South Australia is making steady progress to curb the rate of children entering care and reduce the overall number of children in care, as a range of key reforms start to deliver improvements throughout the child protection and family support system.
The 2024-25 Report on Government Services (RoGS) released today says that the total number of children and young people in care at 30 June 2025 was 4,482, 46 fewer than 30 June 2024 – representing a 1 per cent reduction in the total number of children and young people in care.
This is the second consecutive year South Australia has reported a reduction in the overall number of children and young people in care.
During the 2024-25 year, 686 children entered care, which is a 2.8 per cent decrease (or 20 fewer) on 2023-24. This is the lowest number of children entering care since 2017-18.
Importantly, there was a 1.4 per cent decrease in the number of children and young people living in residential care.
These statistics reflect the success of programs such as Family Group Conferencing which continues to support families to come together to make decisions about the safety and wellbeing of their children.
Programs such as Finding Families and the Care Beyond Kin program (formerly Additionally Approved Carer Program) are going from strength to strength, helping to cast a wider net for safe family-based care options for children and young people.
Family Group Conferences convened by DCP in partnership with Relationships Australia SA and Aboriginal Family Support Services has expanded into more regional areas and will provide ongoing opportunities for decision-making that is family and community-led and builds on the strengths of the family to secure safe care arrangements for the child or young person.
During 2024-25, 320 family group conferences were convened for 546 children and young people (including 269 Aboriginal children) – up from 284 in 2023-24 for 508 children and young people (including 230 Aboriginal children).
The success rate for these conferences during 2024-25, in keeping children safely in the care of their families, was 89.5 per cent for all children.
Other key data from RoGS shows:
- South Australia completed 43.5 per cent of investigations within 28 days of commencement, the highest result of any jurisdiction and 17.3 percentage points above the national average.
- 97.1 per cent of children exiting out-of-home care in South Australia to a permanency arrangement (eg, reunification) have not returned to care within 12 months. This was the highest result for all reporting jurisdictions and 7.3 percentage points higher than the Australian figure of 89.8 per cent.
Quotes
Attributable to Katrine Hildyard
This data from the Report on Government Services show that the reforms we are steadfastly driving across South Australia’s child protection and family support system are working in ways that help improve children’s lives.
For the second year in a row, fewer children are entering care and we’re seeing fewer children and young people in care overall, which is a clear sign that we are creating safer, stronger pathways for families.
We know the best place for a child to grow up is in a safe and loving family environment wherever possible, whether with their own family or with a foster or kinship carer.
Programs we have targeted investment toward such as Family Group Conferencing, Finding Families and Care Beyond Kin are helping us keep more children connected to their families, culture, and communities.
We are determined to meet this challenge in ways that help empower children and young people and their birth and carer families to thrive
