text: Spike in severe child abuse a sign of better child protection response - The World Today - ABC Radio
  Posted Fri 8 Mar 2013, 1:20pm
  The latest figures on child abuse cases in Australia show there's been a 20 per cent rise in substantiated cases over the past 12 months. While there hasn't been a rise in the overall number of abuse notifications, the spike in the numbers suggest the more severe cases are coming to the attention of authorities. But almost 40 per cent of children in out-of-home care have been there continuously for five or more years.