Reporting Laws and Requirements - VIC
Failure to Report
A failure to report could mean prosecution and the maximum penalty is just over $1200.
Exceptions
You honestly and reasonably believed that a report was made by another person to the secretary on all the same reasonable grounds that your belief was based.
Can I Really Be Prosecuted?
Yes – the offence is failing to report covered under the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 Section 184 - Mandatory Reporting– so it’s irrelevant whether or not the abuse actually occurred. If you had a suspicion and failed to report it’s an offence – even if it later turns out there was no abuse taking place.
Duty of Care to Reporters
Don't forget that whether you are mandated or not - you still have serious legal obligations to report under Duty of Care laws and NQF laws.
Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 Section 184 - Mandatory Reporting covers the offence of a failure by mandatory reporters to report as required. You could be prosecuted and fined a maximum of 10 penalty units – which is about $1200. However there is a defence to this charge if you reasonably and honestly believed that someone else made the same report based on the same reasons. You could reasonably believe this if you saw a report, or saw a file note, or if someone told you they did this.
Yes. It’s important to remember that the offence is for failing to report – so it doesn’t matter whether or not the child was actually abused or not.
If you are a mandatory reporter, and you have a belief based on reasonable grounds and you don’t report, then unless you have a legal defence, you have committed an offence and may be prosecuted and fined. This can happen even if they find out later that the abuse did not happen.
