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Australia's biggest survey of young people in care has revealed that growing numbers of children are being taken into government protection due to neglect and abuse.
The CREATE Report Card 2013, commissioned by the CREATE Foundation, the peak body for children in care, surveyed 1,069 participants aged eight to 11 from all states and territories except Western Australia.
The report shows 37,648 children and young people were in out-of-home care at June 30, 2011. That represented a 33 per cent increase between 2007 and 2011, a rate of increase of more than 7 per cent each year.
Report Card snapshot
37,648 children and young people in out-of-home care in 2011.
Average 6 placements each.
31 per cent attended three or more primary schools.
35 per cent had five or more caseworkers.
40 per cent didn't feel they could contact their caseworker if needed.
80 per cent happy with their current placement but not satisfied with their history.
50 per cent didn't know why they were brought into care.
36 per cent located in "split" placements - separated from siblings.
49 per cent had no contact with fathers.
33 per cent knew of any formal care plan or "leaving care" or transition plan.
Source: CREATE Report Card 2013
Report author Dr Joseph McDowell said the jump in numbers had a lot to do with a broadening of the definition of abuse and greater vigilance.
"I think the community as a whole is becoming a lot more vigilant about the problems that many families experience," he said.
"There is a lot of attention being focused on that, and certainly in some jurisdictions you find that a lot of young people who are having problems with the family are being taken into care."
CREATE's chief executive Jacqui Reed said she thought there "probably" was "an increase in abuse and neglect".
"We certainly know that drug and alcohol issues play a part in that, and we're seeing that in endemic proportions. We also see families more fragmented," she said.
Hayden Frost was raised in 39 different foster homes from the age of three.
"There was a lot of drug and alcohol abuse and lot of mental issues in my family," the 22-year-old said.
For years, he did not know why he was in care, and was not involved in any decisions about his life.
"It was just someone would come and pick me up and then we're into a new family," he recalled.
"I wouldn't know until that day where I'm woken up and told, 'Mate, it's time to pack to your bags'.
"The anger that goes through your head... the first thing you want to do is just grab something and throw it through a wall."
The report examined how the child protection system was faring from the point of view of young people living in it.
It found that while more than 80 per cent of respondents were happy in their current placement, they were not as satisfied with their placement history.
Thirty-five per cent of those surveyed had to deal with five or more caseworkers during their time in care.
Around a third went to three or more primary schools, while 40 per cent did not feel like they could contact their caseworker when they needed to.
Around half of those surveyed did not know why they were in care. Less than a third knew anything about the care plan developed for them, including a leaving care plan for what was likely to happen after they turned 18.
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