New figures show indigenous children form a disproportionately large number of kids who have received child protection services, including for substantiated child abuse and neglect, children on care and protection orders, and children in out-of-home care. A report released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), titled “Child protection Australia 2019–20”, shows one in every 18 Indigenous children—or 18,900—were in out-of-home child care services as of June 30 last year. This is 11 times the rate for non-Indigenous children—or one in six. About 55,300 Indigenous children received child protection services in 2019-20, the report stated. This was a rate of 166 per 1,000 Indigenous children, which had increased from 151 per 1,000 Indigenous children in 2016-17. Minister for Indigenous Affairs Ken Wyatt told The Epoch Times in a statement on May 18 that the new figures reinforce how crucial the work under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap. The Closing the Gap …