Like every other organisation, in 2019-20 the Department for Child Protection (DCP) faced unprecedented challenges. No one could have anticipated COVID-19 and the impact that this would have on our community. Child protection is an essential service that needed to maintain service delivery throughout the pandemic. We worked proactively with our providers to adapt to new ways of working during COVID-19. Our top priority continues to be the safety and wellbeing of children and young people in care, carers and staff.

I am immensely proud of all that our department has achieved in 2019-20:

• Released Safe and well: Supporting families, protecting children providing a whole of government framework to progress child protection reform.
• Developed a new $3 million program to engage three Aboriginal organisations to deliver specialised support to kinship carers of Aboriginal children.
• Invested in the Sanctuary model of therapeutic care for implementation across all of DCP’s residential homes over the next three years.
• Published a new Manual of Practice and developed the DCP Practice Approach, establishing a child protection practice approach that is tailored to South Australia’s legislative and cultural context.
• Established the Expert Aboriginal Child Protection Advisory Committee to assist DCP to achieve its goal of full implementation of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle.
• Commenced Family Group Conferencing, with an emphasis on cultural safety and responsiveness for Aboriginal families.
• Delivered contract reform, establishing a dedicated online Contract Management and Licensing System and being the first government agency to enable paperless contract management.
• Established a multidisciplinary In-care Service, which provides support to kinship carers to assist with understanding children’s development, strengthening relationships, and building capacity for continued care. The Service also provides therapeutic intervention for children and young people in residential care.
• Developed the DCP Aboriginal Procurement Policy, released on 20 January 2020, setting targets for minimum representation of Aboriginal organisations within DCP’s expenditure.
• Increased procurement from Aboriginal organisations to 6.3% in 2019-20, with the aim to grow this engagement to 7% by the end of 2021-22.
• Launched the Carer Charter and established a carer website.

Despite these successes, there’s much more to do. We need to continue to strengthen our commitment to building stronger partnerships as we work with our providers and carers to improve outcomes for children and young people in care.

In presenting this report, I wish to thank the many hard working and dedicated people who have contributed to supporting families, protecting children and investing in their futures. I look forward to continuing to work with our Minister, our staff, partners, carers and clients to achieve better outcomes for children and young people in care.

Cathy Taylor
Chief Executive
Department for Child Protection

Our strategic focus

Our organisational structure

Changes to the agency

During 2019-20 there were no changes to the agency’s structure and objectives as a result of internal reviews or machinery of government changes.

Our Minister

The Honourable Rachel Sanderson MP is the Minister for Child Protection.

The Minister is responsible for the care and protection of children and young people in South Australia.

The Minister is also responsible for promoting the wellbeing of children and young people, and supporting early intervention where they may be at risk of harm.

Our Executive team

• Chief Executive
• Deputy Chief Executive
• Lead Psychiatric Director
• Chief Financial Officer
• Chief Human Resources Officer
• Chief Information Officer
• Executive Director, Service Delivery and Practice
• Regional Director, Northern Region
• Regional Director, Far North Far West Region
• Regional Director, Central Region
• Regional Director, Southern Region
• Executive Director, Out of Home Care
• Director, Residential Care
• Director, Aboriginal Practice
• Director, Quality and Practice
• Director, Legal Services and Redress
• Director, Commissioning, Performance and Disability

Legislation administered by the agency

• Adoption Act 1988
• Adoption (General) Regulations 2018
• Adoptions (Fees) Regulations 2019 (revoked 1 July 2020)
• Child Protection Review (Powers and Immunities) Act 2002
• Children and Young People (Safety) Act 2017
• Children and Young People (Safety) Regulations 2017
• Children’s Protection Law Reform (Transitional Arrangements and Related Amendments) Act 2017 (administered by Department of Human Services)
• Commission of Inquiry (Children in State Care and Children on APY Lands) Act 2004
• Family and Community Services Act 1972
• Family and Community Services Regulations 2009

Performance at a glance

In spite of the challenges experienced during 2019-20, this has been a year of innovation, development and achievement. Significant work has been undertaken in the last year to strongly define the strategic direction and reform focus for child protection within DCP, as well as across government.

