Child protection system

Who is responsible for child protection?

The responsibility for making sure that the needs of children are met and that they are safe within their families is shared between the family, the community and the government. When adults caring for children do not follow through with their responsibilities, are abusive or exploit their positions of power, then it is the wider child protection system that becomes responsible for taking action. Depending on how serious the risk and harm is to a child's safety and wellbeing will depend on the type of service provided. It is perhaps most useful to think about a continuum of service responses which are divided into primary, secondary and tertiary services. The overall goal of all the services is to prevent child abuse and neglect.

Primary Services

The goal of primary services is to provide support and education for children and families before problems arise. In many cases, primary services prevent abuse and neglect occurring. Primary prevention services are offered to everyone and include ante-natal services, maternal and child health services and human relationship education in schools.

Community attitudes towards violence, children's rights and physical punishment are associated with child abuse. Community education and awareness programs focus on addressing these issues by educating the public about alternatives to abuse, changing social attitudes towards violence, or encouraging community debate about issues such as censorship, family violence, gun laws, etc.

Secondary Services

Secondary services offer programs that identify and reduce the personal and social stresses on parents which can lead to family breakdown and/or child abuse. There are many community based agencies and organisations which support families and help them overcome significant problems. Services include in-home family support, counselling, respite care and various parenting and self-help groups.

Tertiary Services

Tertiary services are for individuals who have been affected by child abuse and ensure that the problems do not continue. These include the statutory Child Protection Service which responds to child protection notifications, placement services for children who are unable to live at home and treatment services such as Centres Against Sexual Assault.

A history of child protection

The roles and responsibilities of the community and governments have changed and developed over time reflecting the prevailing morals and values of the times. A brief look at the history of child protection gives us a sense of these changes.

During the nineteenth century a number of voluntary groups were established to "save" children who were at risk in their home or workplace. Children were often sent to large institutional children's and orphanages.

In 1896 a charitable organisation called The Society For The Prevention of Cruelty to Children was set up in recognition that children in Victoria needed care and protection. During the 1970s this organisation changed its name to the Children's Protection Society. It was granted government funding to provide a regional service to investigate reports of suspected child abuse.

The police also had responsibility for investigating reports of child abuse. At that time the state government was only involved in cases if the Children's Court had granted an order following action by either the police or the Children's Protection Society.

In 1984 a major review of Victorian child welfare practice and laws was undertaken. This resulted in the Carney Report, which suggested major changes to the child protection system. One of the recommendations was that the Victorian Government take over the responsibility from the Children's Protection Society for providing a statewide welfare based child protection service.

In 1985 the State Government department, then called Community Services Victoria, took over the investigative role from the Children's Protection Society. The police also continued to have responsibility for investigating reports of child abuse. This was described as the "dual track child protection system".

The Carney Report also resulted in reform of the laws relating to child protection, and the development of the Children and Young Persons Act 1989.

During 1988 another major review of Victoria's child protection system was undertaken by Mr Justice Fogarty, Chief Justice of the Family Court. One of the key recommendations of the Fogarty Review was that the role of the police in investigating notifications of child abuse should be phased out and the government should have sole responsibility for receiving reports of suspected child abuse. These changes then brought Victoria into line with other states where State Government welfare departments have full responsibility for the Child Protection Service.

The main role of the police in child protection now is to investigate criminal matters which arise from cases of serious child abuse. The police also have powers under the Crimes (Family Violence) Act 1987 to enforce intervention orders that are issued to protect a child's or family's safety or remove an abuser from the family home.

The introduction of mandatory reporting in 1993 was another significant development which strengthened the community's responsibility in the role of protecting children. This legislation compelled many professionals who have contact with children to report cases of child sexual and physical abuse to the Child Protection Service. To date, the main professional groups who are mandated are doctors, nurses, teachers and police.

What is the role of the Child Protection Service?

The Child Protection Service provides child centred family focussed services to protect children and young people from significant harm as a result of abuse or neglect within the family unit and to ensure that children and young people receive services to deal with the impact of abuse and neglect on their well being and development. The Child Protection Service is based on the principle that the best protection for children is usually within the family, however the paramount consideration is the child's safety and well being.

