The over-representation of young Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people in the South Australian child system: A longitudinal analysis

Although it well established that Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) children are over-represented in the Australian child-welfare system, most conclusions are drawn from crosssectional analyses that are unable to examine the incidence of cases over time or cumulative impacts. In this paper, we summarise the longitudinal and comparative analysis of data relating to children receiving their first notification in 1991 as well as comparisons with children born in 1998 and 2002. The results show that ATSI children's involvement in the child welfare system is even higher when examined longitudinally. Over 50% of ATSI children born in 1991 had contact with this system by the age of 16 and this figure was already exceeded for 4-year-olds in the 2002 cohort. ATSI children were found to be more likely to receive more serious notifications and to have their abuse substantiated. The findings are discussed in relation to recent studies of disproportionality and disparity in the treatment of minority children by child welfare systems.