In November 2019, the State Government published Safe and well: Supporting families, protecting children. This strategy sets out South Australia’s plan to support vulnerable families to thrive and keep children safe. It brings together reform activities being undertaken across government and includes how we are responding to recommendations of both the Child Protection Royal Commission and the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Abuse.

In 2019, DCP published its three-year strategic plan and the first in a series of three annual action plans detailing how DCP will deliver on its visions for all children and young people to grow up safe, happy, healthy and nurtured to reach their full potential.

A number of other strategic documents have been developed to guide the DCP’s staff, key partners and the sector about DCP’s direction and in specific areas of focus and action.

The first Aboriginal Action Plan 2019-20 was launched committing the department to ambitious action to embed the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle across DCP’s business and child protection practice. The 2020-21 Action Plan has been released to support the department to build on this activity into the future.

In January 2020, Every effort for every child was released and outlines DCP’s three-year plan to reform the in care system for children and young people. Actions are set out across five priority areas to deliver a needs based system, grow family based care, transform non-family based care, improve transition from care and enhance quality and safety.

In February 2020, Investing in their future was released outlining the State Government’s refreshed commitment to providing children and young people in care with priority access to services and programs. This initiative builds on the former Rapid Response program and includes initiatives like early access to preschool from three years, free VACSWIM water safety and survival programs and priority access to dental services and treatments.

As part of DCP’s COVID-19 response a range of measures were implemented to strengthen service delivery going forward:

• Rapid testing arrangements for children and young people in care, with a focus on high-risk situations such as residential care facilities or children with other health issues.
• Increased psychological assessment capacity, including bringing a new approved provider on board.
• Child and Youth Worker exemption availability until 30 September 2020, providing us with extra capacity to care for children and young people in the case of an outbreak that impacts our workforce numbers.
• Modified licensing processes for residential care that allow a level of self-assessment, reducing the need for physical inspections.
• Virtual training for carers.

DCP was the first Australian child protection department to identify the need to offer additional supports to carers particularly given the financial pressures experienced as a result of the pandemic. An additional $200 payment was provided to assist carers with the cost of COVID-19 related purchases such as cleaning products, hand sanitiser and soap. DCP workforce mobility was dramatically increased to allow our essential services to continue, including the roll-out of mobile devices/laptops and remote working arrangements for staff.

Communication with the sector was streamlined through dedicated COVID-19 content on the DCP website, topic-based online forums and regular coronavirus updates. The sector provided positive feedback about DCP’s communications and collaborative approach during this time.  Additionally, coronavirus information for carers was published on the online carer platform, allowing staff and the sector to point carers towards a single point of truth. This included a range of resources to support carers spending more time at home and information sheets for how to talk to children and young people about the virus.

During this challenging time, DCP has continued to deliver on our commitment to increase the system’s capacity for family based care, including through the recruitment of 82 primary foster carers.

During 2019-20 DCP worked closely with the Department for Education (DE) to better understand the opportunities to improve educational outcomes for children and young people in care. The two departments have committed to a joint plan of action for the coming year to enhance the way they will work together and ensure children and young people in care are supported to learn and thrive. DE established a Children in Care Service to provide expert support for children and young people in care. To match this support, DCP has nominated Education Champions across service delivery and will work closely with this Children in Care Service on improving education outcomes for children in care.

The National Redress Scheme (NRS) commenced on 1 July 2018. Between 1 July 2019 and 30 June 2020, DCP received 492 Requests for Information (RFIs) in relation to 229 Applicants. Approximately 21% of Applicants identified as Aboriginal. Of the applications received by DCP, 120 have had outcomes determined by the NRS. A total of 58 survivors have accepted an offer of redress; and two survivors have sought and received a Direct Personal Response.

