Reporting Laws and Requirements - VIC
Your safety: Let DFFH Child Protection or Police know if your safety is threatened.
Your identity: Will only ever be disclosed by order of a court.
In court: Your identity will only be disclosed in court with your permission or if the court believes it is necessary.
Sections 41 and 191 of the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 protect your information and identity once you’ve reported.
Perhaps the biggest fear people have about reporting child abuse or neglect, is that their identity will be revealed and they will suffer some consequences if the family become upset about a report being made.
Firstly, there are laws in Victoria about harassment and intimidation and threats – particularly of witnesses – and also laws about threatening behaviours and assaults. If your safety is of concern to you, let the DFFH Child Protection worker handling the case know of your concerns, and also contact the police.
When you report to DFFH or the Police, your details are treated as confidential and your identity is strictly protected.
There are several sections in the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 that protect your information and identity once you’ve reported. But remember that as important as confidentiality is, it should not override the safety of children – so information may be shared between services and agencies in order to protect the child(ren).
Investigators are also careful not to provide information that could identify you as the notifier eg if they visit the family after you’ve made a report, they don’t say anything that might allow the family to work out your identity – such as “at 9am on Tuesday large red welts were seen on your child’s bottom” when the family would work out that at 9am on Tuesday their child was with you at day care.”
Your identity will only ever be disclosed by order of a court. Sections 41 and 191 ensure that if you’ve made a report, whether mandatory or voluntary, and whether to DFFH Child Protection or The Orange Door, it is an offence for your identity to be disclosed to anyone without your permission unless it's done by one person to another in the course of their official duties.
Section 190 of the Act states that no evidence of your identity or from which your identity could be deduced is to be given or asked for in court without permission of the court. The Court will only give permission if you agree, or if the evidence is in the interests of justice or necessary to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the child – and this would be the case only in rare and exceptional circumstances. Usually by the time these matters get to court there are hardly any ways your identity could be that relevant.