1.5.2.1. Original position at 1 January 2003: New South Wales
Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998
At 1 January 2003, in New South Wales the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 (NSW) imposed a broad range of mandatory reporting obligations. Under s 23, the duty applied to a broad range of types of child abuse and neglect. This range of reportable types included exposure to domestic violence, and NSW at the time was the only State to include such a duty. The state of mind activating the duty was ‘reasonable grounds to suspect a child is at risk of harm’. The duty applied to both suspected past/present harm, and to risk of suspected future harm. Under s 27, the duty was extended to a broad range of professionals in professions including education, health, welfare and law enforcement who delivered services to children, and to those in management positions in these organisations. The penalty was 200 penalty units, which equated to $22,000. A limiting feature in this legislation compared to most other jurisdictions was that a ‘child’ was defined as a person under 16; hence the reporting duty only applied to those aged 15 or under (s 3). Immunity from proceedings was provide by s 29(1)(a)-(e). Confidentiality was conferred by s 29(1)(f).
