Living arrangements of children

Improving care and post care support

In care, children and young people will have the supports they need to enjoy their childhood, feel safe and cared for, and develop into adulthood.

Living arrangements of children

In April 2025, the department transitioned to a new client management system (Unify).

Updated data beyond the 31 March 2025 quarter is now available for selected performance measures and will be progressively updated as data becomes available.

Some Queensland families are unable to provide a safe, secure and caring environment for their children. When this becomes apparent, the department must act to ensure that the response provided is in the best interests of the child or young person. If necessary, this can result in children and young people being cared for in arrangements that are away from their home.

The department uses various care arrangements for the children in its care including family-based care (foster, kinship and provisionally approved carers) and residential care services.

Wherever possible, the department seeks to place a child with extended family (kinship carers) in order to maintain family connections.

Children may also be living in other locations such as, health facilities, boarding schools, independent living arrangements and youth detention centres.

When placing an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander child, active efforts are made to apply the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child placement principle. If an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child cannot be placed with a member of their family group, a culturally appropriate placement is sought in accordance with the Child Protection Act 1999, section 83, which provides a hierarchy of placement options for an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child.

Children living away from home by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander status

Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander status30 Jun 202530 Sep 202531 Dec 202531 Mar 202630 Jun 2026
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander6,9787,1557,2927,4447,577
Not Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander(a)7,3177,3637,3707,4057,446
Total14,29514,51814,66214,84915,023

Children living away from home by age group

Age group(b)30 Jun 202530 Sep 202531 Dec 202531 Mar 202630 Jun 2026
0 to 42,9132,9723,0103,0233,029
5 to 93,8743,9043,9444,0184,099
10 to 144,5154,5994,6324,7084,752
15 to 172,9933,0433,0763,1003,143
Total14,29514,51814,66214,84915,023

Children living away from home by living arrangement

Living arrangement30 Jun 202530 Sep 202531 Dec 202531 Mar 202630 Jun 2026
Foster care(d)4,1624,2034,1694,2514,284
Kinship care(e)6,4436,4706,5976,4926,648
Residential care services(f)2,3712,5492,5762,8192,804
Other(c)1,3191,2961,3201,2871,287
Total14,29514,51814,66214,84915,023

Rate of children living away from home by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander status

Rate per 1,000 children (0-17 years of age)(g)30 Jun 202230 Jun 202330 Jun 202430 Jun 202530 Jun 2026
All children10.410.410.711.712.3
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander51.652.354.660.464.8
Non-Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander(a) 6.26.26.16.66.7

Children receiving ongoing support by living arrangement

Living arrangement30 Jun 202530 Sep 202531 Dec 202531 Mar 202630 Jun 2026
Foster care3,6913,7433,7193,7203,695
Kinship care5,6035,5875,6275,5155,558
Residential care services2,0802,1962,2382,3932,345
Other(c)1,2491,2141,2311,2131,176
Not living away from home2,5992,5892,7182,7592,878
Total15,22215,32915,53315,60015,652

Source: Department of Families, Seniors, Disability Services and Child Safety

Notes:

1. Data is as at the reference date.
2. Living away from home: The provision of care outside the home to children who are in need of protection or who require a safe placement while their protection and safety needs are assessed. Living away from home refers to children living in care (foster care, kinship care and residential care services) and all other locations such as hospitals, boarding schools, independent living, non-approved placements and Queensland youth detention centres.
3. The department transitioned to a new client management system (Unify) in April 2025 which requires rebuilding datasets for reporting purposes.  Potential data integrity issues may emerge as Unify matures and inter-related datasets are rebuilt.  As a result, data for the period June 2025 onwards may be subject to correction to maintain accuracy and transparency.
4. Data for the living arrangements ‘Other’ and ‘Not living away from home' for 30 June 2025 onwards is not directly comparable to data for previous periods. The introduction of Unify allows improved ability to record the locations of children in other locations. In addition, data quality activities from June 2025 to June 2026 have progressively improved the accuracy of this data.
5. A child is counted only once in each reference period.

(a) Non-Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander: Includes non-Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children and children whose Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander status is unknown or not stated.
(b) Age group: Based on the age of the child at the reference date.
(c) Other includes locations such as hospitals, boarding schools, independent living, non-approved living arrangements and Queensland youth detention centres. The Other category may include some children placed at home whose location was not accurately recorded. Data quality activities from June 2025 to June 2026 have progressively improved the accuracy of this data.
(d) Foster care: Includes children living with a foster carer or a provisionally approved carer where no family relationship exists between carer and child.
(e) Kinship care: Includes children living with a kinship carer, and children living with a foster carer or provisionally approved carer where a family relationship exists between the carer and child.
(f) Residential care: Includes children living in non-family-based accommodation and support services funded by the department to provide care arrangements for children, generally aged 12 years and over. These services provide daily care and support for children by rostered residential care workers.
(g) Rate per thousand: Counts the number of children in living arrangements outside the child’s home, divided by the population of children and young people aged 0-17 years of age. Population data is sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and is based on estimated resident population for Queenslanders aged 0-17 years, as at 30 June of the previous year.

