Health needs and timeliness of assessment of Victorian children entering out-of-home care: An audit of a multidisciplinary assessment clinic.

Children in out-of-home care within Victoria have high rates of physical, mental and developmental health concerns, consistent with previous studies. Timeliness of attendance at the clinic was low compared with national recommendations, even within a programme designed to facilitate timely health checks. This is the second and largest Australian study exploring timeliness of health checks. Further research would establish whether these results are more systemic.