MANDATORY REPORTING LAWS: A CRITICAL OVERVIEW

Abstract

Mandatory reporting has been a crucial element in the United States child protection system since the 1960s and has been introduced into the Australian system in the last ten years. However, in the United Kingdom mandatory reporting was not included in the Children Act 1989 on the grounds that the organization of welfare, medical and other related professional services rendered such a directive unnecessary. We argue that the political and economic changes in the UK over the past ten years have significantly altered the provision of health and welfare services, including the child protection system, and that these changes warrant a re-examination of the necessity to introduce mandatory reporting. The paper examines the experiences of mandatory reporting in the United States and in Australia and explores the advantages and disadvantages of introducing such a process in other jurisdictions.