Sadly, around 19,400 children aged 0-14 are homeless in Australia. 1 During a time when safety and stability are most important, some children are forced to 'couch surf', live in overcrowded dwellings or sleep in a car.
An estimated 10 babies are found abandoned in Australia each year and there are growing fears some could go undiscovered without the option of safe drop-off centres.
Globally there are approximately 18 million orphans who have lost both parents. Within Australia there are almost 40,000 children who have been living away from their birth parents (usually due to abuse or neglect) for over two years, unlikely to return home.
Although Australia no longer has orphanages, some other wealthy nations do. Even in these well-resourced institutions, the same problems exist. The lack of someone who loves and is committed to a child makes them vulnerable to exploitation.
Across the world, about 10,000 children per day are orphaned after losing their mother or father. One of the most common reasons a child is left orphaned is natural disasters.
Some of the countries that have the highest orphan rates in the world include Russia, Iran, Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, and Peru.
Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan. Three of the largest states, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, registered the most number of children who were orphaned, abandoned or were left with only one parent with 7,084 children, 3,172 children and 2,482 children respectively.
The last child was migrated to Australia in 1970. Most if not all of those children who had been migrated remained within their receiving institution, despite the concerns that had been raised about the appalling conditions in which many of them were accommodated.
By the 1950s, concerns about the level of care children were receiving in institutions led to the closing down of some larger orphanages and children's homes and a move towards group care in smaller cottage and foster homes.
However, the number of active foster care households in Australia with placements is declining, with just 9,022 active homes in the latest reporting period, according to Commonwealth figures.
Adoption numbers in Australia declined by 63% over the past 25 years – from 709 in 1996–97 to 264 in 2020–21.
Asking people who want kids why they don't "just adopt" is a common refrain but actual adoption in Australia isn't all that common. Just 334 adoptions were finalised in 2019-20.
Trends in adoptions
Between 1968–69 to 1971–72, there was an increase in adoption numbers, from 6,773 to 9,798. Compared to 1971–72, the number of adoptions in 2021–22 has declined by 98% from 9,798 to 208 (Figure 2).
Another review prepared for the Australian federal police in 2021 found that at least 25.6% of children under 12 and 18% of those aged between 13 and 17 who go missing while in care are Indigenous, despite First Nations children making up just 5.9% of the total population under 18.
Estimates of numbers have been widely disputed. The Bringing Them Home report (produced by the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families in 1987), says that "at least 100,000" children were removed from their parents.
Over 17,600 children younger than 12 years are homeless
In Australia, over 15,800 children younger than 12 years don't have a safe space to call home. Of this number, just over 200 children will experience the harshest form of homelessness, relying on parks, bus shelters or shop fronts for warmth.
Family group homes—Children are placed in homes provided by a department or community-sector agency that have live-in, non-salaried carers, who are reimbursed and/or subsidised for providing care.
It's a story that has been repeated for generations of Aboriginal families in Australia, and it's still happening today. In 2019/20, 952 Aboriginal children across NSW were removed from their families, a 2.6% increase on the year prior.
People tend to think it's impossible to adopt in Australia and the only solution for people wanting to adopt is to adopt from overseas, however this is not the case! Open adoption from foster care in NSW and ACT is a viable path for people wanting to build their family.
It is now accepted that thousands of young British children were deported without their families as part of the Commonwealth Child Migration Schemes, designed to promote Britain's interests overseas with 'Good White Stock'. The last children were sent in 1970.
There were two aims to the child migrant programme: to ease the burden on UK orphanages; and to boost the populations of the colonies.
An orphan is typically defined as a child under the age of 18 who has lost one or both parents. When used in a broader sense, the word orphan applies to anyone who has lost their biological parents.
Children who are abandoned usually enter foster care, where they may wait months or years for a permanent family. Children who are placed for adoption through a private agency are placed directly into their permanent family, usually chosen by the mother herself.
Some of the countries with the highest rates of orphans in the world include Russia, Iran, Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa and Peru. These countries have seen a significant increase in the proportion of orphans since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Every year infants are illegally abandoned in the U.S. In 2021, 31 babies were placed in dumpsters, found in backpacks, or discarded in other dangerous locations.