Agency contribution to whole of Government objectives

Agency specific objectives and performance

Corporate performance summary

During 2019-20, DCP continued to contribute towards a number of key corporate initiatives, including:

• Worked towards meeting the goals set out in the Aboriginal Employment Strategy 2019-20 by implementing a range of initiatives to attract Aboriginal people. Priority areas include offering meaningful and sustainable employment opportunities across all areas of DCP, retaining Aboriginal employees, and ensuring the workplace is supportive and culturally safe.
• Delivered on its commitment to increase and expand its relationship with Aboriginal Controlled Organisations (ACCOs). In order to encourage the participation of ACCOs, procurement methodologies were introduced to reduce traditionally adversarial aspects of the competitive tender processes. The successful development of these relationship will contribute to better outcomes for Aboriginal children and young people.
• Expanded its commitment to training, and the professional development of staff in order to maintain a highly skilled workforce. During 2019-20, areas of focus included leadership development, professional supervision, trauma informed practice and cultural capability.
• Further embedded the cultural development training program Aboriginal Cultural Footprint, which provides staff with the knowledge, skills and understanding required to work with Aboriginal children, families and communities.
• Continued to develop a department-wide child protection specific commissioning approach. This approach will provide DCP staff with tools and guidance to support the consistent design, development, monitoring and evaluation of services
• Continued to deliver contract reform, establishing a dedicated online Contract Management and Licensing System and being the first government agency to enable paperless contract management.
• Established the DCP staff recognition program with the Minister and Chief Executive presenting awards of recognition in November 2019.
• Established the MyPlace program under which staff and individual young people in residential care create more nurturing and enriching environments within their homes. One of the project’s key objectives is to listen to young people’s voices, opinions and preferences, and to support their participation in decisions about their home.

Employment opportunity programs

Agency performance management and development systems

Work health, safety and return to work programs

*number of claimants assessed during the reporting period as having a whole person impairment of 30% or more under the Return to Work Act 2014 (Part 2 Division 5)

**before third party recovery

As DCP became a stand-alone department in November 2016, data is only available from this time. Data for previous years is available at: https://data.sa.gov.au/data/dataset/1f5439d0-0e78-4c34-8c0f-44a820ae07b1

Executive employment in the agency

Data reflects the number of employees under an executive contract as at 30 June 2020, this figure does not include vacancies or persons employed on executive backfill arrangements (non-executive contracts) at the time.

As DCP became a stand-alone department in November 2016, data is only available from this time. Data for previous years is available at: https://data.sa.gov.au/data/dataset/51fa28a7-5220-45e0-ab73-92472f1b2c00

The Office of the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment has a workforce information page that provides further information on the breakdown of executive gender, salary and tenure by agency.

Financial performance at a glance

The following is a brief summary of the overall financial position of the agency. The information is unaudited. Full audited financial statements for 2019-20 are attached to this report.

In the above table the figures for 'Total Income' and 'Total Expenses' have been transposed.

Consultants disclosure

The following is a summary of external consultants that have been engaged by the agency, the nature of work undertaken, and the actual payments made for the work undertaken during the financial year.

Consultancies with a contract value below $10,000 each

Consultancies with a contract value above $10,000 each

As DCP became a stand-alone department in November 2016, data is only available from this time. Data for previous years is available at: https://data.sa.gov.au/data/dataset/0ec74e12-fdd5-46d5-9341-70f3af068262

See also the Consolidated Financial Report of the Department of Treasury and Finance for total value of consultancy contracts across the South Australian Public Sector.

Contractors disclosure

The following is a summary of external contractors that have been engaged by the agency, the nature of work undertaken, and the actual payments made for work undertaken during the financial year.

Contractors with a contract value below $10,000

Contractors with a contract value above $10,000 each

As DCP became a stand-alone department in November 2016, data is only available from this time. Data for previous years is available at: https://data.sa.gov.au/data/dataset/e87cca76-bbf0-47c6-a4ab-4bdd6549bddb

The details of South Australian Government-awarded contracts for goods, services, and works are displayed on the SA Tenders and Contracts website. View the agency list of contracts.

The website also provides details of across government contracts.

Risk and audit at a glance

The DCP Internal Audit and Risk function has reviewed DCP’s Strategic and Operational Risk registers to ensure alignment with DCP’s Strategic Plan and support decision-making and governance activities. Work to embed risk management principles and best practice across all business areas is continuing.

