Failing to report sexual offences against children

Since 5 July 2021, it has been an offence for any adult to fail to report sexual offending against a child by another adult to police. This means all adults have the responsibility to report sexual offences against children to police—unless they have a reasonable excuse not to.

The law was amended in 2024 to clarify when certain professionals do not need to report information to police that a child has been sexually abused.

For this law, a child means a person under 16 or a person under 18 with an impairment of the mind.

Child sexual offence

A child sexual offence is an offence of a sexual nature committed against a child and includes:

• Indecent treatment of a child (which may include exposing a child to an indecent act or film)
• Engaging in penile intercourse with a child under 16
• Rape
• Incest
• Grooming a child (or their parent or carer)
• Making child exploitation material
• Repeated sexual conduct with a child

Learn more about child sexual offences.

Failure to report

The failure to report laws apply to everyone over 18 (i.e. all adults).

If an adult reasonably believes (or should reasonably believe) that a child is being or has been the victim of sexual abuse by another adult, they must report it to the police—unless they have a reasonable excuse.

The offence does not require reporting of a suspicion that a child sexual offence may occur in the future.

Reasonable belief

A reasonable belief is a belief that a reasonable person would form in the same position and with the same information. Whether a reasonable belief would be formed will always depend on the circumstances.

For example, a reasonable belief could be formed if:

• a child says that they have been sexually abused
• the child shows signs of sexual abuse
• an adult reveals that they committed a sexual offence against a child.

Learn more about possible signs of child sexual abuse.

If you have a reasonable belief that a child has experienced sexual abuse or is at risk of sexual abuse, you must report it to the police—unless there is a reasonable excuse for not doing so.

Reasonable excuse

A reasonable excuse includes if:

• you have already reported the offence to an appropriate authority (e.g. Child Safety) or you know another person has or will report it—for example, if you are:
  • a nurse and have already reported it to Child Safety
  • a teacher and your school principal or another teacher has already reported the offence according to other laws
• you believe the information has already been given to a police officer
• you received information about the victim who is now 16 years and you reasonably believe the victim doesn’t want to reveal the information to the police
• you believe reporting the offence would endanger you or another person (other than the alleged offender) and that failure to give the information to police is reasonable
• you are a relevant professional and all of the following apply
  • you got the information in your professional capacity
  • you got the information while in a confidential professional relationship with the child, in which you are expressly obliged (or it is implied you are obliged) to keep the information confidential
  • you reasonably believe there is no real risk the child or other children will be seriously harmed by not disclosing the information to a police officer.

A 'reasonable excuse' is not defined exhaustively and may include other circumstances.

Relevant professional

A relevant professional means:

• a medical practitioner
• a registered psychologist
• a registered nurse
• a registered midwife
• a social worker who is a member of the Australian Association of Social Workers Ltd
• a counsellor.

See amendment of section 229BC of the Criminal Code for a definition of ‘counsellor’.

Religious confession

The law says that information about a sexual offence against a child that has been gained during, or in connection with, a religious confession, must be reported to police.

Privilege

Despite the express provisions relating to religious confessions, the offence is not intended to override privilege, including legal professional privilege and sexual assault counselling privilege.

Penalty

The maximum penalty for failing to report belief of a child sexual offence is 3 years imprisonment.

Reporting of offences that occurred in the past

If you received information after 5 July 2021 that leads you to reasonably believe a sexual offence has been committed against a child and you don’t have a reasonable excuse for not reporting, you must report it—even if the abuse happened a long time ago.

If you received the information before 5 July 2021, you do not have to report it under the new laws. However, if the victim is currently under 18, you may need to report it under other reporting obligations, such as to Child Safety if the mandatory reporting laws apply to you.

Even if you have no legal obligation to report the information, you can still choose to report it to the police.

Victim now over 16

If the victim is now over 16 (but was younger when the offence happened), you still have to report the offence to police if you receive the information after 5 July 2021. However, if you reasonably believe they do not want to reveal the information to police, then you do not have to report it.

You also do not have to report if you have another reasonable excuse.

Examples

These scenarios are intended as general information and are not legal advice. If you need information about specific circumstances or a factual scenario, you should seek legal advice.

Scenario 1

You are at a barbecue with family members and friends. Your 14-year-old niece tells you that earlier in the afternoon an 18-year-old at the party took her into a bedroom and got her to pose for a nude photograph.

What should you do?

Your adult partner confides in you they were sexually abused by a neighbour when they were 5. Your partner tells you they do not want to make a complaint to police.

What should you do?

You are a counsellor at a private counselling service for children. During a session, a 15-year-old child tells you that their adult coach sexually touches them in the locker room after most football training sessions. The child does not want to involve police or tell anyone else because they are embarrassed, and they do not want to cause issues at the football club where they have friends around the same age.

What should you do?

You are a counsellor at a school.  When counselling a 14-year-old child, the child says that they were sexually abused by an adult family member over a long period of time. The child told you that the family member has since died. The child does not want to tell police.

What should you do?