A damning new report by the Commission for Children and Young People has exposed systemic failures within Victoria’s child protection system, finding every child who entered Youth Justice supervision for alleged offending before the age of 14 was already known to Child Protection.
The report examined the cases of 26 children who came under Youth Justice supervision in 2023-24 and 2024-25, representing 96 per cent of all children in Victoria who allegedly offended before turning 14.
Despite repeated contact with authorities, the report found opportunities to intervene were consistently missed.
Child Protection received 250 reports concerning the 26 children throughout their lives, with 12 children the subject of ten or more reports and one child reported 20 times. Yet 59 per cent of closed reports were shut during the intake phase without progressing to investigation.
More than half of the children were reported to Child Protection before the age of five, including more than one-third before their first birthday.
Nearly three-quarters of the children were removed from their families and placed in out-of-home care, but the report found many experienced significant instability. Of the 19 children placed in care, 15 had multiple placements. One child was moved 32 times, including nine emergency placements, while another experienced 24 placements.
The report also found:
- Ten children in care were involved in 224 recorded incidents between 2018 and 2025, with 83 per cent occurring in residential care.
- Children living in residential care were more likely to have contact with police because of incidents within care settings rather than criminal offending.
- Twenty-five of the 26 children had been referred to The Orange Door, predominantly through police family violence reports, but the Commission found children were not consistently engaged by the service.
- The report also includes confronting testimony from children who had experienced the system firsthand.
The findings reinforce the urgent need for earlier intervention and a child protection system that keeps vulnerable children safe before they enter the justice system, rather than responding only after they offend.
Shadow Minister for Child Protection Nicole Werner said: “Child protection should be a pathway to safety, not a pipeline into the youth justice system. These findings are a damning indictment of the Labor Government.”
“While Labor has wasted $15 billion through Big Build corruption, vulnerable children have been left to fall through the cracks. This is the real cost of Labor’s priorities.”
“We need system-wide reform that does everything possible to get children into stable family homes rather than institutional residential care. Residential care should be a last resort, not a revolving door for vulnerable children.”
