Child Protection Funding and Service Coverage
Australia spends billions on child protection, out-of-home care, and family safety services — but the money flow is fragmented across states, programs, and delivery organisations. This report maps where it goes, who receives it, and where it intersects with youth justice, disability, and education systems.
State Breakdown
Where the money goes
| State | Funding | Grants | Orgs |
|---|---|---|---|
| QLD | $10.4B | 28,739 | 3,422 |
| NSW | $1.0B | 331 | 230 |
| ACT | $14.1M | 1 | 1 |
Program Categories
How the funding is structured
| Program | Funding |
|---|---|
| UNCOMMODIFY FOUNDATION AUSTRALIA LIMITED — Lighthouse Foundation (supporting Foster Care & Families to feel safe & loved)NSW | — |
| Home and Community CareQLD | $2.6B |
| Child Protection - Placement ServicesQLD | $1.8B |
| Disability Services (including Community and Mental Health) (excluding Home and Community Care)QLD | $1.5B |
| Child Safety ServicesQLD | $1.4B |
| Home & Community CareQLD | $999.0M |
| 8. Out of Home Care and Permanency SupportNSW | $814.6M |
| Child SafetyQLD | $569.5M |
| Specialised Supplies and ServicesQLD | $332.9M |
| Specialised Support ServicesQLD | $300.4M |
| Specialised Service and SupportQLD | $243.1M |
| Child Protection - Support ServicesQLD | $198.8M |
| Child Related Costs - Placement and SupportQLD | $128.4M |
| 5. Child ProtectionNSW | $115.7M |
| 4. Child ProtectionNSW | $112.0M |
Power Read
Who receives the most child protection funding
These are the largest recipients of child protection, out-of-home care, and child safety grants. High concentration in a few providers may signal market capture or genuine scale — the entity dossier shows which.
Cross-System Analysis
Organisations operating across child protection, youth justice, and NDIS
These organisations appear in multiple systems — the same entity receiving child protection funding while also delivering youth justice or NDIS services. This is the pipeline made visible.
| Organisation | State | Systems | Total Funding |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unitingcare Community | QLD | Child ProtectionYouth JusticeNDIS | $706.0M |
| Churches Of Christ In Queensland | QLD | Child ProtectionYouth JusticeNDIS | $682.7M |
| Life Without Barriers | NSW | Child ProtectionYouth JusticeNDIS | $645.6M |
| Blue Care | QLD | Child ProtectionYouth JusticeNDIS | $620.1M |
| The Corporation Of The Synod Of The Diocese Of Brisbane | QLD | Child ProtectionYouth JusticeNDIS | $431.9M |
| Act For Kids Limited | QLD | Child ProtectionYouth JusticeNDIS | $400.8M |
| IFYS Limited | QLD | Child ProtectionYouth JusticeNDIS | $355.8M |
| Endeavour Foundation Limited | QLD | Child ProtectionYouth JusticeNDIS | $320.6M |
| The Corporation Of The Trustees Of The Roman Catholic Archdiocese Of Brisbane | QLD | Child ProtectionYouth JusticeNDIS | $252.4M |
| Ozcare | QLD | Child ProtectionYouth JusticeNDIS | $227.9M |
| UnitingCare Queensland Limited | QLD | Child ProtectionYouth JusticeNDIS | $210.4M |
| Mission Australia | NSW | Child ProtectionYouth JusticeNDIS | $163.8M |
| St Vincent De Paul Society Queensland | QLD | Child ProtectionYouth JusticeNDIS | $152.6M |
| Aruma Services Limited | NSW | Child ProtectionYouth JusticeNDIS | $149.1M |
| Department of Health | VIC | Child ProtectionYouth JusticeNDIS | $143.5M |
| Micah Projects Ltd | QLD | Child ProtectionYouth JusticeNDIS | $126.9M |
| Multicap Limited | QLD | Child ProtectionYouth JusticeNDIS | $119.2M |
| Anglicare - Central Queensland Limited | QLD | Child ProtectionYouth JusticeNDIS | $110.9M |
| THE CORPORATION OF THE SYNOD OF THE DIOCESE OF BRISBANE | QLD | Child ProtectionYouth JusticeNDIS | $101.0M |
| South Burnett CTC Inc | QLD | Child ProtectionYouth JusticeNDIS | $95.9M |
Place Analysis
Where child protection funding concentrates by LGA
SEIFA decile 1 = most disadvantaged. Expect high child protection funding in low-SEIFA areas. Where it's missing is the gap.
