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

Physical abuse

Notifications of physical abuse by mandated reporters double from 2003-05, and stabilise with slight increases thereafter. Substantiations are relatively low.

Sexual abuse

Notifications of sexual abuse by mandated reporters double from 2003-05, and then remain relatively stable, with an increase from 2008-12. Investigation rates of sexual abuse notifications are low, especially from 2008-12. Substantiations of sexual abuse are stable, and low, over the decade.

8. Notifications involving distinct children

Summary data on the level of involvement of distinct children in notifications may also prove useful for government agencies. Over the decade, there were 75,382 notifications from all persons, involving 21,349 children.

Of all children in notifications, 48% were only reported once, and 17% were reported twice. Combined, 65% of all children who were the subject of a notification were reported once or twice. A group of 35% of children in notifications were reported three or more times.

Of all notifications, 24% related to children who were reported once or twice. 74% of all notifications concerned children who were reported three or more times. This is an unusually high proportion, which may be related to the ACT’s caller-defined intake method. It merits further analysis to determine whether there is a relationship between the high number of notifications for a relatively small group of children and actual maltreatment and service need.

9. Analysis of notifications by police reveals a number of key findings.

Police are the mandated reporter group which makes the most notifications. Several key findings emerge from analysis of their reporting (Fig 6).

Notifications by police increased markedly for emotional abuse and neglect in the period 2003-09, and especially from 2003-06.

The exponential increase in notifications of emotional abuse from 2003-06 (likely related to encounters with exposure of children to domestic violence) may be associated with the child protection inquiries at the time, heightened awareness, and other contextual factors.
In contrast, over the period 2003-07, notifications by police of physical and sexual abuse - the two categories of maltreatment required by the law to be reported - did not rise. There is a trend of increased notifications of sexual abuse from 2009-12.

Investigations of police notifications of physical and sexual abuse are relatively low, particularly in recent years. While this is likely influenced by the caller-defined notification protocol in the ACT, this low rate could also be influenced by factors relating to the notification, factors relating to the agency, and other factors. This phenomenon arguably merits further exploration.

Substantiations of both physical abuse and sexual abuse notifications by police have remained low over time. This may be influenced by numerous factors including socio-economic factors (low child population, affluence), but may merit further exploration.

10. Conclusion

This Executive Summary has identified some key findings from the more detailed analyses conducted in this research study. These findings can assist government agencies and reporter groups in identifying areas where reporting practice for different types of child abuse and neglect may be enhanced.

One finding is that notifications by non-mandated groups account for 50% of all notifications. This indicates that while mandated reporting practice merits attention to enhance reporting practice and outcomes, attention may also be productively directed towards reporting by non-mandated reporters. In addition, technically mandated reports – reports of physical and sexual abuse, by mandated reporter groups – account for a very small proportion of notifications. This finding supplements the previous point. Attention may be positively directed towards reporting by mandated reporters of non-mandated maltreatment types. In particular, notifications of emotional abuse have risen markedly, especially by police. It is plausible that many concern incidents of domestic violence.

Several findings suggest positive trends in recent years in relation to notifications by mandated reporters. Overall, 49% of all substantiated cases result from reports by mandated reporter groups. The analyses also indicate other areas of practice which may warrant further exploration. The data on physical abuse and sexual abuse are notable, especially since those two types of maltreatment are the only categories required by the ACT legislation to be reported. Notifications by mandated reporters have increased to some extent, with many not being investigated, and substantiations are relatively low. These trends may be reasonably accounted for by various factors, including the caller-defined protocol, but merit further analysis. Identification of these and other trends may indicate dimensions of reporting practice which are most in need of attention, the level of resourcing needed by the child protection system, and the level of societal need for assistance.