Additionally, internal audit reviews have been undertaken in line with DCP’s three-year internal audit plan. This included reviews of Cyber Security, Data Governance and Human Resource Recruitment practices. A revised three-year Internal Audit Plan for 2020 to 2023 has been developed which will provide continued coverage of the key strategic and operational risks

Fraud detected in the agency

NB: Fraud reported includes actual and reasonably suspected incidents of fraud.

Strategies implemented to control and prevent fraud

DCP has embedded the Fraud and Corruption Control Procedure, which formalises processes and strategies for preventing, detecting and responding to actual, alleged or suspected fraud. The Procedure contributes to a departmental culture that is aware of the risks of fraud, and ensures all employees are aware of their obligations to report conduct reasonably suspected of being fraud, corruption or other criminality, misconduct or maladministration.

Other measures to assist in the identification and control of fraud include internal and external audit programs, internal reporting and governance frameworks, annual financial controls self-assessments, and disclosures made under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2018 and the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption Act 2012.

As DCP became a stand-alone department in November 2016, data is only available from this time. Data for previous years is available at: https://data.sa.gov.au/data/dataset/d9725de4-0eba-4241-b51e-d0406dd52b8a

Public interest disclosure

Number of occasions on which public interest information has been disclosed to a responsible officer of the agency under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2018:

Nil

As DCP became a stand-alone department in November 2016, data is only available from this time. Data for previous years is available at: https://data.sa.gov.au/data/dataset/f6b5f1d9-c2bc-44f6-9a26-fb76fb1f6a64

Note:  Disclosure of public interest information was previously reported under the Whistleblowers Protection Act 1993 and repealed by the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2018 on 1/7/2019.

Reporting by the Department for Child Protection

DCP is unable to report fully on section 156(1)(a)(ii) and (iii) as reporting capacity is yet to be developed, as at 30 June 2020,

• The rate of case plan completion for Aboriginal children and young people was 87.2%.
• Currently, 56.6% of Aboriginal children and young people have a completed and approved Aboriginal Cultural Identity Support Tool (ACIST). DCP is incorporating the ACIST into the case plan, which will support an integrated approach to cultural maintenance plans.

• All children and young people for which DCP had case management responsibility, had a Primary Assigned Case Worker recorded at 30 June 2020.
• Improvements to the DCP Connected Client and Case Management System (C3MS) were deployed to enable DCP to effectively report on case plans. DCP is progressing the implementation of a new enterprise Data Analytic Tool and the internal reporting capabilities which support this.
• The rate of case plan completion for children and young people in care was 87.3% as at 30 June 2020.
• In the period from 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020, 46 recommendations of the Child Protection Systems Royal Commission were completed. As at 30 June 2020, 210 recommendations were completed in total and 46 recommendations were yet to be completed (noting 4 recommendations were not accepted).
• DCP has reported on section 156(1)(e) in the form of the Safe and well: 2020 Annual Report, which is a comprehensive multi-agency response to the implementation of the Child Protection Systems Royal Commission recommendations available on the DCP website via the following link: https://www.childprotection.sa.gov.au/child-protection-initiatives/system-reform/safe-and-well

• During 2019-20:
  • 807 children and young people were placed with a temporary carer.
  • 1,568 temporary placements were made.
• As at 30 June 2020, of the 807 children and young people who were in temporary placements in 2019-20:
  • 8 children and young people remain in a temporary placement.
  • 456 children and young people are no longer in care.
  • 343 children and young people have been placed in an alternative placement type (for example, with an approved carer or in a residential care facility).

  Reporting by the Minister for Child Protection

  Act or Regulation	Requirement
  Children and Young People (Safety) Act 2017	Section 15 – Additional annual reporting obligations (detailed below)

  Section 15(1)(a) detailing the role of the Minister, and the extent to which the Minister has performed the Minister's functions, in respect of the operation of this Act for the financial year ending on the preceding 30 June; and

  This annual report details the role of the Minister and the extent to which the Minister has performed the Minister’s functions for the 2019-20 financial year. In addition, the Minister has:

