Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are almost 11 times more likely to be in out-of-home care than non-Indigenous kids, latest data shows.
A report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare also found the rate of Indigenous children in out-of-home care and receiving child protection services had risen over the past five years.
In 2018-19, 51,500 Indigenous kids received child protection services, a rate of 156 per 1,000.
That's an increase of almost nine thousand from 42,900 in 2014-15, equivalent to 134 children per 1,000.
The number of children in out-of-home care also went up from 15,500 to 18,000 across the same period, an increase of 48 to 54 per 1,000.
"The rate is currently almost 11 times the rate for non-Indigenous children," the report, released on Friday, said.
According to the Department of Human Services, out-of-home care is the care of children aged 17 years or under who are unable to live with their primary caregivers. It involves the placement of a child with alternate caregivers on a short- or long-term basis and can be arranged either informally or formally.
Nationally, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children (19 per cent) were less likely to be reunified with their families than non-Indigenous children (28 per cent), according to figures in 2018-19.
Those numbers were roughly the same two years prior.
The report measured the progress of states and territories on some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principles (ATSICPP), a framework designed to reduce over-representation of Indigenous kids in the child protection system.
It analysed placement principles which aim to ensure the highest possible level of connection to family, community, culture and country.
There was a slight drop (from 48 to 43 per cent) of kids in out-of-home care living with Indigenous relatives or other other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander caregivers from 2017 to June 2019.
At June last year about one in 18 Indigenous kids, roughly 18,000, were living in out-of-home care.
The report said there were "complex interdependencies" around how the framework impacts care decisions.
It noted living with an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander caregiver can improve the prospects of a child having the ability and opportunities to maintain a cultural connection.
About two-thirds of kids in out-of-home care are living with relatives, either Indigenous or non-Indigenous, or Indigenous caregivers.
