questions about reporting
- what is a report?
- I am not sure whether the child has been abused, or not, but I am worried. Should I make a report?
- what is risk of harm?
- is there any legal protection for reporters?
- can I make an anonymous report?
- I have made a report about one child in the family. What happens to the siblings?
- how does DoCS assess reports?
what is a report?
A report is information provided to DoCS by any person who suspects there are current concerns for a child (under 16 years) or young person (age 16 to 17 years) due to risk of harm from abuse or neglect.
I am not sure whether the child or young person has been abused or not, but I am worried. Should I make a report?
You can make a report to DoCS if you suspect that a child or young person is at risk of harm. This means you have current concerns for the safety, welfare or wellbeing of a child or young person.You don’t have to be certain, you only need to make sure your concerns are well founded and based on information you know or have from a reliable source.
what is ‘risk of harm’?
Risk of harm means that you have current concerns about the safety, welfare or wellbeing of a child or young person for any of the following reasons:
- the basic physical or psychological needs of the child or young person are not being met, or at risk of not being met (neglect)
- the parents or caregivers have not arranged necessary medical care for the child or young person and are unwilling or unable to do so (neglect)
- the child or young person is at risk of physical or sexual abuse or ill-treatment (physical or sexual abuse and assault)
- the parent or caregiver’s behaviour towards the child or young person causes or risks psychological harm to the child or young person (emotional abuse)
- incidents of domestic violence at home and as a consequence, a child or young person is at risk of serious physical or psychological harm (domestic or family violence)
DoCS can also receive and assess reports in the following circumstances:
- before the birth of a child, where there may be risk of harm after the child is born
- where a child (aged under 16) is homeless
- where a young person (aged 16 or 17) is homeless
Where possible, the young person should be involved in the decision to report unless there are good reasons for this not happening. Tell DoCS if the young person is against the report being made as DoCS must consider the young person’s wishes when deciding to assess or investigate the report and how to do this.
If you are unsure about whether to report or not, it’s best to contact DoCS for advice on DoCS Helpline - 132 111.
is there any legal protection for reporters?
The law provides protection for reporters. The identity of the reporter cannot be disclosed to anyone without the reporter’s consent, unless on the rare occassion that a court directs the disclosure because it is crucial to a court proceeding.
When a report is made on reasonable grounds, the law protects the reporter from any civil action such as a defamation suit.
You cannot be prosecuted if anything in your report is found to be untrue.
Making a report to DoCS does not constitute a breach of professional etiquette, ethics, standards or codes of conduct.
can I make an anonymous report?
Yes you can. But it does mean we won't be able to contact you again to discuss what you've told us and we can't give you any feedback on your report.
The identity of all reporters, mandatory or not, is confidential.
Your identity, or any information which might reveal your identity (such as your address or workplace), can't be disclosed by anyone without your consent, except on rare occasions, where information about the report is crucial to court proceedings.
I have made a report about one child in the family. What happens to the siblings?
Whenever DoCS responds to a report it must also consider the immediate safety, welfare and wellbeing of any other children living in the same home, and take appropriate action.
This applies to all other children and young people in the home, not just brothers and sisters.
how does DoCS assess reports?
When you telephone DoCS to make a report, a caseworker at the Helpline will make an initial assessment to determine what action needs to be taken.
The DoCS caseworker is specially trained to ask you relevant questions, to ensure that they get all the information they can about the safety, welfare and wellbeing of the child. The caseworker can also consider any information held by DoCS about the child and/or family such as previous reports or recent contact with the family.
The caseworker will then conduct a safety and risk assessment to identify any safety or risk issues for the child or young person. This will enable them to decide what action needs to be taken.
If the caseworker decides that there is reason to believe that the child or young person is at risk of harm they may refer the matter to a DoCS Community Services Centre or Joint Investigation Response Team for a secondary assessment.
The caseworker will let you know whether they intend to refer the matter to the local DoCS Community Services Centre for follow-up.
Following an initial assessment, the caseworker may decide that, on the information provided, there is not enough reason to believe that the child or young person is at risk of harm. In this case, the caseworker will let you know that no action will be taken. The caseworker must record the reasons why they have decided not to take any action.
Additional information about DoCS’ assessment of child protection reports can be found in the NSW Interagency Guidelines for Child Protection Intervention 2006, chapter 3.2 “The Department of Community Services Risk Assessment Functions”.
See what if a report is made about me or a child in my care?
