AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald
July 25, 2014
Rachel Browne
Social Affairs Reporter
The number of child abuse reports increased by 15 per cent over the past two years, but more than half of all reports were never investigated by authorities, according to new figures from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Almost 273,000 reports were made about children at risk nationally in 2012-13, up from a low of 237,000 in 2010-11.
Child welfare experts attributed the increase to greater pressures on families and a heightened awareness of abuse.
The 272,980 abuse notifications involved 184,216 children, the majority living in NSW and Victoria.
Only 45 per cent of reports were investigated nationally, leading to 53,666 proven cases of abuse involving 40,571 children which marks a 29 per cent increase on 2010-11.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.