Author
Berry, M; French, B; Roden, D
Publication Date
1984
Description
Submission to a Senate Standing Committee on Social Welfare Inquiry in 1984, prepared by the Department of Youth and Community Services.
This provides a useful overview of the Department's reasoning behind care placement and provides statistics for children, including Aboriginal children and 'handicapped' (disabled) children, admitted into state care in from the 1960s until 1984.
In 1982 a survey of the Department showed that 1061 boys and 68 females were committed for 'offence reasons' and 319 boys and 300 females were committed for 'care and protection reasons'. In 1983 there were 572 males in custody, as opposed to 87 females. The report's authors cited a review of Minda Remand Centre that found 'overrepresented in the Minda group are Aboriginals, children from broken homes, poor families etc.' Family breakdown, combined with poverty, were cited as major factors in children coming into care.