A new report says a Family Court to handle child care orders is needed 'as soon as possible', according to the Child Care Reporting Project.

The Director of the project, Carol Coulter, says the cases are not given the 'attention they need or deserve' in most courts.

The Project’s Second Interim Report has examined 486 cases from September of last year until July 2014 - involving a total of 864 children.

It found nearly one in three children had special needs; while one in four cases involved a parent from an ethnic minority.

Carol Coulter says the fragility of parents was what stood out most: