australia

Abstract

Infants (<1 year old) are the age group in Australia with the highest rate of involvement with child protection. Many jurisdictions across Australia and internationally are implementing policies focused on prenatal planning and targeted support. This study investigates Australian trends in prenatal and infant child protection notifications, substantiations and out-of-home care; and the extent of over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander infants. Data was provided by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare for the period 1 July 2012-30 June 2019. Univariate Poisson regression analysis was conducted, reporting the percentage change in the incidence rate ratios. All Australian jurisdictions who collect and approved release of prenatal notification data experienced increases in the rates of children with prenatal notifications, with a 4% (IRR: 1.04(1.04–1.05)) overall increase per year across Australia. Approximately 33% of children had substantiated prenatal notifications. Rates of infant notifications and entry to care in Australia increased overall by 3% (IRR:1.03(1.03–1.04)) and 2% per year (IRR:1.02(1.01–1.03)), respectively. With rising numbers of families reported prenatally and during infancy, greater evidence of the effectiveness of policies, interventions and outcomes for children and families is required.

Our Commitment to Promoting Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice in Child Maltreatment

“…No relationship was found between alcohol-related child removal and alcohol intervention outcomes, suggesting that strategies to prevent alcohol-related separation and to support reunification should be integrated into addiction treatment in AI/AN communities. Among other things, O’Donnell et al (2023) investigated Australian trends during 2012–2019 in prenatal and infant child protection notifications, substantiations, and out-of-home care and the extent of over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander infants. They found a significant over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families in all parts of the child protection system over the study period, with overwhelming over-representation in the rates of children with prenatal and postnatal notifications, substantiations, and admission to care.…”

Healing the Past by Nurturing the Future: trauma-aware, healing-informed care to improve support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families – implementation and evaluation study protocol

“… 4 For Aboriginal babies, contact with Child Protection increasingly starts in pregnancy. 5 6 This leads to Aboriginal mothers avoiding accessing healthcare due to fear of Child Protection involvement, 7 limiting valuable antenatal care access that could help reduce risks of preterm birth and low birth weight and provide crucial support for other complex needs. Quality perinatal services that safely meet the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parents are clearly needed.…”