How many households commenced and exited care?

Among jurisdictions with data for both households commencing and exiting care (excluding New South Wales), about 1,300 households commenced foster care and about 1,500 exited foster care in 2020–21 (Table 7.2). There was a net decrease of 205 foster carer households.

In contrast, relative/kinship carer households saw a net increase of about 115 households, with 5,000 commencements and 4,900 exits in 2020–21 (Table 7.2).

This pattern is consistent with carer household commencements and exits in 2019–20 (AIHW 2020) and reflects the difficulties in recruiting and retaining carers (COAG 2009; Commonwealth of Australia 2021) as well as the acknowledgement that relative and kinship carers are the fastest-growing type of carer across Australia (FaHCSIA 2012).

Table 7.2: Households commencing and exiting care, by state or territory, 2020–21 (number)
State or territory Households commencing foster care Households exiting foster care Households commencing relative/kinship care Households exiting relative/kinship care
NSW 760 n.a. 1,504 n.a.
Vic 315 580 2,961 2,983
Qld 424 409 677 588
WA 188 248 678 741
SA 190 109 457 375
Tas 55 53 89 82
ACT 23 1 67 10
NT 82 83 88 121
Total 2,037 1,483 6,521 4,900

Notes:

  1. Excludes respite placements.
  2. For jurisdiction-specific footnotes, see Table 7.2 in the Child protection Australia 2020–21 data tables.

Source: AIHW Child Protection Collection 2020–21.

References

For a full list of references, go to References.

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