In 2025, a staggering 75% of all reports received by child protection services in Victoria concerned children who had already been reported before, according to new findings. This alarming statistic underscores a systemic failure that has left dozens of vulnerable children dead after being deemed not at risk.
Commissioner Raises Alarm on Ineffective Referrals
The state’s commissioner for children and young people, Tracy Beaton, has raised serious concerns about cycles of ineffective referrals to voluntary services and closed reports. In 35 cases of children who died after interactions with the system, the commission found that these children had been the subject of 267 reports to child protection—an average of eight each—with 231 closed at intake or investigation stages. “Many of these reports contained information of real ongoing and/or escalating risk,” Beaton noted, yet child protection failed to assess them as significant.
Auditor General Highlights Data Deficiencies
The auditor general’s report, released a day earlier, revealed that the out-of-home care system is not fully meeting children’s needs. Delayed, inaccurate, and incomplete data has long hampered child protection workers’ ability to make informed decisions, monitor placements, and deliver effective services. Despite multiple past reports identifying these systemic issues, the department’s appeals for funding to address them were unsuccessful.
The number of foster carers is declining significantly, increasing pressure on the kinship care system, which now accounts for 81.7% of placements. Victoria’s carer payments are the lowest in Australia, a key factor in the declining carer numbers, the report said.
Kinship Carers Demand Better Support
Anne McLeish, director of Kinship Carers Victoria, criticized the inadequate assessments and funding for children with high-level needs. “The lack of data is stunning,” she said, adding that “the system doesn’t even accurately know where some of the children they’re responsible for are living.”
Refer-and-Close Roundabout Traps Children
The commission’s report found children caught in a “refer-and-close roundabout,” where cases were closed and referred to voluntary family services, which in 58% of cases could not engage families. This was due to parent refusal or long waitlists, as funding for these services met only one-third of demand in the last financial year.
Calls to child protection services increased from 118,096 in 2021-2022 to about 151,000 in 2024-2025, escalating pressure on staff to assess risk and make decisions, particularly in cases of neglect and cumulative harm.
Union and Opposition Respond
Jiselle Hanna, state secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union, said the reports confirm what workers have long known: “Despite their best work, the needs of our most vulnerable children are not being met. Staff and carer burnout is common due to chronic understaffing, underfunding, and increasing pressure.”
Opposition leader Jess Wilson stated, “We’re seeing a system that continues to fail the most vulnerable children. We need to do better.” The Victorian government has been approached for comment.
Queensland Reforms Underway
In Queensland, child safety minister Amanda Camm announced reforms to the Adoption Act following a commission of inquiry. One controversial recommendation is to end the principle that adoption is a last resort for Indigenous children, a rule not applied to non-Indigenous children. Camm said she would “always put the interests of children first, no matter their cultural background.”
