The number of children abused or neglected in Australia have risen by 20 per cent during the 2011-12 period.

According to the Child Protection Australia 2011-12 report released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), there was a total of 37,781 abused or neglected children during the period, versus the 31,527 a year ago.

The report likewise stressed that children under age 1 were the most susceptible, as it claimed that 13.2 per 1,000 children in that age group underwent a substantiated claim of abuse or neglect, versus the 12 per 1000 a year ago.

Whereas for the 15- to 17-year-old bracket, the figure was only 3.2 per 1000.

But Tim Beard, head of the institute's child welfare and prisoner health unit, downplayed the rise scenario which was due to actual cases. Instead, the uptick, was due to increased reporting at a state and territory level, he said.

"The most serious cases are now getting the attention they warrant, which is why we are seeing such an increased level of substantiation," he said. "We cannot rule out a higher prevalence of abuse and neglect but there has to be more to it than that to explain such an increase."

"There is actually a good news story behind all this," Mr Beard told AAP.

Although the increase at a glance is automatically alarming, Mr Beard remained confident the relative numbers haven't gone up.

Across Australia, NSW gave the highest number of notifications as well as the highest number of substantiated incidents, at 100,000 allegations of abuse and 23,175 cases, respectively. Victoria had 63,830 notifications, 9075 substantiated of which were substantiated.

In 2011-12, more than 250,000 notifications of alleged abuse involving 173,502 children were found. Of the notifications, 46 per cent were investigated, finding 48,420 substantiated cases involving 37,781 children.