  • Led the development of Safe and well: Supporting families, protecting children,providing a whole of government framework to progress child protection reform. The strategy outlines the action the Government is taking to support families at risk of entering the child protection system, protect children from harm when they come into care, and invest in young people to leave care with opportunities for a bright future.
  • Worked with Ministerial counterparts to support a national approach to child protection responses to COVID-19. The unprecedented generosity and support across Ministerial and senior executive leaders was pivotal to ensure DCP, as an essential service, was prepared in the event of local outbreaks.
  • Led work to ensure that all children and young people in care can actively participate and achieve in their education, and access quality learning from birth, through all ages and stages of preschool, primary school and high school.
  • Supported and promoted research and partnerships with research organisations to address matters impacting young people who are at risk of entering the child protection system. This included introducing a new Research Management Framework, comprising 15 new research projects and the completion of seven projects.
  • Supported collaborative work with DHS on the co-design and development of the Child and Family Support System.
  • Launched Investing in their future, an initiative that helps children and young people in care access a range of services to support them to thrive and reach their full potential. The initiative provides children in care with priority access to services to achieve better outcomes in their health, education and wellbeing.
  • Achieved significant contract reform, resulting in a reduction in costs whilst improving the quality of care for children and young people.
  • Led a foster care campaign to encourage South Australians to consider whether they could provide a safe, stable and loving home for our most vulnerable children and young people.
  • Committed to the continual recruitment and retention of frontline child protection workers whilst exploring new and innovative approaches to attracting quality candidates.
  • Launched a partnership with Catholic Education South Australia, who are providing up to 100 scholarships to primary and secondary-aged children and young people in care across all South Australian Catholic schools.
  • Led consultation and policy development on the practice of open adoption from care as one of a range of permanency options available for children and young people, with the exception of Aboriginal children and young people in care. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle applies to permanency planning for Aboriginal children and young people.
  • Undertook targeted consultation process with key stakeholders on the operations of the Children and Young People (Safety) Act 2017 to mark the first year anniversary of the full commencement of the legislation.
  • Recruited an additional 82 carers, exceeding the government’s target of 50 by 32.

  (b) setting out the following information relating to the provision of family support services and intensive family support services to children and young people who are at risk and their families:

  (i) the extent to which such services were provided by, or on behalf of, the State (including statistical data relating to the number of times such services were provided) during the financial year ending on the preceding 30 June;

  (ii) the amount of resources allocated for the provision of such services by or on behalf of the State—

  (A) during the financial year ending on the preceding 30 June; and

  (B) during the current financial year;

  (iii) the extent to which the allocated resources were, in fact, spent on the provision of such services during the financial year ending on the preceding 30 June.

  The following information summarises the delivery of programs/services that relate to the provision of family support services and intensive services to children and young people who are at risk and their families.

