Resource Sheet
Number 3 August 2007

Mandatory reporting of child abuse

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What is mandatory reporting?

Legislation which specifies who is required by law to report suspected cases of child abuse and neglect is known as mandatory reporting.

The people mandated to report varies across the different states and territories.

Who is mandated to make a notification?

The groups of people mandated to notify their concerns, suspicions, or reasonable grounds to the statutory child protection authority range from a limited number of specified persons in specified contexts (Western Australia, Queensland) through to every adult (Northern Territory, Tasmania). The Australia Capital Territory, New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria have a list of particular occupation groups that may come into contact with children. Some states have a limited number of occupations listed such as Queensland (doctors, departmental officers, and employees of licensed residential care services) and Victoria (police, doctors, nurses and teachers). Other jurisdictions have more extensive lists (Australian Capital Territory, South Australia) or use generic descriptions 'professionals working with children'. Although many commentators have highlighted Western Australia as the only Australian jurisdiction without mandatory reporting requirements, in fact there are targeted legislative requirements for the reporting of child abuse (court personnel, counsellors and mediators are required to report allegations or suspicions of child abuse in Family Court cases; and licensed providers of child care or outside school hours care services are required to report abuse in a child care service).

In addition to State and Territory law, there are provisions within Commonwealth legislation that relate to mandatory reporting. Under the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth), personnel from the Family Court of Australia, the Federal Magistrates Court, or the Family Court of Western Australia also have reporting obligations in all Australian jurisdictions. This includes registrars, family counsellors, family dispute resolution practitioners or arbitrators, and lawyers independently representing children's interests. Section 67ZA states that where in the course of performing duties or functions, or exercising powers these Court personnel have reasonable grounds for suspecting that a child has been abused, or is at risk of being abused, the person must, as soon as practicable, notify a prescribed child welfare authority of his or her suspicion and the basis for the suspicion (see: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/fla1975114/s67za.html).

Mandatory reporting requirements

Jurisdiction	Who is mandated to notify	What is to be notified
ACT	Doctors, dentists, nurses, teachers, police, school counsellors, child-care providers, public servants providing services relating to the health or well being of children, young people or families, the community advocate, or the official visitor	A reasonable suspicion that a child or young person has suffered or is suffering sexual abuse or non-accidental physical injury
NSW	Persons who deliver health care,welfare, education, children's services, residential services or law enforcement to children	Current concerns that a child aged under 16 is at risk of harm
NT	Police; all other people with reasonable grounds	Reasonable grounds to believe that a child has suffered or is suffering maltreatment
QLD	Doctors; nurses. Officers employed to implement the Act 1999; all staff of residential care services. Educational staff (teaching and non-teaching staff in government and non-government schools).	Aware of or reasonably suspects a child has, is, or is likely to suffer harm. Reasonable suspicion of abuse or neglect to a child in residential care. Aware of or reasonably suspects sexual abuse of a child under 18 by an employee of the school.
SA	Doctors, pharmacists, nurses, dentists, psychologists, police, community corrections officers, social workers, teachers, family day care providers, employees/volunteers in a government department, agency or instrumentality, or a local government or non-government agency that provides health, welfare, education, child care or residential services wholly or partly for children. Current reforms include religious personnel (with the exception of disclosures made in the confessional).	Reasonable grounds that a child has been or is being abused or neglected
TAS	Professionals working with children and employees or volunteers working in government or government-funded organisations Any adult	Suspicion of knowledge of abuse or neglect Reasonable grounds to believe or suspect that a child is suffering, has suffered or is likely to suffer abuse or neglect. Current reforms include exposure to domestic violence
VIC	Police, doctors, nurses and teachers	Reasonable grounds that physical or sexual abuse is occurring
WA WA Upcoming reform	Court personnel, counsellors and mediators. Licensed providers of child care or outside school hours care services. Legislation will be introduced requiring the key professions of doctors, nurses, teachers and police officers to report	Allegations or suspicions of child abuse in Family Court cases. Allegations or suspicions of child abuse in a child care service. When they have evidence that child sexual abuse has occurred or is occurring

Is the identity of notifiers protected?

