Page 4737 - Week 15 - Thursday, 16 December 1993
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In 1986 the law was changed in this Territory to give full civil and criminal protection to a person who voluntarily reports to the Community Advocate and thereby brings the full resources of the Territory into play to protect the interests of a child in need of care. However, concurrent measures which would have required professionals to report child abuse have never become law.
The issue considered by the Community Law Reform Committee in the seventh report of the committee, which I am tabling today, is not whether voluntary reporting is a desirable practice. The issue is whether the law should go further than voluntary reporting and require professionals working in the children's services area to report child abuse when they become aware of it. Unfortunately, in Canberra the sad reality is that, despite voluntary reporting of abuse, professionals do not report all instances of child abuse. Sometimes this is because the professional is unsure that abuse has occurred, sometimes because the professional believes that intervention by the Territory would be unwarranted or counterproductive, sometimes because the professional is unaware of his or her power to make a voluntary report and sometimes because the professional does not wish to damage his or her professional or commercial relationship with the child's parents or guardians.
In considering this issue, the Community Law Reform Committee has considered whether a mandatory reporting law can be an effective means of changing what may be deep-seated reluctance on the part of some professionals to report cases of child abuse. In preparing the report, the committee has made a detailed study of reporting practices in this Territory and other jurisdictions. It has also assessed the potential financial costs of introducing mandatory reporting.
The committee is not unanimous in all of its recommendations. The majority view is that there should be a phased approach to mandatory reporting. This strategy would begin with targeted education and, if this does not work, would move toward mandatory reporting. It is argued that requiring professionals to report will lead to the welfare services of the ACT being overwhelmed by new cases. Each report of child abuse must be investigated. Investigations take time and resources. In the final result, not every report of abuse may be confirmed. The majority argues that staff and resources which are presently used to great effect in supporting families in need might be redirected into policing mandatory reporting. A minority of the committee which supports the immediate introduction of mandatory reporting has provided its views in a chapter of the report. The Community Law Reform Committee has weighed up the potential value of mandatory reporting with the potential social costs of the redirection of services.
The report of the committee deals with difficult and divisive issues. I welcome further debate in the Assembly on this subject as the result of the committee's report and look forward to presenting the Government's response to the committee's recommendations early next year. I commend the report to members.
Debate (on motion by Ms Szuty) adjourned.
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