Family Matters Report 2024 Report Card

Family Matters – Strong communities. Strong culture. Stronger children. annual report examines what governments are doing to turn the tide on over-representation and the outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. It highlights Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led solutions and calls on governments to support and invest in the strengths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to lead on child wellbeing, development and safety responses for our children.

Family Matters Report 2024 finds that child protection systems continue to fail Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families, exposing them to ongoing harm and trauma. The data shows that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are grossly over-represented at every stage of the child protection system and that we are still a long way off from meeting Target 12 of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap to reduce the rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children entering the out-of-home care system.  

The Family Matters Report 2024 Report Card shows the jurisdictional progress being made on the Building Blocks, which are:

• BUILDING BLOCK 1: Universal and targeted services
• BUILDING BLOCK 2: Participation, control and self-determination
• BUILDING BLOCK 3: Culturally safe and responsive systems
• BUILDING BLOCK 4: Accountability

The key findings of Family Matters Report 2024 include: 

• 22,908 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care, which represents 41% of all children in out-of-home care, despite Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children making up only 6% of the total child population in Australia 
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are 10.8 times more likely to be in out-of-home care than non-Indigenous children 
• among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care: 
  • 41% are living with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander relatives or carers: 
  • 32.2% with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander relatives 
  • 22.1% with non-Indigenous relatives 
  • 8.9% with other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander carers 
  • 26.9% with non-Indigenous non-relative carers 
  • 9% in residential care 
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are 11.5 times more likely to be removed into out-of-home care as infants 
• almost 85% of child protection funding is allocated to intervention and out-of-home care, with only 6% directed towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisations.