Child concern reports

Graphs

 Number of child concern reports received, Queensland, 2012-13 to 2016-17

Year	Child concern reports received
2006-07	41615
2007-08	46882
2008-09	59662
2009-10	79471
2010-11	90863

Proportion of child concern reports received, by primary source, Queensland, 2016-17

Year	Parent/ guardian	Other relative	Friend/ neighbour	School personnel	Police	Health sources	All other sources
2009-10	14.3939299 %	5.7731751 %	5.1201067 %	12.7342049 %	36.759321 %	10.3018711 %	14.9173912 %
2010-11	14.1465723 %	6.2940911 %	5.5930357 %	12.3713723 %	36.6100613 %	10.8834179 %	14.1014494 %

Tables

Description	Annual	Quarterly
CCR.1: Child concern reports received by primary source, Queensland	Excel (XLSX, 18 KB)	Excel (XLSX, 21 KB)
CCR.2: Child concern reports by region, Queensland	Excel (XLSX, 16 KB)	Excel (XLSX, 20 KB)
CCR.3: Children subject to a child concern report, by region, Queensland	Excel (XLSX, 17 KB)	Excel (XLSX, 20 KB)

Table notes

What is a child concern report?

A child concern report is recorded when the information received does not suggest a child is in need of protection. A child safety officer may respond to a report by:

• providing information and advice to the person reporting the concern
• making a referral to another agency including a Family and Child Connect Service or an Intensive Family Support service.
• providing any relevant information to the police where there is a possible criminal offence.

Why this topic is important

A child concern report may still indicate there is cause for concern though it does not suggest a child is currently in need of protection.

Services can be offered to assist the child and their family, including referral to prevention and early intervention services. Families are also encouraged and assisted to explore other areas of support, such as wider family and local community.

A child safety officer's role at intake includes offering referrals to build and strengthen a family’s network to increase safety and support for children, young people and their families with the aim of preventing the need for future involvement in the child protection system.

Trends

In 2016-17, the department recorded 85,358 child concern reports. This is an increase of 11.3 per cent compared to 2015-16.

The number of children subject to a child concern report increased by 8.7 per cent, from 51,015 children in 2015-16 to 55,441 children in 2016-17.

Over the past five years the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children subject to a child concern report decreased by 12.4 per cent from 14,244 in 2012-13 to 12,476 in 2016-17. The number of non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children subject to a child concern report decreased by 16.9 per cent from 51,691 in 2012-13 to 42,965 in 2016-17.