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WELFARE AND COMMUNITY SERVICES


INCOME SUPPORT

The Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaCSIA) is responsible for providing income support, via Centrelink, to:

• the aged
• people with a disability
• carers
• youth and students
• families with children
• Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander people
• the homeless
• people living in rural and remote areas.

In each of these cases, the proportions of the ACT population receiving income support were lower than the national proportions.

8.1 CENTRELINK CLIENTS(a)(b) - December 2005
		ACT clients		Australian clients		ACT clients as proportion of Australian clients
		no.	% of population	no.	% of population	%
Support for the aged
	Age pension	17 643	5.4	1 911 517	9.3	0.9
	Widow class B pension	-	-	803	-	-
	Wife pension (age)	94	-	17 294	0.1	0.5
Support for people with a disability
	Disability support pension	7 052	2.2	712 098	3.5	1.0
	Wife pension (DSP)	123	-	26 495	0.1	0.5
	Sickness allowance	98	-	8 073	-	1.2
Support for carers
	Carer payment	640	0.2	100 872	0.5	0.6
	Carer allowance(c)	3 642	1.1	356 551	1.7	1.0
Labour market assistance
	Newstart allowance	4 253	1.3	437 688	2.1	1.0
	Parenting payment - single	4 773	1.5	437 958	2.1	1.1
	Mature age allowance	71	-	16 474	0.1	0.4
	Partner allowance	286	0.1	67 182	0.3	0.4
	Widow allowance	328	0.1	45 363	0.2	0.7
	Special benefit	108	-	7 300	-	1.5
Youth and student support
	Austudy	344	0.1	21 857	0.1	1.6
	Youth allowance	4 831	1.5	323 981	1.6	1.5
Family Assistance(d)
	Family tax benefit A(e)	22 191	6.8	1 808 800	8.8	1.2
	Family tax benefit B(e)	16 925	5.2	1 383 101	6.8	1.2
	Double orphan pension	<20	-	1 131	-	-
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) Child care benefit figures are not included as they were unavailable.
(b) Total population for welfare recipient data is considered to be those people aged 15 years and over.
(c) Figures do not include Health Care Card customers only.
(d) From 1 July 2000 the basic component of Parenting payment - partnered was incorporated into the Family tax benefit.
(e) Family tax benefit replaced Family allowance and Family tax payment on 1 July 2000.
Centrelink, Data available on request.

CHILD CARE

At March 2006, School age care and Long day care were the most used child care services in the ACT with 6,158 and 5,659 places respectively. School age care had decreased from 6,316 places in 2005, while Long day care increased from 5,403 places.

Overall, the total number of child care places in the ACT decreased in the year to March 2006, from 14,873 to 14,435. The total number of licences remained stable over the same period at 228.

8.2 CHILD CARE SERVICES, ACT - March 2006
	Number of licenses current	Number of places
Family day care(a)	5	1 788
Independent preschools	8	410
Long day care	101	5 659
Play school	21	420
School age care	93	6 158
Total	228	14 435
(a) Family day care licences are issued to schemes and not individual places. Therefore each scheme can coordinate multiple places.
Office of Child Care, Children's Services Branch, ACT Department of Education, Youth and Family Services, Data available on request.

ADOPTIONS

Each state and territory has responsibility for all aspects of child adoption within its own jurisdiction, and each has its own legislation regarding adoption. In the ACT, legislation governing adoption operates under the Adoption Act 1993.

There are several categories of adoption used:

• Placement adoptions are those where the child generally has had no previous contact or relationship with the adoptive parent(s). Placement adoptions may be Local or Intercountry. Local placement adoptions are adoptions of children who were born in Australia, or were permanent residents before the adoption. Intercountry placement adoptions are adoptions of children from countries other than Australia.
• Known child adoptions are adoptions of children who have a pre-existing relationship with the adoptive parent(s). These include adoptions by step-parents, other relatives and carers.

8.3 ADOPTIONS, By category - ACT
		1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05
		no.	no.	no.	no.	no.	no.	no.
Placement adoptions
	Local	1	2	2	3	1	2	3
	Intercountry	11	11	18	9	15	26	12
	Total	12	13	20	12	16	28	15
Known child adoptions		2	11	7	11	9	5	5
Total adoptions		14	24	27	23	25	33	20
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Adoptions, Australia, 2004-05.

Access to information

All states and territories have established adoption information services or information and contact registers. Under the Adoption Act 1993, an adopted resident of the ACT aged 18 years or more, birth parents, adoptive parents and birth relatives may apply for identifying information about the adoption. Identifying information consists of a copy of, or extract from, an entry in a register of births relating to the adopted child, or information from which a birth parent, birth relative or adopted child may be identified (excluding the address of a place of residence).

