Report: respond to child abuse in the community

Common crimes against children include:

• physical and sexual assault or abuse
• grooming
• stalking
• harassment
• sharing intimate images or videos
• sextortion.

Victoria Police can:

• investigate the situation
• assess risk
• interview and take statements from key people
• collect evidence
• enforce intervention orders
• make arrests and issue warnings.

Reports should be made as soon as reasonably practicable from when a report is received, as some crimes have a limitation period that may apply.

There is no time limit to report a crime about sexual abuse. Victoria Police will accept and assess all reports, no matter when the alleged crime occurred.

Leave the area where the incident occurred as you found it, until Victoria Police can attend and provide you with further instructions. Victoria Police will tell you what steps you need to take.

If a student is abused at the school, your school must preserve any items that may be of potential forensic value that may later be seized by police. This may include:

• laptops
• other devices
• CCTV footage
• other objects and materials.

See preserving evidence.

During business hours (8:45am to 5pm, Monday to Friday)

Call the Child Protection intake service for the student’s local government area (LGA):

• North Division: 1300 598 521
• South Division: 1300 555 526
• East Division: 1300 360 452
• West Division: 1300 360 462.

After hours

Call the after-hours service: 13 12 78.

If you are unsure which number to call, find which LGAs are in each intake service at Child Protection contacts.

Provide Child Protection with information that explains your concerns. This will help them decide what action to take.

If support is limited or not immediately available, schools can contact:

• their senior education improvement leader or area executive director
• regional Health, Wellbeing and Inclusion Workforces

For contact details, see support and advisory services for school staff.

Child Protection can:

• assess the situation and risk
• investigate
• interview key people
• intervene to protect the child
• support the family to keep the child safe.

An allegation of child sexual abuse has been identified from someone in the community and the parents or carers still encourage contact with the person causing the abuse.

Some matters may not require police and child protection involvement because:

• the matter does not meet the threshold for a crime
• Victoria Police or Child Protection have told you that the matter does not require their involvement.

You must still act by:

• reporting internally
• continuing the 4 Critical actions, including support and refer.

As part of support and refer you may contact:

• local sexual assault services for advice on how to support the student
• internal sector supports. For full contact details and a list of helplines and websites with support and information on child abuse, go to services, helplines and websites.

You must report abuse by someone in the community as an incident.

You can report by:

• logging an incident in eduSafe Plus, or
• by calling the department’s Incident Support and Operations Centre (ISOC) on 1800 126 126.

The managing and reporting school incidents (including emergencies) policy provides guidance to schools on reporting timeframes for incidents. Consider who in your school receives eduSafe Plus(opens in a new window) alerts.

The incident report will notify relevant regional or centralised services. These services will help your school arrange support for impacted students and staff.

See support for further details.

You must report abuse by someone in the community to your relevant governing body consistent with your school's PROTECT reporting policy and procedures. See a list of school governing bodies.

Your relevant governing body will advise you of the next actions consistent with your school’s reporting policy.

Independent schools should follow the procedures outlined in their school policy.

You can contact Independent Schools Victoria for support and advice on child safety related matters, including if you’re unsure of whether a crime has been committed and need advice on reporting to Victoria Police.

• call: 03 9825 7200
• email: enquiries@is.vic.edu.au

Before engaging with parents and carers, you need clearance from:

• Victoria Police (in situations involving a police response)
• Child Protection (in situations where Child Protection has been notified).

Once you have clearance, you must inform the student’s parents or carers of the matter. This is a critical step. It helps parents or carers support their child in partnership with the school, authorities and support services.

You must contact the parents or carers as soon as possible. Ideally, this should happen on the same day.

Victoria Police or Child Protection will:

• guide you on speaking to parents or carers
• tell you what information you can share with all impacted students and the wider school community.

Your primary responsibility is to ensure the safety of the student. Before engaging with parents and carers consider whether it is safe to do so.

Do not engage with the student or their family if:

• it is unsafe. For example, if:
  • it is likely to jeopardise a child’s wellbeing or safety or place another person at risk of harm
  • it could adversely affect an investigation
  • timeliness is an issue, such as when there is an immediate risk
  • you are assessing or managing risk to another person.
• it is unreasonable. For example, if you are unable to contact them.
• it is inappropriate. For example, if:
  • a young person is living independently, and their family members no longer have access to their personal information.

If you need help engaging with parents and carers in these situations, you can contact internal sector support. See support and advisory services for school staff.

If Victoria Police want to interview a student about abuse, schools can follow the guidance at interviews with students at school.

Record all steps your school has taken in report. You can use the responding to child abuse template to do this.

See document your actions.

If Victoria Police end their involvement, you can still act if you’re worried about a student’s wellbeing.

You can:

• support the student
• refer them to services.

You may need to take both actions at the same time.