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Child Protection

Part of your job- any job- is to make sure the people at your workplace are safe. If you work with children and young people, it is especially important that you make sure they are not harmed while you are looking after them. If, as part of your job, you find out anything that makes you think they are being abused anywhere else, you also need to get them some help. Youthworkers have been expected to do this for a long time but now it is also the law. The legal (also called 'mandatory') aspects are discussed below.

Who are mandatory reporters?

A "mandatory reporter" is any person who delivers health care, welfare, education, children's services, residential services or law enforcement wholly or partly to children (under the age of 16) as part of their paid work and includes any person who directly manages or supervises such work.
Volunteers (other than managers) are not mandatory reporters but many organisations have rules that they should also make such reports. Alternatively, some organisations require volunteers to report their concerns to their supervisors, who may make a report based on this information.
If you are a mandatory reporter with current concerns that a child under the age of 16 is at risk of harm, you are required by law to make a report to FaCS.
This is a legal obligation and there is a penalty if you don’t comply.

When must I make a report?

You must make a report to FaCS when you have current concerns about the safety, welfare and wellbeing of a child for any of the following reasons:

The basic physical or psychological needs of the child or young person are not being met (neglect);
The parents or caregivers have not arranged necessary medical care (unwilling or unable to do so);
There is a risk of physical or sexual abuse or ill-treatment (physical or sexual abuse);
A parent or caregiver's behaviour towards the child causes or risks psychological harm (emotional abuse);
Incidents of domestic violence cause a child to be at risk of serious physical or psychological harm (domestic or family violence).

You can make a report by phoning the FaCS Helpline on 132 111 (TTY 1800 212 936) for the cost of a local call, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
This decision making form from the NSW Department of Community Services will help you decide whether to make a report.

Mandatory Checklist (238 KB)

If you need to make a report, you can use this form to check that you have all the details you need. It can be faxed directly to FaCS, although they prefer it if you talk to them by phone instead, as they might have extra questions to ask you.

Risk of Harm Fax Report (130 KB)

What happens when I make a report?

Your report to FaCS will remain confidential. This means your name and contact details can't be disclosed to a parent, the person the allegation is made against, an employer or other person.
When FaCS receives your report, they have to assess and decide whether the child is actually at risk of harm. The information you provide in a report helps them decide what further action is needed. They also use the child or family history they already know about.

They assess all reports to decide the best action to ensure the safety, welfare and wellbeing of the child. This might involve talking to the child, their family or other important people in the child's life (like relatives, teachers or child carers), or talking to people who work with the child or their family (like counsellors, health professionals or family support workers).
Not all reports will lead to further assessment or investigation. This may be because there is not enough information or enough reason to believe that the child or young person is at risk of harm.
As a reporter, you will be informed about the type of action that will be taken based on your report.

This has been a very brief introduction to the laws regarding mandatory reporting.

For more information, look at FaCS' own information for service providers at
http://www.community.nsw.gov.au/preventing-child-abuse-and-neglect/resources-for-mandatory-reporters

You might also be interested in the following documents from the NSW Department of Sport and Recreation.

Notification Procedures for Allegations of Child Abuse (40 KB)

Child Protection Policy (68 KB)

Related sections

The Staffing section of this toolkit has details about screening staff and the important legal background checks you need to do before employing new workers or volunteers.