Organisational child safety is much more than just compliance with the state Child Safety principles. Your organisation must be aware of, and meet, its compliance and reporting requirements on a state-by-state basis.
Reporting concerns about children, in line with Australian legislation and to meet your obligations, can be complex.
Depending on where you are in Australia, there are up to four types of reporting that may be required.
Reporting is only one part of our response when we have concerns. Your organisation will also have care and risk management considerations to implement, as well as reporting responsibilities.
Reporting knowledge of criminal activity is an important part of acting justly. In each state/territory there are different requirements for reporting.
The focus of reporting to the police is on justice, i.e. crime and punishment.
The Crimes Act, or equivalent, in each state or territory provides the basis upon which police have powers to prosecute those who have perpetrated crimes.
If you are unsure of required police reporting concerning child protection in your state or territory, contact your organisation’s Safe Community / Child Protection Officer.
Specific examples of child protection reporting to the police are in the state/territory specific links below current at 31 March 2020.
In the NSW Crimes Act 1900 there is both a general concealment offence, Concealment of Serious Crime, Section 316, and a specific Failure to Report Child Abuse to the Police offence, Section 316A.
The Crimes Act also includes an offence for failing to protect a child from abuse (Section 43B).
In 2019 the ACT added Section 66AA to the Crimes Act 1900, Failure to Report Child Sexual Offence, which applies to persons in authority in educational and other institutions in relation to Failure to Report Sexual Abuse to the Police of children under 16 years.
In 2014, the law in Victoria was changed to create the failure to disclose offence.
The failure to disclose an offence applies to you if:
If this applies to you, you must report the information to the police as soon as possible, unless:
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 the offence helps to ensure that protecting children from sexual abuse is the responsibility of the whole community.
Protecting Australia’s children is everybody’s business.
If you suspect a child or young person is at risk of harm, abuse or neglect, you can contact your relevant state or territory child protection agency.
Make a Child Concern Report: 1300 556 729
Child Abuse Report Line: 131 478
Child Protection Helpline: 132 111
Advice and Referral Line: 1800 000 123
Child Abuse Hotline: 1800 700 250
Call the relevant Child Protection Contact
After hours: 13 12 78
Call the relevant Regional Intake Services
After hours: 1800 177 135
Central intake: 1800 273 889
‘In Australia, state and territory governments are responsible for receiving reports of suspected child abuse and neglect from members of the public. Reporting child abuse and neglect is a community-wide responsibility.
Anyone who suspects, on reasonable grounds, that a child or young person is at risk of being abused and/or neglected should report it to the reporting authority in their state or territory.
Certain groups of people are required by law to report any suspicion of abuse or neglect of a child or young person to government authorities. Further information and guidelines regarding mandatory reporting can be found in the CFCA Resource Sheet: Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse and Neglect.’
Source:aifs.gov.au/cfca/publications/cfca-resource-sheet/reporting-child-abuse-and-neglect
Remember that the focus of Risk of Harm reporting (or ‘Risk of Significant Harm’ reporting in NSW) is child safety, so whether you are mandated by law or not, you can report to the relevant state/territory government child protection agency or department.
A good resource for reporting requirements is the Australian Institute of Family Studies.
There are currently three jurisdictions in Australia that operate Reportable Conduct Schemes:
Victoria
New South Wales
Australian Capital Territory
Reportable conduct includes sexual offences, sexual misconduct, neglect, ill-treatment, emotional harm, and physical assault of a child by a worker.
These are schemes whereby the government has scrutiny over the internal organisational investigation processes into allegations against those who work with children and young people. The operators of the scheme also have scrutiny over organisations’ systems to prevent, detect, and respond to reportable conduct.
The focus of the scheme is to ensure thorough investigation of all complaints against those who work with children. In all three jurisdictions, adverse findings of reportable conduct can impact upon a person’s Working with Children Check or, in the ACT, Working with Vulnerable Persons Check.
There are strict reporting requirements for the organisation before, during and at the completion of the investigation process.
For more information, click on these links:
VIC – COMMISSION FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE
Reporting child protection, and other child-related concerns, to your organisation is essential for assistance with implementation of internal organisational policy and procedures, and also for assistance with pastoral and risk management action planning.
Organisational response to complaints should follow a well-documented complaints process that needs to take into account a ‘child-focused’ approach.
The Complaint Handling Guide: Upholding the rights of children and young people gives organisations advice about how to establish a complaint-handling system that puts child safety first and promotes the rights of children and young people to have a voice in decisions that affect them. The guide was developed in 2019 by the Office of the NSW Ombudsman on behalf of the National Office of Child Safety.
The focus of the scheme is to ensure thorough investigation of all complaints against those who work with children. In all three jurisdictions, adverse findings of reportable conduct can impact upon a person’s Working with Children Check or, in the ACT, Working with Vulnerable Persons Check.
There are strict reporting requirements for the organisation before, during, and at the completion of the investigation process.
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