(a) who knows, believes or reasonably ought to know that a
child abuse offence has been committed against another person, and
(b) who
knows, believes or reasonably ought to know that he or she has information
that might be of material assistance in securing the apprehension of the
offender or the prosecution or conviction of the offender for that offence,
and
(c) who fails without reasonable excuse to bring that information to the
attention of a member of the NSW Police Force as soon as it is practicable to
do so,
is guilty of an offence.
: Maximum penalty--Imprisonment for--
(a) 2
years--if the maximum penalty for the child abuse offence is less than 5 years
imprisonment, or
(b) 5 years--if the maximum penalty for the
child abuse offence is 5 years imprisonment or more.
(2) For the purposes of
subsection (1), a person has a reasonable excuse for failing to bring
information to the attention of a member of the NSW Police Force if--
(a) the
person believes on reasonable grounds that the information is already known to
police, or
(d) the person has
reasonable grounds to fear for the safety of the person or any other person
(other than the offender) if the information were to be reported to police, or
(e) the information was obtained by the person when the person was under the
age of 18 years, or
(f) the alleged victim was an adult at the time that the
information was obtained by the person and the person believes on reasonable
grounds that the alleged victim does not wish the information to be reported
to police, or
(g) the information is about an offence under section 60E that
did not result in any injury other than a minor injury (for example, minor
bruising, cuts or grazing of the skin) and the alleged offender and the
alleged victim are both school students who are under the age of 18 years, but
only if the person is a member of staff of--
(i) a government school and the
person has taken reasonable steps to ensure that the incident reporting unit
(however described) of the Department of Education is made aware of the
alleged offence, or
(ii) a non-government school and the person has taken
reasonable steps to ensure that the principal or governing body of the school
is made aware of the alleged offence.
(3) Subsection (2) does not limit the
grounds on which it may be established that a person has a reasonable excuse
for failing to bring information to the attention of a member of the NSW
Police Force.
(4) A person who solicits, accepts or agrees to accept any
benefit for the person or any other person in consideration for doing anything
that would be an offence under subsection (1) is guilty of an offence.
:
Maximum penalty--Imprisonment for--
(a) 5 years--if the maximum penalty for
the child abuse offence is less than 5 years imprisonment, or
(b) 7 years--if
the maximum penalty for the child abuse offence is 5 years imprisonment or
more.
(5) It is not an offence under subsection (4) merely to solicit, accept
or agree to accept the making good of loss or injury caused by an offence or
the making of reasonable compensation for that loss or injury.
(6) A
prosecution for an offence under subsection (1) is not to be commenced against
a person without the approval of the Director of Public Prosecutions in
respect of information obtained by an adult in the course of practising or
following a profession, calling or vocation prescribed by the regulations for
the purposes of this subsection.
(7) The regulations may prescribe a
profession, calling or vocation as referred to in subsection (6).
(8) The
reporting of information by a person in good faith under this section--
(a)
does not constitute unprofessional conduct or a breach of professional ethics
on the part of the person, and
(b) does not make the person subject to any
civil liability in respect of it (including liability for defamation).
(9) In
this section--
"child" means a person who is under the age of 18 years.
"child abuse offence" means--
(a) murder or manslaughter of a child (including
under section 22A), or
