Child and Family Services has been budgeted $15.634 million for 2017-18, down 2 per cent on the previous fiscal year, according to Nandi Outerbridge, the Minister of Social Development and Sport.

Mrs Outerbridge began her overview of the department with the Happy Valley Child Care Centre, which is allocated $933,000, up 2 per cent — mainly due to extra staff. The facility, which looks after a maximum of 40 children, fielded 120 applications in September 2016.

“The inability to accommodate increasing demand, coupled with the need of care for special needs children, remain ongoing challenges facing the centre,” the minister told MPs.

Overall, the department’s investigation team took 1,011 new referrals in 2016-17, up from 899 in 2015-16.

Screening, enhanced in October 2016, allowed for 68 referrals that did not require investigation to be sent to other services.

Overall, 458 referrals were substantiated, 279 unsubstantiated, 95 suspected, 82 screened out, and 92 were pending completion of investigation.

For 2016/17, 467 referrals covered neglect; 220 were for sexual abuse; 149 for physical abuse; 102 were for behaviour problems; 40 were for emotional abuse, and 33 were classed as “other”.

Children aged 5 to 9 dominated — a shift from previous years, when the top number of referrals were for children aged 4 and below.

Investigators have made “significant strides” in working with families, drafting their own safety plans rather than having to seek court orders.

Meanwhile, foster care dealt with 70 children in 2016/17 — down five on the previous year — although Mrs Outerbridge said it had grown more difficult to recruit foster parents.