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Identify child abuse in the family

Guidance for school staff to identify child abuse by someone in the family.

Schools

As soon as you believe that a student has been or is at risk of being abused by someone in the family, you must act.

4 CRITICAL ACTIONS

⬣ Identify ● Support ■ Refer ▲ Report

The actions you need to do, and when, can change. The pathway you take depends on the situation.

Also see

On this page

Content warning: This page includes descriptions of abuse and may be distressing to read. Information on how to access support for any issues it may raise for you is available at wellbeing support for school staff.

This page includes student-to-student abuse that is defined as family violence (intimate partner relationships and siblings). When student-to-student abuse is not family violence, see identify student-to-student abuse.

Identify child abuse in the family

As a school staff member, you may be the only adult in a position to identify child abuse in the family.

The definition of a family is broad. It includes relationships with a former or current intimate partner, genetic or kinship family member, or a family-like relationship, for example, an unpaid carer.

Child abuse in the family can take many forms:

There are other ways that a child can experience abuse, including crimes related to:

Multiple types of abuse can occur at the same time.

See types of child abuse and what to look for.

How to identify abuse

You can identify abuse in the family in many ways. You can:

Often, observing signs, risk factors, and narratives and behaviours may be the only indication that a child is being abused. It is critical that you can recognise them. There are signs to look out for in both students who are victims of abuse and the people who are committing abuse.

Collect more information

You only need to collect enough information to form a reasonable belief or inform your next steps. If you have formed a reasonable belief:

Collect information in a safe, reasonable and appropriate way. This will help you understand the situation and decide how to respond.

You can use this information to:

Complete tools to identify family violence

These family violence tools cover all types of abuse within the family, including sexual abuse.

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If you have a concern that a student is experiencing, or is at risk of experiencing, family violence, any school staff member can record relevant information in the Family Violence Identification Tool. This tool can be used to identify abuse for any concern where the source of abuse is within the family.

You are not expected to ask the student, or a member of their family, any questions to complete this tool.

Once completed, provide the tool to your school’s MARAM nominated staff member.

MARAM nominated staff can use the Family Violence Screening Tool to ask screening questions to determine if family violence is occurring.

MARAM nominated staff members complete this tool if you:

Your primary responsibility is always to ensure the safety of the student. Do not engage with the student or their family if:

The Family Violence Screening Tool will inform the MARAM nominated staff of the next steps.

MARAM nominated staff can also use the Family Violence Basic Safety Plan tool to plan for the student’s safety at school and have a once-off conversation about safety at home. However, it may be more appropriate to do this at a later time - see support.

For more information on how to complete the Family Violence tools, refer to Information Sharing and Family Violence Reforms: Guidance and Tools.

Other actions you can take

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Engage school staff with information sharing responsibilities to request information from other ISEs.

ISEs include services that work with children, young people and families, such as:

Engage school staff who are Child Link Users, as it is important to check Child Link for service sector involvement.

If there is an active Child Protection case with the student or their family, contact Child Protection immediately for advice on next steps. You should still complete the tools to identify family violence.

To share information safely and appropriately, follow the guidance for staff who use CISS and FVISS.

To access and use Child Link safely and appropriately, follow the guidance on Child Link.

Next steps

If you no longer have any safety or wellbeing concerns for the student

You’ve completed the 4 Critical Actions for now. Make sure you document your actions.

Keep monitoring for changes. You can return at any time if you learn new information.

Continue the 4 Critical Actions

If you identify abuse in the family, your next step is to choose the right response for the situation.

Determine your pathway

If you identify abuse from a different source, see:

Education & training

Updated 10 April 2026

At all times

Throughout the 4 Critical Actions, you must:

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