In most jurisdictions (Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia), the identity of notifiers - whether mandated or not - is explicitly protected (this issue is unclear in the Queensland and Tasmania legislation). However, in some jurisdictions there are limits to this protection. For example, in the Northern Territory, the identity of reporters is not disclosed to families, but may be disclosed to the Family Matters Court upon request.

About whom can notifications be made (age of child/young person)?

Although the legislation in each jurisdiction covers all young people up to the age of 18 (whether they use the term 'children' or 'children and young people'), the responsibility for mandatory notifiers does not always extend to age 18. In New South Wales, the mandatory reporting obligation does not extend to young people aged 16 and 17, even though the legislative grounds for intervention cover young people up to 18 years of age. Otherwise, mandatory reporting in all states/territories (except Western Australia where there is targeted, but not universal mandatory reporting) occurs in relation to all children and young people up to age 18.

Although particular professionals (such as psychologists) or government agencies (such as education departments in some states) may also have protocols outlining the moral, ethical, or professional responsibility - or indeed the organisational requirement - to report, they may not be officially mandated under their jurisdiction's child protection legislation. For example, in Western Australia, there is an agreement between the Department of Health, the Department for Community Development and the Police that requires the reporting of all children under 14 years of age with sexually transmitted infections (STI) and the reporting of children 14 and 15 years of age with STI acquired through abuse (Western Australian Health Amendment Bill 2004).

What type of concerns must be reported - and to what must child protection respond?

Mandatory reporting laws specify those conditions under which an individual is legally required to make a report to the statutory child protection service in their jurisdiction. This does not preclude an individual from making a report to the statutory child protection service if they have concerns for the safety and wellbeing of a child that do not fall within mandatory reporting requirements; A common assumption is that the following are the same: (a) mandatory reporting requirements; (b) the legislative grounds for intervention; and (c) research classifications of abusive and neglectful behaviour. For example, media reports may include claims about the number of cases of abuse and neglect, but yet the data on which these claims are based are actually the number of reports to statutory child protection services (that is, the data reflect child protection service activity not necessarily the incidence of maltreatment). Mandatory reporting laws define the types of situations that must be reported to statutory child protection services. Legislative grounds for intervention define the circumstances and importantly the threshold at which the statutory child protection service is legally able to intervene to protect a child. Researchers typically focus on defining behaviours and circumstances that can be categorised as abuse and neglect. These differences arise as each description serves a different purpose; the lack of commonality does not mean that the system is failing to work as policy makers had intended.

What are the benefits of mandatory reporting requirements?

Mandatory reporting is considered to be a symbolic acknowledgement of the seriousness of child abuse in a community.

Mandatory reporting requirements reinforce the moral responsibility for members of the community to report suspected cases of child abuse and neglect.

The introduction of mandatory reporting aims to overcome the reluctance of some professionals to become involved in suspected cases of child abuse by imposing a public duty to do so.

It has been found that the awareness of child abuse both within the mandated professional groups, as well as in the community at large, increases with the publicity that surrounds the introduction of mandatory reporting.

Are there problems with the introduction of mandatory reporting?

As mentioned, the introduction of mandatory reporting requirements in each state increases a community's awareness of child abuse. In many instances it results in a substantial increase in reports being made to child protection departments.

If inadequate funding accompanies the introduction of mandatory reporting, then the demand on child protection departments may result in services being overwhelmed with cases to investigate, without sufficient staffing to do so.

In order to cope with this influx of reports, some child protection departments have 'raised the bar' or level of seriousness of reports which they will investigate, while those cases considered to be less serious may not be investigated at all.

When mandated people report suspected cases of child abuse or neglect they expect the child protection department to investigate and take action regarding their report. When this does not occur due to a lack of resources in the department, those who have made reports may become disillusioned and therefore cease to make reports to the department.

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