Under the Act, contact vetoes may be registered. On the lodgement of such a veto, it becomes an offence for the information recipient to try to make contact with the person who imposed the contact veto. The Adoption Act 1993 allows adopted people over the age of 17 years 6 months, adoptive parents, birth parents, adult birth relatives, adoptive relatives and certain other relatives the right to lodge a contact veto.

8.4 INFORMATION APPLICATIONS AND CONTACT VETOES LODGED(a), By applicant type - ACT - 2004-05
	Information applications lodged	Contact vetoes lodged	Contact vetoes in place as at 30 June 2004
	no.	no.	no.
Adopted person	17	-	41
Adoptive mother	-	-	17
Adoptive father	2	-	15
Birth mother	8	-	22
Birth father	-	-	1
Other birth relative	6	-	1
Other adoptive relative	-	-	2
Child of adopted person	-	na	na
Other	-	. .	-
Total	33	-	99
. . not applicable
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
na not available
(a) In the Australian Capital Territory, the release of identifying information cannot be vetoed.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Adoptions, 2004-05.

CHILD PROTECTION

The former ACT Department of Education, Youth and Family Services (DEYFS) had a number of programs designed to care for and protect children. Family Services programs were designed to help protect children from abuse, neglect and exploitation, as well as providing support to families. The Children and Young People Act 1999 was introduced in May 2000. This Act reflects an increased emphasis on family support and prevention services to assist children, young people and their families.

In 2004-05, new funding agreements for foster care agencies were developed to help cope with the increased number of child protection reports received, and an increase in the demand for out of home care placements. During this period, the recommendations from the Territory as Parent - Review of the Safety of Children in Care in the ACT and of ACT Child Protection Management were implemented, including:

• a change in structure of the Department of Disability, Housing and Community Services (DHCS) so as to establish a new Office for Children, Youth and Family Support
• increasing the number of experienced, professional child protection workers
• a partnership between the Office for Children Youth and Family Support and Australian Catholic University was undertaken to develop the Institute for Child Protection Studies.

A notification of child abuse and/or neglect is recorded when a state or territory child protection or support service receives a report. The number of child protection notifications in the ACT increased from 5,325 in 2003-04 to 7,275 in 2004-05, up 1,950 cases. Of the total notifications recorded in 2004-05, 3,017 (41%) were investigated. Of these investigations, 2,529 (84%) had been finalised by the end of the period, and a further 488 were ongoing.

The police were the source of notification for 15% of the 2,529 finalised investigations. Other sources included non-government organisations (13%) and school personnel (12%). Parents/guardians, hospitals/health centres and department officers each accounted for 10% respectively.

Forty-eight per cent of finalised investigations were substantiated. Of the 1,213 substantiated cases of neglect and abuse in the ACT, over half (55%) were for emotional abuse. This was followed by neglect (29%) and physical abuse (12%).

8.5 NUMBER OF CHILD ABUSE SUBSTANTIATIONS, ACT
	1999-2000	2000-2001	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05
Physical abuse	97	56	64	74	95	145
Sexual abuse	20	14	14	21	46	54
Emotional abuse	53	92	86	123	319	665
Neglect	63	60	56	92	170	349
Total substantiations	233	222	220	310	630	1 213
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Child Protection Australia, 1999-00, 2000-01, 2001-02, 2002-03, 2003-04, 2004-05.

Child protection orders

A child may be admitted to a care and protection order for a range of reasons including:

• when the child has been the subject of a child protection substantiation
• where there was an irretrievable breakdown in the relationship between the child and the parents
• where the parents are unwilling or unable to adequately care for the child.

FUNDED SUBSTITUTE CARE

The funded substitute care program provides a range of care options for children and young people (aged 0-18 years) who are unable to live with family members. These options include foster care, placement in group homes, and various independent living alternatives.

Two foster care programs ceased during 2002-03 which may have influenced the increased occupancy in other programs. Total average daily occupancy for foster care programs in the ACT was 164 in 2004-05, up on 2003-04 (157). Marymead Foster Care had the highest average daily occupancy and the highest capacity (51 respectively) in 2004-05, followed by Barnado's Find-a-Family with 46 respectively for average daily occupancy and capacity.

