Indicator: Child Maltreatment

Status:

What we know from research

What the data indicates about Mildura
CHILD MALTREATMENT
The socio-economic circumstances of neighbourhoods, including income and the rate of employment, affect the incidence of child maltreatment. Residential mobility, crime, single parent households, limited social cohesion and support among neighbours are other characteristics of areas with elevated rates of child maltreatment.
The most recent figures available on confirmed instances of child maltreatment within the Mildura sub-regions are for 2002, supplemented by almost complete data for 2001 and partial data for the previous two years. Because of its sensitivity, this information has been made available on the basis that results for individual neighbourhoods will not be published. The number of instances of child maltreatment per 1,000 children between 1999 and 2002 in Melbourne was stable at between 6.6 and 7.1. Without breaching guidelines covering the release of this material, over the same period the rate in parts of the Municipality were two-to-three times that in Melbourne. Further details would have to be obtained directly from Child Protection and Family Services, Victorian Department of Human Services. This is an area that warrants the close consideration of the Governance Group. It can be added that the rate in Merbein has decreased since 1999 and in the one year for which data is available; Wentworth had a comparatively low rate.

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	Upward trend			Progress away from desired direction
	Downward trend
	No observable trend		Progress towards desired direction
	Under construction

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Last Updated: Tuesday, 6 February 2007