Children in care

Children in Care by care arrangement

 30 Jun 202530 Sep 202531 Dec 202531 Mar 202630 Jun 2026
Children in care12,97613,22213,34213,56213,736
    Home-based10,60510,67310,76610,74310,932
         Foster Care(a)4,1624,2034,1694,2514,284
         Kinship Care(b)6,4436,4706,5976,4926,648
    Residential Care(c)2,3712,5492,5762,8192,804

Children in Care by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Status

 30 Jun 202530 Sep 202531 Dec 202531 Mar 202630 Jun 2026
Children in care12,97613,22213,34213,56213,736
     Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander6,2676,4356,5606,7456,887
     Non-Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander(e)6,7096,7876,7826,8176,849

Children in Care by age grouping(d)

 30 Jun 202530 Sep 202531 Dec 202531 Mar 202630 Jun 2026
Children in Care12,97613,22213,34213,56213,736
     Foster Care(a)4,1624,2034,1694,2514,284
          0 to 41,3361,3641,3441,3941,404
          5 to 91,3601,3681,3701,3971,387
         10 to 141,0871,0801,0621,0801,099
          15 to 17379391393380394
     Kinship Care(b)6,4436,4706,5976,4926,648
          0 to 41,4061,4281,4961,4501,468
          5 to 91,9621,9551,9831,9672,056
          10 to 142,0412,0632,0862,0592,098
          15 to 171,0341,0241,0321,0161,026
     Residential Care(c)2,3712,5492,5762,8192,804
           0 to 483969110798
           5 to 9419467457539552
           10 to 149771,0501,0561,1441,154
           15 to 178929369721,0291,000

Siblings living together

 30 Jun 202530 Sep 202531 Dec 202531 Mar 202630 Jun 2026
Children in care12,97613,22213,34213,56213,736
    Siblings in care9,7399,8949,93910,07310,197
        Living with at least one sibling6,8356,9086,9356,9727,056
        Not living with at least one sibling2,9042,9863,0043,1013,141
    Children with no sibling in care3,2373,3283,4033,4893,539

Source: Department of Families, Seniors, Disability Services and Child Safety

Notes

1. Data is at the reference date.
2. Counts the number of children in care (Foster Care, Kinship Care, and Residential Care services).
3. The department transitioned to a new client management system (Unify) in April 2025 which requires rebuilding datasets for reporting purposes. Potential data integrity issues may emerge as Unify matures and interrelated datasets are rebuilt. As a result, data for the period June 2025 onwards may be subject to correction to maintain accuracy and transparency.

(a) Foster care: Includes children living with a Foster Carer or a provisionally approved Foster Carer where no family relationship exists between Carer and child.
(b) Kinship Care: Includes children living with a Kinship Carer (including provisionally approved Kinship Carers), and children living with a Foster Carer or provisionally approved Foster Carer where a family relationship exists between the Carer and child. The increase in June 2025 for children living with kin is partially attributed to the improved data capture in Unify, as the type of approval being sought for provisionally approved Carers (Foster or Kinship) is now available for corporate reporting.
(c) Residential Care: Includes children living in non-family-based accommodation and support services funded by the department to provide care arrangements for children, generally aged 12 years and over. These services provide daily care and support for children by rostered Residential Care workers.
(d) Age and age group: Based on the age of the child as at the reference date.
(e) Non-Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander: Includes non-Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children and children whose Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander status is unknown or not stated.

Living arrangements of children

Source: Department of Families, Seniors, Disability Services and Child Safety

  1. Data is as at the reference date.
  2. Counts the number of children living away from home, including in care (foster care, kinship care and residential care services) and all other locations such as hospitals, boarding schools, independent living and Queensland youth detention centres.
  3. Age group: Based on the age of the child as at the reference date.
  4. Non-Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander: Includes non-Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children and children whose Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander status is unknown or not stated.
  1. Foster care: Includes children living with a foster carer or a provisionally approved carer where no family relationship exists between carer and child.
  2. Kinship care: Includes children living with a kinship carer, and children living with a foster carer or provisionally approved carer where a family relationship exists between the carer and child.
  3. Residential care: Includes children living in non-family-based accommodation and support services funded by the department to provide care arrangements for children, generally aged 12 years and over. These services provide daily care and support for children by rostered residential care workers.
  4. Other: Includes locations such as hospitals, boarding schools, Queensland youth detention centres and all other locations.

Living arrangements of children receiving ongoing support

Source: Department of Families, Seniors, Disability Services and Child Safety

  1. Data is as at the reference date.
  2. Counts the number of children receiving ongoing support as at the reference date.
  3. A child is counted only once in each reference period.
  4. Age group: Based on the age of the child as at the reference date.
  5. Non-Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander: Includes non-Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children and children whose Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander status is unknown or not stated.
  1. Foster care: Includes children living with a foster carer or a provisionally approved carer where no family relationship exists between carer and child.
  2. Kinship care: Includes children living with a kinship carer, and children living with a foster carer or provisionally approved carer where a family relationship exists between the carer and child.
  3. Residential care: Includes children living in non-family-based accommodation and support services funded by the department to provide care arrangements for children, generally aged 12 years and over. These services provide daily care and support for children by rostered residential care workers.
  4. Other: Includes locations such as hospitals, boarding schools, Queensland youth detention centres and all other locations.