State’s mandatory reporting in child protection does ‘more harm than’ good and should be scrapped, says Uniting Communities CEO Simon Schrapel

They were introduced to keep children safe – now a controversial call could see child abuse reporting laws scrapped. But concerned families warn it’s ‘too risky to test’. Have your say.

Laws that mandate reporting of child protection concerns should be scrapped because they “do more harm than good” by overloading the system, a leader in the sector has declared.

But the controversial call has been described as “too risky” by the family of children who died after fears for their safety were flagged with authorities.

Uniting Communities chief executive officer Simon Schrapel says the state’s mandatory reporting scheme “potentially serves to do more harm than good” as it contributed to the skyrocketing workload faced by the Child Protection Department.

“The sheer volume of notifications congests the system and the ability to respond in a timely and appropriate manner,” he said.

Current laws, in place since the 1970s, require mandatory notifiers such as police, doctors, teachers and carers to make a report to the Child Abuse Report Line if they suspect that a child is being harmed or at risk of harm.

Current laws require mandatory notifiers such as doctors, police, teachers and carers to make a report to the Child Abuse Report Line if they suspect that a child is at risk.

Last financial year the department fielded 83,000 notifications – up from 53,000 in 2016-17.

They came from mandatory notifiers, who receive training in identifying abuse, and other concerned members of the public.

Mandatory notifiers face penalties of up to $10,000 for failing to report, although very few, if any, have been prosecuted.

Mr Schrapel said the current definition of who should report what was “excessively broad” and “in a risk averse environment contributes to the overload in reports being made”.

Instead, he wants new laws to raise the threshold for reporting to “one of serious harm” where anyone making a report “should” do so because they believe immediate intervention by the department is needed to ensure the safety of a child.

At the same time, more funding should be allocated to support services to prevent families reaching crisis point, he said.

But Janet Wells, the grandmother of siblings Amber Rigney, 6, and Korey Mitchell, 5, who were murdered in 2016, said Mr Schrapel’s proposal was “way too risky”.

“He may have a point but I wouldn’t want to test that out in case there are a lot of children that are missed because of people thinking ‘Well that’s not serious enough to report’,” she said.

Amber and Korey were killed, alongside their mother Yvette Rigney-Wilson, after a series of reports were lodged with child protection authorities about them missing school, going without food and sleeping rough.

“That kid that you don’t report could be the one like Amber and Korey that could slip through the system, Ms Wells said.

“I know they’re overwhelmed but I don’t think the answer is not mandatory reporting, I think the answer is putting more people in to make sure all the reports are done.”

CEO of Uniting Communities, Simon Schrapel.

Child Protection Minister Katrine Hildyard. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Emma Brasier

The state’s child protection laws are currently under review.

Child Protection Minister Katrine Hildyard would not say if she would consider scrapping mandatory reporting provisions but welcomed “everyone’s ideas about how we can help ensure children are safe”.

“How we give our community the confidence to not only report, but also to support, vulnerable children must be a focus,” she said.

Child and Family Focus SA chief executive officer Rob Martin echoed Mr Schrapel’s concerns that mandatory reporting contributed to soaring demand on the department.

He noted that, currently, a mandatory notifier did not have to report if they knew the concern had already been raised with authorities.

However, the soaring number of reports suggested many were “reporting each and every time on the basis that they think they need to”, he said.

Opposition child protection spokesman Josh Teague said more public education “could be useful” for the public “in taking appropriate action”.