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More than a third of Victorian children and young people who go missing from state care have been sexually exploited, an inquiry has found.
The Out of Sight report by the Commission for Children and Young People, tabled in parliament on Thursday, found the most vulnerable in the state's care are going missing at an 'alarming' rate.
In the 18-month period covered by the inquiry, 955 children spent time in residential care in Victoria.
During that time, there were 2375 reports of children going missing and almost 7000 warrants granted to find them. This equates to almost one warrant per child in residential care monthly.
More than a third of Victorian children and young people who go missing from state care have been sexually exploited, a disturbing report has found (stock image)
The warrants were issued at twice the rate for girls compared to boys, though the inquiry believes boys are likely underrepresented in the data.
Aboriginal children are also likely underrepresented, it said.
Children can be missing from frequent short absences of less than an hour to lengthy periods of up to months at a time.
'Inconsistent and incomplete' reporting and data mean it is not known the exact number of children who go absent or missing from residential care, the length of time they are away and what happens to
