South Australian Current Acts South Australian Current Acts64A—Failure to report suspected child sexual abuse
(1) A prescribed
person is guilty of an offence if the person knows, suspects or should have
suspected that another person (the "abuser")—
(a) has
previously engaged in the sexual abuse of a child while an employee of the
institution or, if the prescribed person provides out of home care, while also
providing out of home care, and—
(i)
the child is still under the age of 18 years; or
(ii)
the abuser is still an employee of the institution or
another institution or still provides out of home care; or
(iii)
the sexual abuse occurred during the preceding
10 year period; or
(b) is
an employee of the institution or, if the prescribed person provides out of
home care, is providing out of home care, and is engaging, or is likely to
engage, in the sexual abuse of a child,
and the prescribed person refuses or fails to report that to the police.
Maximum penalty: Imprisonment for 3 years.
(2) For the purposes
of subsection (1), a defendant should have suspected that another person
has engaged, is engaging or is likely to engage in sexual abuse of a child if
a reasonable person in the defendant's circumstances would have held the
relevant suspicion and the defendant's failure to hold that suspicion, if
judged by the standard appropriate to a reasonable person in the defendant's
position, amounts to criminal negligence.
(3) A prescribed
person may be guilty of an offence under this section in respect of any
knowledge, suspicion, or circumstances in which they should have held a
suspicion, occurring before the commencement of this section, but in such a
case the person will not be guilty of the offence unless—
(a) the
relevant child is still under the age of 18 years and is still in the
care, or under the supervision or control, of the institution or is still in
out of home care; or
(b) the
abuser is still an employee of the institution or another institution or still
provides out of home care.
(4) It is a defence to
a charge of an offence under this section if the defendant had a reasonable
excuse for the refusal or failure to report.
(5) Without limiting
the circumstances in which a person might be found to have had a reasonable
excuse for a refusal or failure to report, a person will be taken to have had
a reasonable excuse if the person refused or failed to report the matter to
the police because the person believed on reasonable grounds that the matter
had already been reported to the police or had been reported under
Chapter 5 Part 1 of the Children and Young People (Safety)
Act 2017 .
(6) If a prescribed
person reports a matter to the police, in good faith, believing that the
report was required under this section—
(a) no
civil or criminal liability lies against the person for making the report; and
(b) the
person cannot be held to have breached any code of professional etiquette or
ethics, or to have departed from any acceptable form of professional conduct,
for making the report.
(7) Sections 163
(other than section 163(1)(ab)) and 165 of the
Children and Young People (Safety) Act 2017 apply in relation to a
prescribed person who reports a matter to the police under this section as if
they had provided the information under Chapter 5 Part 1 of that
Act.