The total recurrent expenditure on child protection, out-of-home care, family support services and intensive family support services in Australia has now reached a record level of $4.8 billion, according to figures released last week by the Australian Government’s Productivity Commission.
Also noteworthy is the increase of 7.7% in total expenditures on child protection and related support services in 2015-16 compared with the previous year when spending was $4.4 billion.
Out-of-home care: national expenditure doubles in a decade
National expenditures on out-of-home care show a similar trend. The chart below, also drawn from Productivity Commission (2017) data, shows how these expenditures more than doubled between 2006-07 and 2015-16 (from $1.34 billion to $2.72 billion).
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