Interactive dashboards

The dashboards include:

• Demographic data for all children in the final orders cohort (n=2,828).
• Results from children and carers in each wave of data collection providing the most detailed view possible of the data.
• Results from the first four waves of data collection (to allow changes over time to be observed).
• Results presented by age, placement type, Aboriginal status, culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) status and district.

There are several documents below to assist users interpret the data presented in each dashboard. These also include some key statistics about the children and caregivers in the study.

• Dashboard 1 provides a summary of demographic characteristics and geographic locations of children and young people in out-of-home care (OOHC) in three key study cohorts in the POCLS.
• Dashboard 2 provides a summary of the child protection history of children and young people in the POCLS.
• Dashboard 5 provides a summary of the children's learning and education. 
• Dashboard 6 explores birth family contact and for the Aboriginal cohort and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) cohort, how culture and cultural identity are supported.
• Dashboard 7 provides a summary of the child's feelings, supports and relationships in the POCLS.
• Dashboard 9 explores support and training sessions provided to caregivers, how satisfied they are with services and support and the likelihood to continue being a caregiver.
• Dashboard 11 provides a summary of the data collected on young people aged 15-17 years and their caregivers in the POCLS.

The dashboards present the data by wave and can be filtered by:

1. Age
2. Aboriginal status
3. CALD status
4. Placement or exit type
5. District

Please note that the POCLS sample is not representative of all children and young people in OOHC. It is therefore important to consider the population that the sample was drawn from when considering the generalisability of the findings.

It should also be noted that the dashboards do not show whether differences are statistically significant, and so confirmation of trends observed in the dashboards through either published papers available on the POCLS website or by contacting the POCLS team is highly recommended before making decisions based on this data. While children may have participated at every wave, they may not have completed every measure at each wave.

To protect the identity of the children and families who have taken part in the study, any combination of child characteristics that produces a total of less than five or less than ten for Aboriginal children will lead to the data not being displayed. This means some charts will not be available for certain filters.

The POCLS acknowledges and honours Aboriginal people as our First Peoples of NSW and is committed to working with the Aboriginal Governance Panel, DCJ’s Transforming Aboriginal Outcomes team, including Ngaramanala (Aboriginal Knowledge Program), the Office of the Senior Practitioner and Child and Family program area to ensure that Aboriginal children, young people, families and communities are supported and empowered to improve their life outcomes. The POCLS data asset will be used to improve how services and supports are designed and delivered in partnership with Aboriginal people and communities.

DCJ recognises the importance of Indigenous Data Sovereignty (IDS) and Indigenous Data Governance (IDG) of all data related to Aboriginal Australians. The NSW Data Strategy (April 2021) includes the principles of Indigenous Data Sovereignty and Governance and provides provisions in regard to:

• Ensuring that our approach to data projects assesses the privacy, security and ethical impacts across the data lifecycle.
• Ensuring the controls are proportionate to the risks and that we consider community expectations and IDS.
• Guaranteeing a culture of trust between data providers and recipients, including Aboriginal people, through consistent and safe data sharing practices and effective data governance and stewardship

A whole of government response to IDS and IDG in NSW, including a position on reporting disaggregated data, is being led by The Cabinet Office, along with the Coalition of Aboriginal Peak Organisations. The POCLS will continue to collaborate with Aboriginal Peoples and will apply the policy principles once developed.

In the interim, POCLS publications contain data tables that provide direct comparisons between the POCLS Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal cohorts. Interpretation of the data should consider the factors associated with the over-representation of Aboriginal children in child protection and OOHC including the legacy of past policies of forced removal and the intergenerational effects of previous forced separations from family and culture. This erosion of community and familial capacity over time needs to be considered in any reform efforts as it continues to have a profoundly adverse effect on child development. The implications for policy and practice should highlight strengths, develop Aboriginal-led solutions and ensure that better outcomes are achieved for Aboriginal people.

The POCLS is subject to ethics approval, including from the Aboriginal Health & Medical Research Council of NSW.

For further information about the dashboards and other statistics, please contact the POCLS team.

FACS Insights, Analysis and Research who are leading the study:
Phone: 1800-997-960
Email: Pathways@facs.nsw.gov.au