Report: respond to student-to-student abuse

Common crimes against children include:

• physical and sexual assault or abuse
• harassment
• threatening behaviour
• sharing intimate images or videos
• sextortion
• creating child abuse material, including deepfake porn.

Victoria has laws about the minimum age of criminal responsibility. Under these laws:

• a child or young person aged 12 years or over can commit an offence
• there is a presumption that a child who is 12 or 13 years of age cannot commit an offence
• a child or young person who is under the age of 12 cannot commit an offence.

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 of 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 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.

For more information, see preserving evidence.

Some matters may not require police involvement because:

• the matter does not meet the threshold for a crime
• the student is under the age of criminal responsibility (12 years)
• Victoria Police 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. This could involve contacting sexual assault and harmful sexual behaviour services.

The eSafety Commissioner can:

• provide a range of information and resources for schools including how to report a serious online incident
• provide advice
• help remove content.

To learn about what is available for schools, parents and students to support safe and positive online experiences for students, see Safe Socials.

You must report student-to-student abuse as an incident.

You can report by:

• logging an incident in eduSafe Plus(opens in a new window), 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 schools with guidance on incident reporting timeframes. 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 affected students and staff. See support for details.

For more information on when a crime is alleged to have been committed by students, see police – department protocol on reporting criminal activity.

Matters involving multiple students

Matters involving multiple students could include:

• sharing of explicit material online or via mobile phones
• sexting between multiple students
• serious cyberbullying by or against multiple students
• image-based abuse (including fake images or deepfakes)
• sharing illegal and restricted content.

These incidents often have multiple victims or may be caused by multiple students of any age.

You must report incidents involving multiple students as an incident. You can report by:

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

The incident report will notify regional or centralised services to assist your school to arrange or facilitate support for impacted students and staff. This may involve engaging specialist support agencies to provide support to victims, students who have caused harm, teachers or the school community. See support for further details.

Consider who in your school receives eduSafe Plus(opens in a new window) alerts. If the issue is sensitive or confidential, you can ask ISOC to limit who sees the report.

You must report student-to-student abuse 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 are 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).

Once you have clearance, you must inform the student’s parents or carers of the matter, if they are not already aware. This is a critical step. It helps parents or carers support their child in partnership with the school, authorities and support services.

Victoria Police 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
  • if 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:

• local sexual assault service for advice (harmful sexual behaviour)
• internal sector supports, see support and advisory services for school staff.

If Victoria Police want to interview a student about abuse, schools can follow the guidance on 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.

You can still act if you are worried about a student’s wellbeing.

See support and refer. You may need to take both actions at the same time.