Who is mandated to report child abuse in victoria

Information on how to report suspected child abuse and neglect, including key contacts in each state and territory. A practical guide for organisations, professionals and any other person responding to children and young people disclosing abuse.

An overview of child abuse and neglect terminology, including broad definitions of physical abuse, emotional maltreatment, neglect and sexual abuse. A brief overview of child protection legislation across state and territory jurisdictions in Australia. CFCA offers a free research and information helpdesk for child, family and community welfare practitioners, service providers, researchers and policy makers through the CFCA News.

The Australian Institute of Family Studies acknowledges the traditional country throughout Australia on which we gather, live, work and stand. We acknowledge all traditional custodians, their Elders past, present and emerging and we pay our respects to their continuing connection to their culture, community, land, sea and rivers. Home » Publications » Mandatory reporting of child abuse and neglect.

If you believe a child is in immediate danger call Police on This resource sheet is provided as a guide only, and is current at the date of publication.

Family violence: A national legal response. Canberra: ALRC. Cashmore, J. Mandatory reporting: Is it the culprit? Where is the evidence? Drake, B. A response to Melton based on the best available data. Government of Western Australia. Mandatory reporting legislation to be extended to ministers of religion Media release. The impact of mandatory reporting legislation on reporting behaviour. Mandatory reporting laws and identification of child abuse and neglect: Consideration of differential maltreatment types, and a cross-jurisdictional analysis of child sexual abuse reports.

Social Sciences, 3 3 , Mandatory reporting laws for child sexual abuse in Australia: A legislative history. A taxonomy of duties to report child sexual abuse: Legal developments offer new ways to facilitate disclosure. Reports of child sexual abuse of boys and girls: Longitudinal trends over a year period in Victoria, Australia. Child abuse and neglect: A socio-legal study of mandatory reporting in Australia Vols Melbourne: Government of Victoria. Mandated reporting is still a policy with reason: Empirical evidence and philosophical grounds.

Child Abuse and Neglect, 32 5 , Impact of a new mandatory reporting law on reporting and identification of child sexual abuse: A seven year time trend analysis. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia. Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies. Last updated June Publication meta Copyright information. Further reading Reporting child abuse and neglect. What is child abuse and neglect? Australian child protection legislation.

Need some help? CFCA social media. A person who is: a doctor; a dentist; a nurse; an enrolled nurse; a midwife; a psychologist; a teacher at a school; a person authorised to inspect education programs, materials or other records used for home education of a child or young person under the Education Act ; a police officer; a person employed to counsel children or young people at a school; a person caring for a child at a child care centre; a person coordinating or monitoring home-based care for a family day care scheme proprietor; a public servant who, in the course of employment as a public servant, works with, or provides services personally to children and young people or families; the public advocate; an official visitor; a minister of religion, religious leader or member of the clergy of a church or religious denomination; a person who, in the course of the person's employment, has contact with or provides services to children, young people and their families and is prescribed by regulation.

A belief, on reasonable grounds, that a child or young person has experienced or is experiencing sexual abuse or non-accidental physical injury; and the reasons for the belief arise from information obtained by the person during the course of, or because of, the person's work whether paid or unpaid. A person who, in the course of his or her professional work, or other paid employment, delivers health care, welfare, education, children's services, residential services or law enforcement, wholly or partly, to children.

A person in religious ministry, or a person providing religion-based activities to children. A registered psychologist providing a professional service as a psychologist. Suspicion on reasonable grounds, obtained during the course of or from the person's work, that a child is at risk of significant harm because of the presence to a significant extent of circumstances of: neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse, risk of harm through exposure to domestic violence, and failure to engage with services after a pre-natal report.

A belief on reasonable grounds that a child has suffered or is likely to suffer harm or exploitation. Reasonable grounds to believe a child aged 14 or 15 years has been or is likely to be a victim of a sexual offence and the age difference between the child and offender is greater than 2 years.

An authorised officer, a public service employee employed in the department, a person employed in a departmental care service or licensed care service. Doctors; registered nurses; teachers; a police officer who, under a direction given by the commissioner of the police service under the Police Service Administration Act , is responsible for reporting under this section; a person engaged to perform a child advocate function under the Public Guardian Act ; early childhood education and care professionals.

