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

1,916	78.5%	524	21.5%	225	9.2%	299	12.3%	2,440
11.7%
Combined Totals	15,051	72.1%	5,825	27.9%	2,525	12.1%	3,300	15.8%	20,876

2.4 Number of reports of physical abuse, by year, reporter group, and outcome

	Not investigated		Investigated		Substantiated		Not substantiated		Totals
2003
Doctors	4	0.6%	15	2.4%	5	0.8%	10	1.6%	19	3.0%
Nurses	20	3.2%	26	4.2%	7	1.1%	19	3.0%	46	7.4%
Police	35	5.6%	34	5.4%	15	2.4%	19	3.0%	69	11.1%
School personnel	104	16.7%	84	13.5%	40	6.4%	44	7.1%	188	30.1%
Child care workers	1	0.2%	3	0.5%	0	0.0%	3	0.5%	4	0.6%
Social workers	1	0.2%	1	0.2%	1	0.2%	0	0.0%	2	0.3%
Combined major mandated reporter groups	165	26.4%	163	26.1%	68	10.9%	95	15.2%	328	52.6%
Other reporter groups combined	138	22.1%	158	25.3%	67	10.7%	91	14.6%	296	47.4%
Totals	303	48.6%	321	51.4%	135	21.6%	186	29.8%	624	5.3%
2004
Doctors	12	1.1%	7	0.7%	3	0.3%	4	0.4%	19	1.8%
Nurses	68	6.4%	36	3.4%	5	0.5%	31	2.9%	104	9.8%
Police	60	5.7%	38	3.6%	13	1.2%	25	2.4%	98	9.2%
School personnel	192	18.1%	137	12.9%	36	3.4%	101	9.5%	329	31.0%
Child care workers	5	0.5%	8	0.8%	1	0.1%	7	0.7%	13	1.2%
Social workers	0	0.0%	1	0.1%	1	0.1%	0	0.0%	1	0.1%
Combined major mandated reporter groups	337	31.8%	227	21.4%	59	5.6%	168	15.8%	564	53.2%
Other reporter groups combined	283	26.7%	214	20.2%	49	4.6%	165	15.6%	497	46.8%
Totals	620	58.4%	441	41.6%	108	10.2%	333	31.4%	1,061	9.1%

	Not investigated		Investigated		Substantiated		Not substantiated		Totals
2005
Doctors	14	1.2%	14	1.2%	7	0.6%	7	0.6%	28	2.4%
Nurses	71	6.1%	27	2.3%	13	1.1%	14	1.2%	98	8.4%
Police	53	4.5%	45	3.9%	19	1.6%	26	2.2%	98	8.4%
School personnel	212	18.2%	173	14.8%	59	5.1%	114	9.8%	385	33.0%
Child care workers	8	0.7%	9	0.8%	4	0.3%	5	0.4%	17	1.5%
Social workers	7	0.6%	3	0.3%	3	0.3%	0	0.0%	10	0.9%
Combined major mandated reporter groups	365	31.3%	271	23.2%	105	9.0%	166	14.2%	636	54.5%
Other reporter groups combined	267	22.9%	264	22.6%	88	7.5%	176	15.1%	531	45.5%
Totals	632	54.2%	535	45.8%	193	16.5%	342	29.3%	1,167	10.0%
2006
Doctors	14	1.3%	3	0.3%	2	0.2%	1	0.1%	17	1.6%
Nurses	54	5.0%	42	3.9%	15	1.4%	27	2.5%	96	8.9%
Police	41	3.8%	40	3.7%	9	0.8%	31	2.9%	81	7.5%
School personnel	242	22.5%	188	17.5%	73	6.8%	115	10.7%	430	39.9%
Child care workers	13	1.2%	11	1.0%	4	0.4%	7	0.6%	24	2.2%
Social workers	5	0.5%	1	0.1%	1	0.1%	0	0.0%	6	0.6%
Combined major mandated reporter groups	369	34.3%	285	26.5%	104	9.7%	181	16.8%	654	60.7%
Other reporter groups combined	229	21.3%	194	18.0%	57	5.3%	137	12.7%	423	39.3%
Totals	598	55.5%	479	44.5%	161	14.9%	318	29.5%	1,077	9.2%

	Not investigated		Investigated		Substantiated		Not substantiated		Totals
2007
Doctors	5	0.5%	2	0.2%	1	0.1%	1	0.1%	7	0.6%
Nurses	59	5.3%	38	3.4%	15	1.4%	23	2.1%	97	8.7%
Police	41	3.7%	18	1.6%	4	0.4%	14	1.3%	59	5.3%
School personnel	381	34.4%	131	11.8%	25	2.3%	106	9.6%	512	46.2%
Child care workers	15	1.4%	4	0.4%	0	0.0%	4	0.4%	19	1.7%
Social workers	9	0.8%	4	0.4%	0	0.0%	4	0.4%	13	1.2%
Combined major mandated reporter groups	510	46.0%	197	17.8%	45	4.1%	152	13.7%	707	63.8%
Other reporter groups combined	270	24.3%	132	11.9%	39	3.5%	93	8.4%	402	36.2%
Totals