The report found state and federal governments have repeatedly breached the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child over the past 25 years and would continue to do so.

The study from the Australian Child Rights Taskforce, an organisation comprising more than 100 groups including UNICEF Australia and the National Children's and Youth Law Centre, highlighted the fact that one in six Australian children still lives in poverty despite two decades of economic growth.

A former chief justice of the Family Court of Australia and chairman of Children's Rights International, Alastair Nicholson, said Australian governments had repeatedly ignored the rights of young people, despite agreeing to the UN Convention in 1990.

"This report makes it clear that since the early 1990s, successive Australian governments have consistently breached the Convention on the Rights of the Child and show every intention of continuing to do so," he wrote in the Child Rights Progress Report.

"This is an unacceptable situation and one about which all Australians should be concerned."

The evaluation found 70,000 children received support from homelessness organisations, 43,000 lived in out-of-home care and young asylum seekers were spending an average of 457 days in detention facilities.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were over-represented in out-of-home care and were 26 times more likely to be in juvenile detention.

"The present report makes it clear that these and many other deficiencies have not been remedied and in many ways the situation may have even worsened," Mr Nicholson said.

"It highlights a failure in public policy development to consider the impact on children and build preventative measures."

The report, to be released at the Australian Human Rights Commission on Friday, acknowledged governments had made steps to reduce family violence, address problems in the child protection system and improve early childhood education and care.

UNICEF Australia chief executive Adrian Graham said the report showed life was "not getting any easier" for a significant group of young people.

"Australia is not the lucky country for many children," he said.

"The report is a clear reminder that Australia must place equity at the heart of our agenda for children, with the idea that no child should be left behind."

UNICEF research released in April showed Australia ranks 27th out of 35 in health equality outcomes among OECD countries and 24th out of 37 in education equality results.

The Child Rights Progress Report made wide-ranging recommendations on child protection, poverty, education, health and the criminal justice system.