A reasonable suspicion that a child in care a child placed in the care of an entity conducting a departmental care service or a licensee has suffered, is suffering, or is at unacceptable risk of suffering, significant harm caused by physical or sexual abuse. A reasonable suspicion that a child has suffered, is suffering or is at an unacceptable risk of suffering, significant harm caused by physical or sexual abuse; and may not have a parent able and willing to protect the child from the harm.

Awareness or reasonable suspicion that a child has been or is likely to be sexually abused; and the suspicion is formed in the course of the person's employment. Medical practitioners; pharmacists; registered or enrolled nurses; dentists; psychologists; police officers; community corrections officers under the Correctional Services Act ; social workers; ministers of religion; employees of, or volunteers in, an organisation formed for religious or spiritual purposes; teachers employed as such in a school within the meaning of the Education and Early Childhood Services Registration and Standards Act or a preschool or kindergarten; employees of, or volunteers in, an organisation that provides health, welfare, education, sporting or recreational, child care or residential services wholly or partly for children and young people, being a person who - i provides such services directly to children and young people; or ii holds a management position in the organisation, the duties of which include direct responsibility for, or direct supervision of, the provision of those services to children and young people.

Reasonable grounds to suspect a child or young person is, or may be, at risk; and the suspicion was formed in the course of the person's employment. Making institutions child safe. Recordkeeping and information sharing. Print full document. Victorian Government Annual Report - Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse Introduction Making institutions child safe Improving institutional responding and reporting Recordkeeping and information sharing Advocacy, support and therapeutic treatment services Children with harmful sexual behaviours Contemporary out-of-home care Schools Sport, recreation, arts, culture, community and hobby groups Contemporary detention environments Working with Children Checks Report Redress and Civil Litigation Report Criminal Justice Report Share this page Twitter , opens a new window Facebook , opens a new window LinkedIn , opens a new window.

Was this page helpful? Yes No. Equal opportunity, sexual harassment, racial and religious vilification, and related dispute resolution. Aboriginal Justice Agreement External link. In its fourth phase - Burra Lotjpa Dunguludja - was launched. How to request access to documents held by the department's business units.

History and legislation behind the recognition and protection of native title in Victoria. Adoption permanently transfers the parental rights and responsibilities of natural parents over to adoptive parents. If you fail to report the information, you may be charged with a criminal offence. The maximum penalty is three years imprisonment. The failure to disclose offence helps to ensure that protecting children from sexual abuse is the responsibility of the whole community.

The failure to disclose offence was introduced in Victoria in response to the Betrayal of Trust report in You can find information about how the offence may affect the reporting obligations of organisations funded by the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing on their website External link.

You must report information about child sexual abuse to police only if the alleged victim was still aged under 16 on 27 October , when this offence came into effect. As of 17 February , if you are a religious minister who hears information in religious confession that leads you to form a reasonable belief of child sexual abuse, you must report that information to police.

For example, you might form a reasonable belief that a child has been sexually abused if:. If you are charged with the failure to disclose offence, a court or jury may consider whether it was reasonable for you not to report to police in the circumstances.

For example, a mother may decide not to report her partner sexually abusing her child because she fears violence against her or her child. The fear must be reasonable from the perspective of that person in those circumstances.

This recognises that this person is best placed to judge whether their safety, or the safety of another person, is endangered. For further information about mandatory reporting obligations, visit the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing website External link. A victim may decide they do not want the sexual abuse to be reported. Where a victim is capable of making an informed decision, the law does not require the abuse to be reported. The law recognises that a child under 16 is not able to make this kind of decision, as they may not fully understand the effects of abuse.

If you were under 18 when you received the information, you do not have to report it when you turn This exemption protects children from the burden of knowing they will have to report the information to police when they turn You will not be required to report information that would be privileged, including information protected under:.

This exemption aims to protect registered medical practitioners and counsellors from criminal liability when they are treating a victim or alleged victim of sexual offending. Information may be in the public domain if, for example, it is on television or radio, in the newspaper or on the internet.