  PROGRAM / SERVICE	DESCRIPTION AND SUMMARY OF OUTCOMES IN 2019-20	FINANCIAL INFORMATION
  		2020-21 Budget $m	2019-20 Actual Expenditure $m	2019-20 Budget $m
  Child and Family Assessment and Referral Networks (CFARN)	CFARN teams work with children and families to provide a coordinated, targeted and culturally appropriate earlier intervention approach to improve the safety, health, development and education outcomes where risk factors exist. CFARN is led by DHS in Northern Adelaide, Southern Adelaide and the Limestone Coast, and in Western Adelaide by Relationships Australia SA (non-government partner). There were 428 clients with 847 associated children serviced during 2019-20.	$2.935	$2.036	$2.694
  Child Wellbeing Practitioners	Child Wellbeing Practitioners deliver services to children and families to improve the safety and wellbeing of children who are identified as vulnerable and/or at risk of child protection within the state’s public-school system. There were 974 families with 2,225 associated children serviced during 2019-20.	$7.939	$6.076	$7.783
  Community Services Support Program (CSSP) - Family Support and Early Intervention	CSSP Family Support and Early Intervention services aim to improve child development outcomes in vulnerable families, and to prevent crises or problems escalating within vulnerable families that can lead to family conflict and family breakdown. 1,794 individuals were provided with family support and early intervention through CSSP during 2019-20.	$4.32	$4.22	$4.21
  Community Support Program (CSP)	The CSP stream is a transitional funding stream for organisations that do not yet meet the requirements of the CSSP. Two organisations were funded through the CSP stream in 2019-20, with both having a focus on supporting families of at-risk children or young people. One program has a focus on provision of information and advocacy (1,217 individuals supported in 2019-20) while the other provides family support and early intervention (90 individuals received services in 2019-20).	$0.29	$0.29	$0.282
  Family by Family2	Family by Family is delivered by a non-government organisation to children and families who are assessed as vulnerable to child abuse and neglect and who are at risk of being involved in the statutory child protection system. There were 219 families with 402 associated children serviced during 2019-20.	$1.707	$1.786	$1.633
  Family Practitioners3	Family Practitioners deliver a statewide service to children and families where child protection risks have been identified, to support children’s overall safety and wellbeing within the state’s Children’s Centres. There were 805 families with 1,518 associated children serviced during 2019-20.	$4.813	$3.318	$4.718
  Family Preservation Services	Family Preservation Services are delivered by non-government organisations to families to preserve and strengthen family relationships, ensuring children and young people can remain safely in the care of their families. There were 219 families with 526 associated children serviced during 2019-20.	$3.996	$3.814	$3.824
  Northern Adelaide Intensive Support Pilot	The Northern Adelaide Intensive Support Pilot is delivered by a non-government organisation to provide services to families whose children have been assessed by DCP as being at imminent risk of having their child or children placed in care. There were 33 families with 101 associated children serviced during 2019-20.	$1.400	$1.400	$1.400
  Strong Start	Strong Start is a government led service in Northern and Southern Adelaide to support first time mothers experiencing multiple complexities in their lives, to create a safe and nurturing environment for their baby. There were 159 families with 153 associated children serviced during 2019-20.	$1.365	$1.180	$1.338
  Targeted Intervention Service 5	Targeted Intervention Services are delivered by non-government organisations to families to improve family functioning, help to prevent family breakdown, decrease the occurrence of child abuse and neglect and to reduce the likelihood of children entering in care. There were 458 families with 1,163 associated children serviced during 2019-20.	$6.465	$6.18	$6.18
  Tiraapendi Wodli (Justice Reinvestment Port Adelaide)	As one part of the new Child and Family Support System, this program builds community capacity to reduce Aboriginal family violence and over-representation in youth justice and the child protection system. The Tiraapendi Wodli Priority Action Plan 2019-2021 identifies actions to strengthen local community capacity and deliver improvements across a range of indicators in education, employment, health, justice, and family safety. It also aims to improve the accessibility of government services and strengthen collaboration between government and Aboriginal people. 99 individuals were provided with services during 2019-20.	$0.41	$0.40	$0.40
  Western Adelaide Intensive Support Pilot	Commencing on 17 April 2020, the Western Adelaide Intensive Support Pilot is delivered by a non-government organisation to provide services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families whose children have been assessed by DCP as being at imminent risk of having their child or children placed in care. There were two families consisting of 13 individuals serviced during 2019-20.	$0.75	$0.25	$0.25

  ² Family by Family was transferred from the Department for Education (DE) to the Department of Human Services (DHS) as part of Machinery of Government (MOG) changes on 1 July 2019.

  ³Family Practitionerswas transferred from DE to DHS as part of MOG changes on 1 July 2019. The budget for 2018-19 was a combined budget and is unable to be provided separately.

  ⁴Family Preservation Services was transferred from DCP to DHS as part of MOG changes on 1 July 2019.

  ⁵Targeted Intervention Service was transferred from DE to DHS as part of MOG changes on 1 July 2019.

  2019-20 Budget figures vary from what was published in the 2018-19 DCP Annual Report due to MOG changes and CPI increases.

  Section 15(1)(b)(iv) bench-marking the resources referred to in subparagraph (ii) and (iii) against those allocated and spent by other States and Territories in the provision of such services during the financial year ending on the preceding 30 June; and

  The Report on Government Services (ROGS) details this information. It is published in January each year and is available from https://www.pc.gov.au/research/ongoing/report-on-government-services.

  (c) providing any other information required by the regulations for the purposes of this paragraph.