8.6 FUNDED SUBSTITUTE CARE, Number of people - ACT
		2002-03		2003-04		2004-05
		Average daily occupancy	Capacity	Average daily occupancy	Capacity	Average daily occupancy	Capacity
Foster care programs
	Barnardo's Find-a-Family	47	38	54	46	46	46
	Barnardo's Temporary Family Care	10	15	14	17	22	17
	Galilee Foster Care	27	16	23	18	27	25
	Marymead Foster Care	49	51	49	51	51	51
	Marymead Short Term Care(a)	7	7	8	7	10	7
	Marymead High Support Program	8	9	9	9	8	9
	Open Family ACT Foster Care(b)	8	8	. .	. .	. .	. .
	Open Family Indigenous program(c)	4	6	. .	. .	. .	. .
	Total	160	150	157	148	164	155
Residential Care Programs
	Richmond Fellowship - Outreach	5	6	5	6	5	6
	Richmond Fellowship - Marlow Cottage	5	6	7	6	7	6
	Total	10	12	12	12	12	12
Total programs with set capacity		170	162	169	160	176	167
Kinship Care(d)		74	na	111	na	114	na
Special arrangements(e)		22	na	38	na	44	na
. . not applicable
na not available
(a) Marymead Short Term is now known as Marymead Crisis Care identified in CHYPS.
(b) This program ceased 31 December 2002.
(c) This program ceased 31 March 2003.
(d) Kinship Care includes paid placements with extended family or close family friends.
(e) Special arrangements includes Kinship Care, boarding school, refuges where Family Services has made payment and specific care arrangements for children with particularly high needs.
ACT Department of Education, Youth and Family Services, Data available on request.

SUPPORTED ACCOMMODATION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

The Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP), funds a range of non-government community organisations which provide transitional accommodation and support services for homeless people in crisis.

The focus of SAAP services is on providing individual support and accommodation to meet the needs of homeless people and to facilitate their transition to independent living.

The number of people receiving support in the ACT has declined from 2,150 people in 2000-01 to 1,550 people in 2004-05.

8.7 SAAP SUPPORT PERIODS AND CLIENTS, ACT
		1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05
Support periods	no.	3 200	2 950	2 650	2 550	3 050	2 350
Clients	no.	2 150	2 150	1 900	1 750	1 650	1 550
Mean number of support periods clients	no.	2	2	2	1	2	1
Clients per 10,000 population 10 years and over	rate	80	77	69	63	59	55
Source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Homeless people in SAAP: SAAP National Data Collection, Annual report 2004-05 Australian Capital Territory Supplementary Tables.

The median age for male SAAP clients was 30 years, compared with 22 years for female SAAP clients.

8.8 SAAP CLIENTS, By age and gender - ACT - 2004-05(a)
		Proportion of all clients		Proportion of gender group
		Male	Female	Male	Female	Persons	Persons
		%	%	%	%	%	no.
Age group (years)
	Under 15	0.6	1.2	1.2	2.5	1.9	50
	15-17	5.1	9.3	9.9	19.3	14.4	250
	18-19	3.9	7.2	7.5	15.0	11.1	150
	20-24	8.5	10.3	16.4	21.4	18.8	300
	25-29	6.5	6.0	12.6	12.5	12.5	200
	30-34	7.8	4.5	15.1	9.4	12.3	200
	35-39	5.4	3.3	10.5	6.9	8.8	150
	40-44	5.6	2.9	10.9	5.9	8.5	150
	45-49	2.7	1.6	5.2	3.3	4.3	50
	50-54	2.4	0.6	4.7	1.3	3.1	50
	55-59	1.3	0.9	2.5	1.8	2.2	50
	60-64	0.8	np	1.6	np	0.9	<25
	65 and over	1.0	np	1.9	np	1.2	<25
	Total	51.7	48.3	100.0	100.0	100.0	1 550
Median age (years)		. .	. .	30.0	22.0	26.0	. .
. . not applicable
np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated
(a) Figures have been weighted to adjust for agency non-participation and client non-consent.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Homeless People in SAAP: SAAP Client Collection, Annual Report 2004-05, Australian Capital Territory Supplementary Tables.

In 2004-05, lone males 25 years and over were the largest client group in the ACT (600 persons) seeking SAAP assistance, followed by lone females under the age of 25 (450), lone males under the age of 25 (400), and females with children (350). Couples with no children were the smallest client group to seek SAAP assistance (50).

8.9 SAAP SUPPORT BY CLIENT GROUP, ACT - 2004-05

In 2004-05, two thirds (67%) of the 12,365 HACC clients receiving assistance in the ACT were female. Almost half (49%) of all HACC clients were aged 70-84 years, followed by those aged 50-69 years (21%). While these proportions remained consistent between 2003-04 and 2004-05, the total number of clients increased from 11,286 to 12,365.

