Substantiations data
Graphs
Number of notifications and substantiations: Queensland, 2003-04 to 2007-08.
| Year | Notifications | Substantiations |
|---|---|---|
| 2003-04 | 35023 | 17473 |
| 2004-05 | 40829 | 17307 |
| 2005-06 | 33612 | 13184 |
| 2006-07 | 28511 | 10108 |
| 2007-08 | 25003 | 8028 |
Number of children subject to substantiations by most serious harm type: Queensland, 2003-04 to 2007-08
| Year | Physical | Sexual | Emotional | Neglect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003-04 | 3089 | 825 | 4189 | 4638 |
| 2004-05 | 2991 | 800 | 4997 | 4197 |
| 2005-06 | 2232 | 641 | 4235 | 3069 |
| 2006-07 | 2074 | 591 | 3957 | 2223 |
| 2007-08 | 2036 | 576 | 2702 | 2017 |
Proportion of substantiations by primary source of notification: Queensland, 2007-08.
| Year | Parent/ guardian | Other relative | Friend/ neighbour | School personnel | Police | Health sources | All other sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006-07 | 7.4 % | 5.6 % | 4.5 % | 12.8 % | 30 % | 15.4 % | 24.3 % |
Rate of children subject to substantiations per 1,000 children (0-17 years) by Indigenous status: Queensland, 2003-04 to 2007-08.
| Year | Indigenous | Non-Indigenous |
|---|---|---|
| 2003-04 | 19.1 | 12.9 |
| 2004-05 | 18.7 | 13 |
| 2005-06 | 20.6 | 9.6 |
| 2006-07 | 25.9 | 7.6 |
| 2007-08 | 23.9 | 6 |
Tables
- Substantiations summary statistics (including substantiations/children substantiated/rate per 1,000)
- Substantiations by Indigenous status, 2003-04 to 2007-08
- Substantiations by most serious harm type and sex of the person believed responsible, 2003-04 to 2007-08
- Substantiations by primary source of notification, 2003-04 to 2007-08
- Children subject to substantiations, by most serious harm type and Indigenous status, 2003-04 to 2007-08
- Children subject to substantiations by most serious harm type and age group, 2003-04 to 2007-08
- Children subject to substantiations by family of residence, 2003-04 to 2007-08
- Substantiations and children subject to substantiations, by departmental zone, 2003-04 to 2007-08
- Substantiations, departmental zone by most serious harm type substantiated, 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2008
Quarterly data
- Substantiations (a), by Indigenous status, Queensland, 2003–04 to year ending 31 March 2009
- Substantiations by primary source of notification, Queensland, 2003–04 to year ending 31 March 2009
- Children substantiated by most serious harm type and Indigenous status, Queensland, 2003–04 to year ending 31 March 2009
- Children substantiated by most serious harm type and age group, Queensland, 2003–04 to year ending 31 March 2009
- Substantiations by departmental zone, Queensland, 2003–04 to year ending 31 March 2009
- Substantiations by whether child is in need of protection, Queensland, 2007-08 to year ending 31 March 2009
Map
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Service centre zones and data
Map of zones and service centre data for the years 2004 through to 2008.
What is a substantiation?
Harm to a child or young person can be caused by physical, psychological or emotional abuse or neglect, or sexual abuse or exploitation.
An investigation and assessment will have a substantiated outcome when it is assessed that harm has been experienced by the child and/or there are identifiable risk factors that a child may be harmed in the future.
Why this topic is important
Children who are abused or neglected, including those who witness domestic violence, often exhibit emotional, cognitive, and behavioural problems. These include:
- depression
- suicidal behaviour
- difficulty in school
- use of alcohol and other drugs
- early sexual activity.
Without proper supports, children who are abused or neglected may also be at greater risk of repeating the cycle of violence by entering into violent relationships as teens and adults or abusing their own children.
Trends
In 2007-08, the Department recorded 8,028 substantiations relating to 7,331 children. This is a decrease from 2006-07 when the Department recorded 10,108 substantiations relating to 8,845 children.
Over the past five years, the highest number of substantiations recorded by the Department was during the two years 2003-04 and 2004-05. A key reason for this is likely to be the increase in notifications recorded over this same period.
The number of substantiations recorded since 2004-05 has continued to decline. This is likely to be due to a number of factors, including:
- the decrease in notifications recorded over the same period
- the introduction of Structured Decision Making (SDM) tools in 2005-06. SDM has had a moderating effect on the number of substantiations by improving consistency in assessment and targeting resources to those families most at risk, helping to prevent further substantiations for those clients.
- recording changes. Each notification recorded on the system must have an associated investigation and assessment outcome (e.g. substantiated). The recording change introduced from March 2007 (whereby additional concerns are no longer recorded as notifications), has therefore contributed to a decrease in both the number of notifications and substantiations recorded on the ICMS. This recording change contributed to the decrease in substantiations recorded for both 2006-07 (where three months of data was affected) and 2007-08 (full year effect)
- An increase in the proportion of investigations and assessments resulting in an unsubstantiation. The proportion of finalised investigations and assessments resulting in an unsubstantiation, has increased from 24.2 per cent in 2003-04 to 53.2 per cent in 2007-08.
The recording changes detailed above mean that substantiation figures are not strictly comparable across years, and time series comparisons should be interpreted with caution. The substantiation figure with the greatest comparability is the number of children subject to a substantiation.
The number of children subject to substantiations decreased from 12,741 children in 2003-04 to 7,331 children in 2007-08. This has seen the rate of all children subject to substantiations, fall from 13.3 per 1,000 children aged 0-17 years in 2003-04 to 7.2 per 1,000 in 2007-08.
As a rate per 1,000 of Queensland children aged 0-17 years, Indigenous children have had a higher rate of substantiation than non-Indigenous children with 23.9 and 6.0 respectively subject to a substantiation in 2007-08. This has been a consistent trend since 2002-03 with Indigenous children having a higher rate of substantiation than non-Indigenous children.
- Last updated
- 28 August 2009