| LGA | State | Orgs | Funding | SEIFA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brisbane | QLD | 329 | $3.0B | 1 |
| Newcastle | NSW | 3 | $416.9M | 6 |
| Cairns | QLD | 84 | $360.8M | 2 |
| Sunshine Coast | QLD | 80 | $320.2M | 3 |
| Gold Coast | QLD | 112 | $164.2M | 3 |
| Logan | QLD | 40 | $145.4M | 1 |
| Melbourne | VIC | 9 | $144.5M | 3 |
| Livingstone | QLD | 30 | $128.8M | 3 |
| Townsville | QLD | 46 | $109.9M | 2 |
| Northern Beaches | NSW | 3 | $92.6M | 10 |
| Kingston (Vic.) | VIC | 1 | $85.4M | 8 |
| Moreton Bay | QLD | 81 | $79.7M | 1 |
| Toowoomba | QLD | 45 | $51.6M | 2 |
| South Burnett | QLD | 11 | $48.1M | 1 |
| Sydney | NSW | 18 | $44.6M | 4 |
| Tenterfield | QLD | 8 | $36.4M | 2 |
| Redland | QLD | 40 | $36.3M | 1 |
| Scenic Rim | QLD | 55 | $32.9M | 2 |
| Noosa | QLD | 12 | $28.7M | 5 |
| Mackay | QLD | 36 | $21.9M | 5 |
Evidence Base (ALMA)
What works in child protection
25 interventions from the Australian Living Map of Alternatives relate to child protection, family preservation, or out-of-home care.
The Pipeline
Children in the child protection system are massively over-represented in youth justice. Nationally, around 50% of young people under youth justice supervision have also had child protection involvement. This report makes that overlap visible at the organisational and funding level — not just as a statistic, but as a traceable money flow.
Education Entities
12,847
Child/Youth Entities
167
NDIS × Youth Justice Overlay
Where disability and youth justice intersect
NDIS service districts with youth participant counts and budgets — showing where disability services, child protection, and youth justice funding overlap geographically.
| District | State | Total Participants | Youth Participants | Annual Budget |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACT | ACT | 12,436 | 10,882 | $945.1M |
| ACT | ALL | 12,430 | 6,075 | $944.7M |
| Adelaide Hills | ALL | 2,773 | 1,681 | $183.0M |
| Adelaide Hills | SA | 5,546 | 3,362 | $366.0M |
| ALL | ACT | 12,431 | 6,076 | $944.8M |
| ALL | ALL | 761,442 | 397,955 | $64.7B |
| ALL | NSW | 224,537 | 117,060 | $19.3B |
| ALL | NT | 6,741 | 3,519 | $937.0M |
| ALL | OT | 88 | — | $9.8M |
| ALL | QLD | 163,122 | 86,747 | $14.2B |
| ALL | SA | 65,233 | 33,989 | $5.6B |
| ALL | State_Missing | 12 | — | $492K |
| ALL | TAS | 16,439 | 7,653 | $1.6B |
| ALL | VIC | 205,144 | 109,513 | $16.2B |
| ALL | WA | 67,695 | 33,350 | $6.1B |
| Barkly | ALL | 182 | 64 | $24.4M |
| Barkly | NT | 364 | 168 | $48.8M |
| Barossa, Light and Lower North | ALL | 3,366 | 2,087 | $205.3M |
| Barossa, Light and Lower North | SA | 6,732 | 4,174 | $410.7M |
| Barwon | ALL | 13,621 | 6,721 | $1.1B |
Cross-System Next Move
This is not just a child protection report
The value is in the connections: the same organisations appear in child protection, youth justice, NDIS, and education funding. The same postcodes show up as high-disadvantage, high-need, and low-service. CivicGraph makes these cross-system patterns visible — so that funding decisions can be made with the full picture, not just one silo at a time.
Youth Justice
See the pipeline
~50% of youth justice kids come from child protection. See who funds both sides and where.
NDIS Market
Disability intersection
Children in care have 3-4x rates of disability. See where NDIS supply is thin in high-need areas.
Entity Search
Search any organisation
Look up any child protection provider and see their full dossier — contracts, grants, donations, and network connections.
Download: Child Protection Report
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