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

1,904	721	1,183
9,434

2.2 Number of reports of emotional abuse, by year, reporter group, and outcome

	Not investigated		Investigated		Substantiated		Not substantiated		Total
2003
Doctors	6	0.4%	4	0.3%	0	0.0%	4	0.3%	10	0.7%
Nurses	43	2.9%	47	3.2%	15	1.0%	32	2.2%	90	6.1%
Police	186	12.6%	128	8.7%	75	5.1%	53	3.6%	314	21.3%
School personnel	84	5.7%	86	5.8%	31	2.1%	55	3.7%	170	11.5%
Child care workers	6	0.4%	6	0.4%	4	0.3%	2	0.1%	12	0.8%
Social workers	18	1.2%	10	0.7%	3	0.2%	7	0.5%	28	1.9%
Combined major mandated reporter groups	343	23.3%	281	19.1%	128	8.7%	153	10.4%	624	42.4%
Other reporter groups combined	480	32.6%	368	25.0%	148	10.1%	220	14.9%	848	57.6%
Totals	823	55.9%	649	44.1%	276	18.8%	373	25.3%	1,472	4.2%
2004
Doctors	9	0.4%	7	0.3%	0	0.0%	7	0.3%	16	0.7%
Nurses	57	2.5%	87	3.9%	27	1.2%	60	2.7%	144	6.4%
Police	291	12.9%	191	8.5%	83	3.7%	108	4.8%	482	21.3%
School personnel	135	6.0%	111	4.9%	31	1.4%	80	3.5%	246	10.9%
Child care workers	2	0.1%	5	0.2%	1	0.0%	4	0.2%	7	0.3%
Social workers	12	0.5%	4	0.2%	4	0.2%	0	0.0%	16	0.7%
Combined major mandated reporter groups	506	22.4%	405	17.9%	146	6.5%	259	11.5%	911	40.3%
Other reporter groups combined	651	28.8%	697	30.9%	242	10.7%	455	20.1%	1,348	59.7%
Totals	1,157	51.2%	1,102	48.8%	388	17.2%	714	31.6%	2,259	6.4%

	Not investigated		Investigated		Substantiated		Not substantiated		Total
2005
Doctors	14	0.5%	10	0.4%	6	0.2%	4	0.1%	24	0.9%
Nurses	107	3.9%	86	3.1%	52	1.9%	34	1.2%	193	7.0%
Police	387	14.1%	251	9.2%	164	6.0%	87	3.2%	638	23.3%
School personnel	179	6.5%	153	5.6%	71	2.6%	82	3.0%	332	12.1%
Child care workers	4	0.1%	10	0.4%	3	0.1%	7	0.3%	14	0.5%
Social workers	13	0.5%	2	0.1%	0	0.0%	2	0.1%	15	0.5%
Combined major mandated reporter groups	704	25.7%	512	18.7%	296	10.8%	216	7.9%	1,216	44.4%
Other reporter groups combined	807	29.5%	716	26.1%	406	14.8%	310	11.3%	1,523	55.6%
Totals	1,511	55.2%	1,228	44.8%	702	25.6%	526	19.2%	2,739	7.8%
2006
Doctors	6	0.2%	9	0.2%	5	0.1%	4	0.1%	15	0.4%
Nurses	115	3.1%	116	3.1%	63	1.7%	53	1.4%	231	6.1%
Police	542	14.4%	361	9.6%	173	4.6%	188	5.0%	903	24.0%
School personnel	303	8.0%	148	3.9%	50	1.3%	98	2.6%	451	12.0%
Child care workers	6	0.2%	12	0.3%	3	0.1%	9	0.2%	18	0.5%
Social workers	18	0.5%	6	0.2%	0	0.0%	6	0.2%	24	0.6%
Combined major mandated reporter groups	990	26.3%	652	17.3%	294	7.8%	358	9.5%	1,642	43.6%
Other reporter groups combined	1,178	31.3%	946	25.1%	418	11.1%	528	14.0%	2,124	56.4%
Totals	2,168	57.6%	1,598	42.4%	712	18.9%	886	23.5%	3,766	10.7%

	Not investigated		Investigated		Substantiated		Not substantiated		Total
2007
Doctors	25	0.6%	8	0.2%	3	0.1%	5	0.1%	33	0.8%
Nurses	228	5.2%	77	1.8%	25	0.6%	52	1.2%	305	7.0%
Police	770	17.6%	198	4.5%	102	2.3%	96	2.2%	968	22.1%
School personnel	459	10.5%	203	4.6%	70	1.6%	133	3.0%	662	15.1%
Child care workers	19	0.4%	6	0.1%	3	0.1%	3	0.1%	25	0.6%
Social workers	24	0.5%	8	0.2%	0	0.0%	8	0.2%	32	0.7%
Combined major mandated reporter groups	1,525	34.8%	500	11.4%	203	4.6%	297	6.8%	2,025	46.2%
Other reporter groups combined	1,771	40.4%	587	13.4%	209	4.8%	378	8.6%	2,358	53.8%
Totals