0

17 years

• Each child is only counted once.
• All children who were in out-of-home care during the financial year, except those on long-term guardianship or custody orders for the whole year, are counted for this indicator.
• Age is calculated at time of reunification or, for children without a reunification, at the end of the reporting period or the end of their episode of care if they are not in care at the end of the reporting period.
• A reunification is only counted if it is also an “exit” from care—that is, the child was not in care for at least 60 days following the reunification event.
• If a child has more than one reunification in the reporting period only the latest reunification is counted.
• The rate ratio for this indicator is calculated by dividing the proportion of Indigenous children in out-of-home care who were reunified by the corresponding proportion for non-Indigenous children. 
• As the Child protection NMDS 2016–17 does not include reunification data, reporting of this indicator for 2016–17 is based on data covering reunification events during the 2016–17 reporting period in the Child protection NMDS 2017–18.

100 × (Numerator ÷ Denominator)

The number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care who were reunified during the reporting period, excluding children on long-term guardianship or custody orders for the whole of the reporting period, who were aged 0–17 at the time of reunification.  

The number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care during the reporting period, excluding children on long-term guardianship or custody orders for the whole of the reporting period, who were aged 0-17 years at the end of the reporting period or at the end of their latest episode of care.

2016–17 to 2019–20

By state and territory and:

• Reunification status
• Indigenous status (and rate ratio)

Comparability with similar reporting

ATSICPP Indicator 2.3 is derived using the same methodology as the Permanency Outcomes Performance Framework Indicator 1.3 (AIHW 2020a).

Other than the focus of ATSICPP Indicator 2.3 being Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children rather than all children, the other key differences between the indicators relate to which disaggregations are reported. ATSICPP Indicator 2.3 includes Indigenous status disaggregations and rate ratios in data tables. Permanency Indicator 1.3 reports additional disaggregations by age and time in out-of-home care.

For additional details and background on the method and development of this indicator, see Child protection Australia 2019–20 Appendixes B–G (AIHW 2020a).

Exclusion of children on long-term guardianship or custody orders

Although some children are reunified from long-term orders, reunification is generally not a priority for these children; children on these orders are therefore not included in the numerator or denominator for this indicator.

Reunifications

There is no nationally agreed definition of reunifications. As such, comparison of reunification data across jurisdictions should acknowledge that reporting of reunification is based on local definitions.

This indicator includes all children who were reunified during the reporting period regardless of whether the reunification was successful and/or the number of reunification events. It includes children who self-reunify and for whom the reunification is subsequently endorsed by the department.

Although this indicator is a proxy for reunification rates, it does not take into consideration time spent in care—children who enter care at the end of the reporting period will be counted with the same weight in the denominator as children who have been in care for the entire period.

Fourth Action Plan under the National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2009–2020

Australian Institute for Health and Welfare (AIHW)