Re-envisaging child protection contacts as an early prevention opportunity to support child development and well-being: an Australian data linkage study

Kathleen Falster; Rhiannon Megan Pilkington; Tasnia Ahmed; Alicia Montgomerie; Mark Hanly; B. J. Newton; Marni Brownell; Ben Edwards; Raghu Lingam; Anthony Shakeshaft; Michelle Cretikos; Jessica Stewart; Katherine Hawkins; Kitty Mcclean; John W. Lynch

doi:10.1136/jech-2024-223006

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Re-envisaging child protection contacts as an early prevention opportunity to support child development and well-being: an Australian data linkage study

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Re-envisaging child protection contacts as an early prevention opportunity to support child development and well-being: an Australian data linkage study

Kathleen Falster, Rhiannon Megan Pilkington, Tasnia Ahmed, Alicia Montgomerie, Mark Hanly, B. J. Newton, Marni Brownell, Ben Edwards, Raghu Lingam, Anthony Shakeshaft, …

Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, Vol.79(7), pp.522-530

2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2024-223006

PMID: 40015726

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Abstract

Objectives: To quantify developmental vulnerability at age 5 by child protection contacts before school in two Australian states. Methods: All children with birth, child protection and/or 2009, 2012, 2015 and 2018 Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) data in New South Wales (NSW) and South Australia (SA) were grouped according to child protection contact before school: no contact, child protection reports, screened-in reports, investigations, substantiations and out-of-home care (OOHC). The outcome was developmental vulnerability on ≥1 AEDC domains or medically diagnosed conditions with support needs at school entry. Results: 56 650 (14.2%) NSW children and 12 617 (15.6%) SA children had ≥1 child protection contact before school. Developmental vulnerability on ≥1 domains or medically diagnosed conditions was lowest in the no child protection group (NSW, 21–22%; SA, 24–25%), with progressively higher risk in the child protection report (NSW, 35%; SA, 41–46%) through to the OOHC (NSW, 50–54%; SA, 59–66%) groups in all AEDC years. Developmental risk was higher among children aged <2 years at first contact and those with more reports. Children with only one child protection report before school had approximately 65% higher developmental risk than the no child protection group in both states. Conclusions: A single child protection report before school was an early indicator of higher developmental risk at age 5, with higher developmental risks among children with earlier, more serious and frequent child protection contacts. Beyond child safety screening, child protection reports represent an opportunity to mobilise early health and social support for children with developmental support needs.

Details

Title: Re-envisaging child protection contacts as an early prevention opportunity to support child development and well-being: an Australian data linkage study
Authors: Kathleen Falster (Corresponding Author) - UNSW Sydney
Rhiannon Megan Pilkington - The University of Adelaide
Tasnia Ahmed - UNSW Sydney
Alicia Montgomerie - The University of Adelaide
Mark Hanly - UNSW Sydney
B. J. Newton - UNSW Sydney
Marni Brownell - University of Manitoba
Ben Edwards - Australian National University
Raghu Lingam - UNSW Sydney
Anthony Shakeshaft - The University of Queensland
Michelle Cretikos - New South Wales Department of Health
Jessica Stewart - NSW Department of Communities and Justice
Katherine Hawkins - South Australian Health
Kitty Mcclean - Government of South Australia
John W. Lynch - University of Bristol
Publication details: Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, Vol.79(7), pp.522-530
Publisher: BMJ Group
Date published: 2025
DOI: 10.1136/jech-2024-223006
ISSN: 1470-2738
PMID: 40015726
Copyright note: © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2025. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ Group. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported (CC BY 4.0) license, which permits others to copy, redistribute, remix, transform and build upon this work for any purpose, provided the original work is properly cited, a link to the licence is given, and indication of whether changes were made.
Data Availability: Data may be obtained from a third party and are not publicly available. No data are available because Australian privacy laws prohibit us from making the individual-level de-identified data publicly available. The data used for this study were provided by several Australian State and Commonwealth government agencies under agreements with the researchers led by KF (in NSW) and JWL (in SA), the NSW Centre for Health Record Linkage (CHeReL) and SANT Datalink, following approval from multiple ethics committees and data custodians. Data are only able to be accessed by researchers who are approved users by the relevant ethics committees and data custodians. Data can be accessed through an application and approval process administered by the independent data linkage authorities, NSW CHeReL or SANT Datalink.
Grant note: NSW Ministry of Health, NSW Register of Births, Deaths and Marriages, NSW Department of Education, NSW Department of Communities and Justice, SA Health, SA Births, Deaths and Marriages Registry NSW Child, Family and Community Peak Aboriginal Corporation Families and Community Services Insights, Analysis and Research (FACSIAR), Department of Communities and Justice Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) - Australian Government Department of Education Medical Research Council of New South Wales Channel 7 Children's Foundation Grant NSW Centre for Health Record Linkage (CHeReL)
Organisation Unit: School of Health - Psychology
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991242158002621
Output Type: Journal article

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