Our Government would have you believe that there are only 46,212 children living in Out Of Home Care in a country with a population of over 26,500,000.
I have listed the Technical notes below which if you look at, there is only a small window for children to be considered in this statistical data as living in out of home care and that is only possible if the child protection worker does their job and records it.
This is only one factor which prevents the true number of children both entering and already in care being recorded accurately.
Without accurate statistical data we cannot begin to hope for resources enough to support Australia's most vulnerable children and the carers who care for them.
Many Non Government Agencies are now saying these statistics could be up to five times higher than reported. I would go further and say at least ten times higher. The general public is under the misperception that we have an effective and safe child protection system. This could not be further from the truth. It is archaic, crisis driven and a built for purpose- [to appear to be doing something] -model which has been proven time and time again to crucify those it is designed to help.
We cannot expect to be supported when those in control see us as such an insignificant number. Maybe they would take more notice if the true numbers were recorded. For example if the government thought there was 300,000 kids living in out of home care, one would hope that they must act accordingly to prevent and protect. Until the public understands & acknowledges, that the system is in crisis, the kids are in crisis and the carers are in crisis, then the numbers will escalate undiscovered. We are fighting for the rights of the children we care for to be supported and encouraged to become active, productive members of society but without support for them (medical, educational, etc) we can only do so much. We are part of the solution, not part of the problem!
#ImOneOfMany #Stopdiscriminationinoutofhomecare
Table 5.1: Children in out-of-home care, by state or territory, 30 June 2021