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Carers data

• Graphs
• Tables
• Map
• What role do carers have?
• Why this topic is important
• Trends

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Graphs

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Tables

• Carer families by carer type and Indigenous status, Queensland, as at 30 June, 2004 to 2008 (Excel 24 KB)
• Carer families by departmental zone by carer type and Indigenous status, Queensland, as at 30 June 2008 (Excel 25 KB)

Quarterly data

• Carer families, by carer type and Indigenous status, Queensland, as at 30 June 2004 to 31 March 2009 (Excel 24 KB)
• Carer families by departmental zone by carer type and Indigenous status, Queensland, as at 31 March 2009 (Excel 24 KB)

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Map

• Service centre zones and data
  Map of zones and service centre data for the years 2004 through to 2008.

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What role do carers have?

Approved carers play a key role in the child protection system, providing out-of-home care for children when separation from their family is required to ensure their safety.

The approval of carers is prescribed by the Child Protection Act 1999 and the Child Protection Regulation 2000. There are three types of approved carers:

• foster carers - approved to care for any child or young person in the custody or guardianship of the chief executive (Director-General)
• kinship carers - approved to care for a specific child or children who are members of their extended family or with whom they have a pre-existing significant relationship
• provisionally approved carers - applicants wishing to become approved as kinship or foster carers who initially receive a provisional certificate of approval. An applicant will only be issued with a provisional certificate when they have been provisionally assessed as suitable to care for a particular child, and where it is not possible or in the child's best interests to place the child in the care of a foster carer, kinship carer or licensed care service.

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Why this topic is important

In Queensland, there is a critical need for more foster carers to allow the department and community fostering agencies to better match the needs of children with suitable carers.

We are currently undertaking a major campaign to recruit urgently needed foster carers to provide safe and caring homes for children and young people.

An increased pool of foster carers will ensure more long-term, successful and rewarding placements for children who are unable to live with their own families.

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Trends

As at 30 June 2008, there were 3,705 approved carer families, an increase of 14.8 per cent since 30 June 2007. Carer families with provisional approvals showed the greatest increase (26.0 per cent), from 319 as at 30 June 2007 to 402 as at 30 June 2008. This increase is likely due to changes to the regulatory framework for carers whereby applicants wishing to become approved as kinship or foster carers initially receive a provisional approval.

The number of approved foster carer families rose by 19.2 per cent from 1,853 as at 30 June 2007 to 2,209 as at 30 June 2008. Kinship carer families showed a small increase over the same period from 1,055 to 1,094. It should be noted that some provisionally approved carer families were awaiting their approval as a kinship carer. Once this approval is finalised it will increase the number of kinship carer families.

The ratio of children and young people in home-based out-of-home care to the number of carer families has remained relatively stable since 30 June 2004, at around two children to each carer family. This indicates that the increase in the number of children in home-based care over this period has been matched by growth in the number of carer families.

As at 30 June 2008, 14.7 per cent of all approved carer families were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. By comparison, 31.9 per cent of all children placed in home-based care (with approved carers) were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.

The number of Indigenous children placed in home-based care is growing faster than the number of Indigenous carers. Over the last five years, the growth rate of Indigenous children placed in approved home-based care (109.6 per cent increase from 30 June 2004 to 30 June 2008) has exceeded the growth rate of approved Indigenous carer families (47.6 per cent increase).

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Last updated

28 August 2009