The simple rule is: if you have a reasonable belief that a sexual offence has been committed by an adult against a child (aged under 16) in Victoria, you must report that belief to Victoria Police.
- It is a reasonable excuse to not report under the offence if you believe on reasonable grounds that the information has already been disclosed to police by another person and you have no further information. This ensures that multiple people within the Council are not required to report the same information to police.
- It is also a reasonable excuse to not report to police if you reasonably believe a report has been made to DHS (Child Protection) and you have no additional information. (Amendments to the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (CYF Act) reinforce DHS’ current practice of passing on all allegations of child sexual assault to police.)
What if a person discloses knowledge of child sexual abuse to me but doesn’t want me to report it?
If someone discloses information about a sexual offence against a child to you, and they are not the victim of the offence, you are required to report this information to police, unless you have a reasonable excuse for not reporting. You should advise the person of your obligation to report this information to police and tell them about their own obligations under the failure to disclose offence as well as the relevant defences.
If the person who discloses the information is the victim of the offence, you are not required to disclose this information to police provided that the person is over 16 and requests that the information not be reported.
What if a woman experiencing family violence discloses information about child sexual abuse to me but doesn’t want me to report it?
If you are working with a woman experiencing family violence and information about a sexual offence against a child emerges, you are required to report this information to police, unless you have a reasonable excuse for not reporting. You should advise the woman of your obligation to report this information to police. If it appears she may have known about the offence against the child, you should tell her about her obligations under the failure to disclose offence and the relevant defences. You should make clear that the intent of the offence is to protect children, not to further victimise or impact on the safety of women experiencing family violence, and that Victoria Police understands the situation of women in these circumstances.
You may have a reasonable excuse for not reporting if you reasonably fear for the safety of the woman who disclosed the information, or for the safety of her children, if you report. However, the decision not to report must be reasonable in the circumstances. For example, if action could be taken to protect the woman and/or her children from danger, it may not be considered reasonable not to report.
Even if you believe you have a reasonable excuse for not reporting, you should consider any ongoing risk to the child, and decide whether other action (for example, a report to child protection) should be taken to protect them.
What if a child discloses to me that they have been abused and doesn’t want me to report the offence to police?
The new offence respects the position of a victim who does not want the offence disclosed and who is sufficiently mature to make that judgment.
The obligation to report therefore does not apply where the information about the sexual offence comes directly from a victim who has turned 16 years of age and who requests that the information not be disclosed to police. However, this exception does not apply where the victim is aged under 16 years or is aged over 16 years and has an intellectual disability and does not have the capacity to make an informed decision about whether or not to report.