Indigenous care leavers in Victoria

Indigenous children and young people are over-represented at all stages of the child protection system. While this trend is paralleled in many developed countries with Indigenous populations, including New Zealand, Canada and the US, the disproportionality among Indigenous Australians is considerably higher. The most recent data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare suggests Indigenous children and young people are far more likely to be the subject of substantiated child abuse and neglect, and also far more likely to be on a care and protection order. At 30th June, 2014 Indigenous children and young people were estimated to comprise just over one third (14,991) of the total of 43,009 children and young people in out of home care nationwide.