Child Abuse and Neglect: a socio-legal Study of Mandatory Reporting in Australia

Reports	Children	Reports	Children	Reports	Children	Reports
Children
Doctors	16	16	18	18	19	18	22	21
Nurses	144	122	210	147	104	92	96	80
Police	482	415	235	202	98	95	104	89
School personnel	246	215	181	153	329	278	152	138
Child care workers	7	5	7	7	13	13	8	7
Social workers	16	16	13	13	1	1	11	11
Combined major mandated reporter groups	911	731	664	488	564	468	393	313
Other reporter groups combined	1,348	980	985	726	497	411	397	299
Totals:	2,259	1,488	1,649	1,078	1,061	796	790	542

3.16 Number of reports for 2004, by outcome of report, by number of distinct children

	Not investigated		Investigated		Substantiated		Not substantiated		Totals
	Reports	Children	Reports	Children	Reports	Children	Reports	Children	Reports	Children
Doctors	44	44	31	30	5	5	26	26	75	70
Nurses	267	216	287	242	110	89	177	162	554	408
Police	528	464	391	338	147	137	244	225	919	745
School personnel	552	464	356	302	102	95	254	223	908	701
Child care workers	16	15	19	18	4	4	15	14	35	32
Social workers	31	31	10	10	5	5	5	5	41	41
Combined major mandated reporter groups	1,438	1,130	1,094	864	373	317	721	617	2,532	1,728
Other reporter groups combined	1,738	1,288	1,489	1,046	494	381	995	768	3,227	1,924
Totals:	3,176	2,122	2,583	1,662	867	625	1,716	1,254	5,759	3,027

3.17 Number of reports for 2005, by abuse type, by number of distinct children

	Emotional abuse		Neglect		Physical abuse		Sexual abuse
	Reports	Children	Reports	Children	Reports	Children	Reports	Children
Doctors	24	22	24	23	28	26	24	24
Nurses	193	172	236	191	98	88	115	95
Police	638	547	213	203	98	95	84	78
School personnel	332	279	242	213	385	330	179	143
Child care workers	14	14	32	32	17	16	20	18
Social workers	15	15	12	6	10	10	6	6
Combined major mandated reporter groups	1,216	972	759	607	636	521	428	321
Other reporter groups combined	1,523	1,097	1,244	890	531	434	362	289
Totals:	2,739	1,726	2,003	1,324	1,167	887	790	539

3.18 Number of reports for 2005, by outcome of report, by number of distinct children

	Not investigated		Investigated		Substantiated		Not substantiated		Totals
	Reports	Children	Reports	Children	Reports	Children	Reports	Children	Reports	Children
Doctors	62	61	38	36	21	21	17	17	100	95
Nurses	399	342	243	203	106	89	137	120	642	494
Police	603	526	430	383	242	220	188	179	1,033	851
School personnel	669	552	469	402	194	173	275	245	1,138	861
Child care workers	44	41	39	37	16	15	23	23	83	77
Social workers	28	26	15	14	8	8	7	6	43	38
Combined major mandated reporter groups	1,805	1,404	1,234	979	587	486	647	561	3,039	2,060
Other reporter groups combined	2,039	1,497	1,621	1,131	711	568	910	719	3,660	2,162
Totals:	3,844	2,525	2,855	1,798	1,298	917	1,557	1,168	6,699	3,451

3.19 Number of reports for 2006, by abuse type, by number of distinct children

	Emotional abuse		Neglect		Physical abuse		Sexual abuse
	Reports	Children	Reports	Children	Reports	Children	Reports	Children
Doctors	15	15	32	32	17	14	21	20
Nurses	231	218	253	209	96	88	103	89
Police	903	786	264	239	81	81	79	68