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

Further significant change regarding sexual abuse reporting (commencing 1 September 2009)

The Care and Protection of Children Amendment Act 2009 (Act 23) repealed and substituted s 26. This had the effect of: ²³

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  Simplifying but not substantially altering the primary existing reporting duty
  
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  Adding duties regarding selected sexual abuse scenarios as follows:
  

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  Adding a secondary reporting duty regarding a belief on reasonable grounds that a child aged less than 14 has been or is likely to be a victim of a sexual offence,²⁴ or an offence against s 128 of the Criminal Code (a child 16-17 years old and under the offender’s special care eg teacher or step-parent)
  
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  Adding a reporting duty for health practitioners, and others performing work of a kind prescribed by regulation, who believe on reasonable grounds that a child aged 14 but less than 16 has been or is likely to be a victim of a sexual offence and the difference in age between the child and alleged offender is more than 2 years.
  

This, together with the context accompanying the legislative change, may be expected to have produced a significant increase in reports of sexual abuse from September 2009.