The role of the Child Protection Service is to:

• Receive notifications from people who believe on reasonable grounds that a child is in need of protection because of abuse or neglect
• Provide advice where people report such concerns
• Investigate matters where it is believed that a child is at risk of significant harm
• Refer children and families to services that assist in providing the ongoing safety and well being of the children
• Take matters before the Children's Court if the child's safety cannot be ensured within the family
• Supervise children on legal orders granted by the Children's Court.

The Child Protection Service provides a Child Protection Crisis Line 24 hours, 7 days a week for telephone information and referrals for the public regarding child protection matters. The After Hours Child Protection Service investigates urgent after hours notifications of new cases of suspected child abuse. Rural offices provide local After Hours Outreach Services.

Conclusion

Over time, attitudes towards children have changed dramatically and we can understand much about how a society values its children by the laws and services it has to protect them. The child protection system both reflects and shapes community values and expectations. As such, each part of the child protection system—families, the general community, community agencies, professionals working with children, police and government— has a significant role to play to ensure that children are kept safe and well.

Child Abuse - The Law

Under Section 64(1C) of the Children and Young Persons Act 1989, any person may notify any instance of possible or know child abuse.

However, Section 64(1C) lists those professionals who are or will be obliged to notify Protective Services if they form a belief, based on reasonable grounds, that a child has suffered or is likely to suffer significant harm as a result of physical injury or sexual abuse and if the child's parents or caregivers have not protected or are unlikely to protect the child from harm of that type.

Not all of these professionals have been gazetted. Gazettal, with regard to mandatory reporting, is the formal mechanism for officially and publicly announcing those professionals legally responsible to make a notification in the above mentioned circumstances.

Professionals who are gazetted and legally required to report child physical injury and sexual abuse are:

• Legally qualified medical practitioners, registered nurses, and members of the Victorian police force (as of November 1993)
• Primary school and secondary school teachers and principals (as of 18 July 1994)

The above people are referred to as mandated notifiers.

Those professionals not currently gazetted but listed in Section 64(1C) for future gazettal are:

• Registered psychologists
• The proprietors of children's service centres, to whom Part XIA of the Health Act 1958 applies
• Employees of children's service centres who have post-secondary qualifications in the care, education, or minding of children
• Persons working as youth workers and welfare workers who work in the health, education, welfare, or community service field
• Persons working as youth and child care officers for the Department of Human Services
• Parole officers and probation officers

As a mandated notifier:

• It is your responsibility to report a belief, based on reasonable grounds, that a child or young person is in need of protection from physical injury or sexual abuse, when you form this belief in the course of practising your profession. In other words, you will not be legally obliged to report if you encounter abuse in your private life or when you are working in a capacity that is not directly related to the professional affiliation under which you are mandated.
• You must make a report without delay
• You are required to report each time you become aware of any further reasonable grounds for your belief
• You do not have to be able to prove that the abuse has occurred
• It is your responsibility to report your belief - it is not the responsibility of your supervisor, principal, senior, or boss. If you are one of a group of mandated notifiers who share the belief, based on reasonable grounds, that a child or young person is in need of protection from physical or sexual abuse, then only one mandated notifier needs to make the report. However, you must be satisfied that the report was made promptly and that all of the reasonable grounds were included in the notification.

Your identity as a notifier will remain confidential under the Children and Young Person's Act unless:

• You choose to inform the child and/or family of the notification yourself
• You consent in writing to your identity as the notifier being disclosed
• The court decides that it needs this information in order to ensure the safety and well-being of the child
• The court decides that it is satisfied that the interests of justice require that the evidence be given

At the time of writing it is not general practice for the Children's Court to seek information regarding identification of the notifier

If you are a mandated notifier, failure to notify your belief, when you have reasonable grounds, is an offence under the Mandatory Reporting amendment to the Children's and Young Persons Act, and incurs a penalty of a $1,000 fine.

Although only mandated notifiers have a legal responsibility to report physical and sexual abuse, everyone has a moral responsibility to report all types of possible or known child abuse.

Source: Reporting Child Abuse, 1999, Victorian Government Department of Human Services