‘Indigenous children continue to be overrepresented’: Report shows the NT has nation’s highest child abuse rates

The NT has rates of child abuse and neglect almost double those of any other jurisdiction, a new report shows.

• Police hunt alleged teen offender after fresh allegation of shocking child sexual abuse in Tennant Creek
• Man charged with raping 3-year-old boy in Karama front yard faces court

THE Northern Territory has rates of child abuse and neglect almost double than those of any other jurisdiction in Australia, new data shows.

Figures in a report released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) today show 18.7 children per 1000 were found to be abused or neglected in the Northern Territory in 2019-20.

MORE TOP NEWS

Ride operator charged over shocking Freds Pass Show crash

Man charged over fatal crash as family mourns woman’s tragic death

‘It’s only a matter of time before an incident occurs’: Ambos say they’re ready to walk off the job due to severe fatigue

The figure is well above the next highest rate, in Victoria, at 11.7 cases per 1000 while the lowest figure was in the ACT, which had only 2.9 cases per 1000.

The disturbing report comes just days after fresh allegations were made of another shocking allegation of child sexual abuse in Tennant Creek involving a seven-year-old girl.

There were 5778 kids in the NT receiving child protection services in 2019-20, up from 5521 over 2018-19.

The number of Territory kids in out-of-home care remained stable sitting at 1032 on June 30, 2020, compared to 1056 the year before.

The report shows there were about 46,000 children in out-of-home care across Australia on June 30, 2020.

Children from very remote areas were three times as likely as those from major cities to be the subject of substantiated abuse.

“Indigenous children continue to be overrepresented with one in six Indigenous children receiving child protection services,” AIHW spokesman Dinesh Indraharan said. “Of those, about one in 18 (18,900) Indigenous kids were in out-of-home care as at 30 June 2020, 11 times the rate for non-Indigenous children.

“In positive news, over 80 per cent of Indigenous children who exited out-of-home care into more stable and permanent arrangements, did not return to care within 12 months.”

Follow @tashemeck