8.10 AGE AND SEX OF HACC CLIENTS, ACT - 2004-05(a)
		Number	Proportion of all clients
		no.	%
Sex
	Males	4 128	33.4
	Females	8 237	66.6
Age group (years)
	Less than 50	1 537	12.4
	50-69	2 583	20.9
	70-84	6 026	48.7
	85 and over	2 219	17.9
Total		12 365	100.0
(a) The proportion of HACC funded agencies that submitted HACC Minimum Data Set (MDS) data for 2004-05 differed across jurisdictions, and ranged from 65 per cent to 98 per cent. Actual client numbers will be higher than those reported here.
Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing, HACC Program National Minimum Data Set 2004-05 Annual Bulletin.

Half of all HACC clients in the ACT in 2004-05 received the age pension. Eighteen per cent of ACT HACC clients received a disability support pension, while 16% did not receive any pension or benefit.

Of those persons who received HACC assistance in 2004-05, 43% lived alone, 52% lived with family, and 5% lived with others. Sixty-five per cent of clients were Australian born, 16% were born in North-West Europe, and 12% were born in Southern and Eastern Europe. A little over 1% of HACC clients were of Indigenous origin.

The type of assistance with the highest average hours per client during 2004-05 was Respite care (147 hours). This was followed by Centre-based day care (109 hours), and Personal care (81 hours). The average number of meals per person rose from 94 in 2003-04 to 105 in 2004-05.

8.11 HACC SERVICES RECEIVED, ACT - 2004-05(a)
Assistance type		Services received	Average per client
Allied Health Care (Centre)	hours	8 570	3
Allied Health Care (Home)	hours	3 739	3
Assessment	hours	16 759	3
Case management	hours	28 975	8
Case planning/review	hours	11 296	8
Centre-based day care	hours	66 986	109
Counselling	hours	6 837	10
Domestic assistance	hours	89 587	31
Home maintenance	hours	12 287	9
Nursing care (Centre)	hours	39 343	19
Nursing Care (Home)	hours	17 523	10
Other food services	hours	-	-
Personal care	hours	55 289	81
Respite care	hours	54 192	147
Social support	hours	67 375	46
Formal linen service	deliveries	3 977	33
Meals (Centre)	meals	3 410	22
Meals (Home)	meals	88 739	82
Aids for reading	quantity	<10	-
Car modifications	quantity	-	-
Communication aids	quantity	<10	-
Medical care aids	quantity	57	5
Other Goods and equipment	quantity	24	2
Self care aids	quantity	36	2
Support and mobility aids	quantity	<10	-
Transport	single trips	77 007	37
Home modification	$	276 709	844
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) The proportion of HACC funded agencies that submitted HACC MDS data for 2004-05 differed across jurisdictions, and ranged from 65 per cent to 98 per cent. Actual services received will be higher than those reported here.
Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing, HACC Program National Minimum Data Set 2004-05 Annual Bulletin.

BIBLIOGRAPHY


NON-ABS

ACT Department of Education, Youth and Family Services, Children's Services Branch, Office of Child Care, statistics on child care services, data available on request and Community Services

ACT Department of Education, Youth and Family Services, Funded substitute care statistics, data available on request, received 1 May 2006

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Adoptions Australia 2004-05, AIHW cat. no. CWS25, last viewed 11 August 2006, <http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/10209>.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Child Protection Australia 2004-05, AIHW cat. no. CWS26, last viewed 11 August 2006, <http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/10245>.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Child Protection Australia 2003-04, AIHW cat. no. CWS24, last viewed 11 August 2006, <http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/10095>.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Child Protection Australia 2002-03, AIHW cat. no. CWS22, last viewed 11 August 2006, <http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/9771>.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Child Protection Australia 2001-02, AIHW cat. no. CWS20, last viewed 11 August 2006, <http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/8479>.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Child Protection Australia 2000-01, AIHW cat. no. CWS16, last viewed 11 August 2006, <http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/7432>.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Child Protection Australia 1999-00, AIHW cat. no. CWS13, last viewed 11 August 2006, <http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/6702>.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, SAAP National Data Collection, Annual Report 2004-05, Australian Capital Territory Supplementary Tables, AIHW cat. no. HOU139, last viewed 11 August 2006, <http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/10256>.

Centrelink, statistics on Centrelink clients, data available on request May 2006 <bi.frontdoor@centrelink.gov.au>.

Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, What we do, last viewed 2 May 2006, <http://www.facs.gov.au/internet/>

Department of Health and Ageing, Home and Community Care Program, Minimum Data Set, 2004-05 Annual Bulletin, last viewed 11 August 2006, <http://www.health.gov.au/internet/wcms/>.