The National Framework is designed to provide the foundation for national reform to ensure that
Australia's children and young people are safe and well. As a measure of this high-level outcome, governments and the non-government sector have set the target of a
substantial and sustained reduction in child abuse and neglect in Australia over time. Both will take time to achieve. In the meantime, this Implementation Plan 2009-2012 sets out how we intend to measure progress over both the short and long term.
Short and long-term progress needs to be clearly and regularly communicated to stakeholders in the community, to government and, specifically, to children and young people.
Reporting will need to make the best use of work already being done by State, Territory and Commonwealth governments to improve and focus the evidence base on the safety and wellbeing of Australia's children.
A long-term approach
The National Framework is designed to achieve long-term change over the period to 2020; all of the actions and strategies outlined under this first three-year action plan will contribute to this change.
A critical component of reporting is the links across a range of other national plans to the National Framework. Many associated reporting frameworks will inform the National Framework's outcomes for children, for example the achievements of the National Early Childhood Agenda, National Indigenous Reform Agreement, the National Mental Health Strategy, and national reforms in the areas of disability, housing and drugs and alcohol.
Achievement of the National Framework's high-level outcome - that Australia's children and young people are safe and well - will not be immediately measurable, due to its long-term focus. Some of the 29 indicators of change can be mapped against the outlined priority areas and can be reported on within the next three years, while others will require substantial data development work and will be tracked against future rounds of action plans. However, there are a number of ways that we will be able to track the success of the actions under the first three-year action plan. These include:
- reporting to CDSMC annually on:
- delivery of national priorities
- progress against the 29 identified indicators of change
- State and Territory government reforms
- community initiatives through the Children's Commissioners and Guardians and the Coalition of Organisations Committed to the Safety and Wellbeing of Australia's Children
- presenting a report card to COAG annually, for the life of the first action plan, which will be publicly released.
- documenting the stories of families and children in Australia about everyday improvements in their lives.
Services delivered largely or wholly by non-government organisations (Independent of governments), will be reflected in the annual status report to COAG. Formally evaluating actions undertaken in the first three-year action plan, and ultimately the National Framework as a whole, will also help to work out whether we've achieved long-term change.
The trends we will use to measure progress towards a substantial and sustained reduction in child abuse and neglect in Australia over time are set out below.
Trends to measure progress towards high-level target
- Trends in key national indicators of children's health, development and wellbeing
- Trends in hospital admissions and emergency department visits for neglect and injuries to children under three years
- Trends in substantiated child protection cases
- Trends in the number of children in out-of-home care
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) reports on trends like these on an annual basis, and other organisations, such as State and Territory Children's Commissioners, also have substantial child protection data expertise. However, because of the National Framework's long-term focus, it may be a number of years before the full impact of the measures agreed in the first three-year action plan are reflected in AIHW and other data. These trends are influenced by well-known difficulties such as the extent of under-reporting of abuse and substantiating notifications. An increased focus on child protection combined with enhanced reporting could mean that, at least initially, some of the trends may go up, not down.
The National Framework outlines 29 indicators of change to measure achievement of the six supporting outcomes it identifies.
Some of these indicators rely on data that is currently collected, while other indicators will need further data development. Further indicators may also need to be included as work on the actions progresses. Table 2 lists all indicators of change, including those that require further development.
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Table 1: Indicators of change
| Data currently collected |
To be developed |
- Rate per 100,000 babies born with low birth weight
- Proportion of communities with improved measures against the Australian Early Development Index
- Proportion of disadvantaged 3 year olds in early childhood education
- Proportion of children aged 4 to 14 years with mental health problems
- Rate of child protection notifications
- Rate per 1,000 children accessing assistance through homelessness services (accompanied & unaccompanied)
- Proportion of investigations finalised by time taken to complete investigation
- Proportion of children on guardianship and custody orders achieving national reading and numeracy benchmarks
- Number of out-of-home carers, by type of carer
- Rate per 1,000 Indigenous children with substantiated cases compared to other children
- Rate per 1,000 Indigenous children in out-of-home care compared with other children
- Proportion of Indigenous children placed in accordance with the Indigenous Child Placement Principles
- Proportion of Indigenous 3 to 4 year olds participating in quality early childhood education, development and child care services
- Rate of hospitalisations for injury and poisoning for Indigenous children aged 0 to 4 years
- Ratio of Indigenous out-of-home care placement through mainstream or Indigenous services
- Rate per 100,000 children aged 0-4, 5-9, 10-14, and 15-19 reported with sexually transmitted diseases
- Number and rate of children with substantiations related to sexual abuse
|
- Community attitudes towards and value of children
- Children's perception of their value within the community
- Measure of children's and young people's participation in administrative and judicial proceedings that affect them
- Proportion of pregnant women who receive perinatal care
- Number of at-risk children and families accessing support services
- Rate per 1,000 children living in households where there is adult abuse of alcohol and/or other drugs
- Number of children living in jobless families
- Rate per 1,000 children living in households where family violence occurs
- Proportion of parents with a mental illness who are accessing mental health services
- School retention rates (Years 10 & 12) of young people in out-of-home care or under guardianship
- Retention rate of foster carers and child protection workers
- Number of individuals and organisations prosecuted for sexually exploiting children
|
Well-known sources of existing data include the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's
Child Protection Australia, the Productivity Commission's
Report on Government Services and the Australian Institute of Family Studies'
National Child Protection Clearinghouse. Many of our universities and tertiary institutions undertake valuable research and much can also be gained by studying international best practice.
These valuable sources of information and data may sometimes appear slow to respond to developing policy priorities. As actions get under way, it will be important to connect existing and future data collections and streamline reporting to avoid duplication.
A set of performance indicators will be developed as part of the Implementation Plan 2009-2012, providing another opportunity to measure progress and outcomes.
CDSMC has agreed that it will simplify reporting in the first three-year action plan so that people will know how things are going and the community can get engaged. One of the national priorities is to fill the research gaps, which will be done in consultation with key academics and expert practitioners. Agreement on terminology is also critical and investments will be made in reviewing, refining and developing existing data.
Reporting on the actions in the National Framework will contribute to an increase in knowledge about child protection, safety and wellbeing in Australia. It will also reinforce key messages such as
child protection is everyone's business and
early intervention is important.
Figure 2 shows the short and long-term measures of success under the National Framework.
Figure 2: Measures of success 