Victorian Consolidated Legislation

Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 - SECT 184

Mandatory reporting

184. Mandatory reporting



(1) A mandatory reporter who, in the course of practising his or her
profession or carrying out the duties of his or her office, position or
employment as set out in section 182, forms the belief on reasonable grounds
that a child is in need of protection on a ground referred to in section
162(c) or 162(d) must report to the Secretary that belief and the reasonable
grounds for it as soon as practicable-

   (a)  after forming the belief; and

   (b)  after each occasion on which he or she becomes aware of any further
        reasonable grounds for the belief.

Penalty: 10 penalty units.

(2) It is a defence to a charge under subsection (1) for the person charged to
prove that he or she honestly and reasonably believed that all of the
reasonable grounds for his or her belief had been the subject of a report to
the Secretary made by another person.

(3) The requirement imposed by subsection (1)(b) applies to a mandatory
reporter referred to in paragraph (f) to (l) of section 182(1) even if his or
her belief was first formed before the relevant date under section 182(1) for
that paragraph.



(4) For the purposes of this section, a belief is a belief on reasonable
grounds if a reasonable person practising the profession or carrying out the
duties of the office, position or employment, as the case requires, would have
formed the belief on those grounds.