  	Indicators of Performance	Performance 2019-20	Performance Comparison to 2018-19
  Responding to notifications	Total calls made to the Call Centre	65,334	In 2019-20 the number of calls to the Call Centre decreased by 7.1% from 2018-19 (70,297). In 2019-20, 77.7% of calls to the Call Centre were answered, a 3.8 percentage point decrease on the 81.5% (57,270) answered in 2018-19.
  	Number of calls answered	50,751
  	Average wait time to the Child Abuse Report Line	15 min 22 sec	The average wait time to the Child Abuse Report Line in 2019-20 was 4 minutes 7 seconds more than 2018-19 (11 min 15 sec)
  	Number of eCARL submissions	37,496	There were 2,518 (7.2%) more eCARL submissions in 2019-20 than in 2018-19 (34,9786)
  	Total number of notifications referred for an alternative response	14,879	Of the 14,879 notifications referred: 7,980 were referred to an   appropriate State Authority 6,899 were referred for   another outcome, including family meeting, case management responses or phone   contact.
  Child protection responses	Number of notifications	75,552 (17,364 notifications for Aboriginal children and young people)	In 2019-20 there were 2,647 (3.4%) fewer notifications received than in 2018-19 (78,199). There were 10,718 (37.2%) more notifications screened-in for further assessment and response in 2019-20, than in 2018-19 (28,790). Of the 2019-20 notifications, 52.3% were screened-in compared to 36.8% screened-in for 2018-19. Notifications for Aboriginal children comprised 23% of all notifications in 2019-20 compared to 22.9% (17,892) in 2018-19 and 27.7% of screened-in notifications compared to 27.8% (8,003) in 2018-19.
  	Number of screened-in notifications	39,508 (10,934 screened in notifications for Aboriginal children and young people)
  Children placed on child protection orders	Total children placed on orders	2,583 (866 Aboriginal children and young people)	The number of children admitted to an order increased by 752 (41.1%) compared to 2018-19 (1,831). Aboriginal children comprised 33.5% of children placed on child protection orders in 2019‑20 compared to 33.4% (612) in 2018-19.
  	Children placed on orders for first time	911 (307 Aboriginal children and young people)	The number of children admitted to an order for the first time increased by 153 (20.2%) from 2018-19 (758). In 2019-20, 35.6% of children were admitted to an order for the first time, compared to 41.4% in 2018-19. Aboriginal children comprised 33.7% of children placed on orders for the first time in 2019-20 compared to 34.3% (260) in 2018-19.
  	Total children on a 12-month order at 30 June 2020	610 (232 Aboriginal children and young people)	At 30 June 2020, 87 (17%) more children were on a Guardianship for 12-month order, than at 30 June 2019 (513). Aboriginal children comprised 38% of children on a 12 month order at 30 June 2020 compared to 36.5% (187) in 2019.
  	Total children on an order until 18 years of age under Guardianship of the Minister	3,653 (1,317 Aboriginal children and young people)	The number of children on a Guardianship to 18 years order at 30 June 2020 increased by 247 (7.3%) from 30 June 2019 (3,406). Aboriginal children comprised 36.1% of children on an order to 18 years at 30 June 2020 compared to 34.8% (1,184) in 2019.
  Children in care	Number of children (0-17 years) in out of home care at 30 June 2020	4,370 (1,544 Aboriginal children and young people)	The number of children aged 0-17 years in out of home care at 30 June 2020 increased by 382 (9.6%) compared to 30 June 2019 (3,988). A higher proportion of children are in family-based care in 2020 (86.3%) compared to 2019 (85.8%). Family-based care includes foster, kinship, specific child only and family day care. The number of children placed in a commercial property at 30 June 2020 increased by 20
  Child Protection Reform – Implementing A Fresh Start	Refer to Child Protection Systems Royal Commission reporting on our website

  ⁶Denotes an updated methodology of counting from 2018-19.

Number of public complaints reported

* Denotes a change in counting rules from 2018-19, with categorisation now in line with Ombudsman SA categories established by the Better Services Program and agreed across government by the Senior Management Council.

As DCP became a stand-alone department in November 2016, data is only available from this time. Data for previous years is available at: https://data.sa.gov.au/data/dataset/8a49679b-3f96-4a99-9e52-58e4a3ccc968