THE latest Closing the Gap data has shown that once again, the number of First Nations children in out-of-home care across the country continues to rise.

Nationally, numbers have increase since 2019, when 54.2 per 1,000 First Nations’ children were in child protection, to 57.2 per 1,000.

Victoria has seen the sharpest rise, with more than 10 percent of Aboriginal children reported to be in out-of-home care, nearly double the national average.

The Productivity Commission – which compiled the data – reported that Aboriginal children…