Report: respond to child abuse by an adult engaged by a government school

Guidance on how to report child abuse to authorities. Report is one of the 4 Critical Actions.

Schools

Any allegation, complaint, disclosure or concern of abuse (including grooming) by an adult engaged by a school may be reportable conduct under Victoria’s Reportable Conduct Scheme and must be reported.

4 CRITICAL ACTIONS

⬣ Identify ▲ Report ● Support ■ Refer

Also see

• Other sources
• Posters and resources
• I work in early childhood

On this page

• Report to the Department of Education
• Report crime to Victoria Police
• After you report
• Next steps

Report to the Department of Education

Your school must follow all these steps.

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1. 1Notify your school’s nominated contact person

You must notify your school’s nominated contact person if you become aware of any allegation, complaint, disclosure or concern that:

• an adult engaged by the school in any capacity may be abusing a child (including grooming), or
• a child is at risk of being abused. The abuse may occur in the school environment or elsewhere.

The nominated contact person is usually the principal and is listed in your school’s child safety responding and reporting policy and procedure. This is published on your school’s website.

Allegations, complaints, disclosures or concerns relating to principals must be made to the relevant regional office.

For more information for the general public on reporting abuse, see report abuse if you’re a current student.

2. 2Report to the Conduct and Integrity Division

The school principal must report the matter to the department’s Conduct and Integrity Division as soon as possible. If the concern relates to the principal, the Regional Director makes this report instead.

To make a report:

• Call: 03 7034 6788
• Email: employee.conduct@education.vic.gov.au All allegations, complaints, disclosures and concerns of abuse (including grooming) by an adult engaged by a school must be reported to the Conduct and Integrity Division.

Regardless of whether you have formed a reasonable belief that the conduct has occurred, you must ensure a report is made to Conduct and Integrity Division in accordance with the Reportable and Notifiable Conduct policy.

The Conduct and Integrity Division will:

• assess whether the concerns fall under the Reportable Conduct Scheme
• report concerns of reportable conduct to the Social Services Regulator
• notify the Victorian Institute of Teaching of relevant concerns against a registered teacher
• advise and support with next steps, including:

• following the 4 Critical Actions and liaising with Victoria Police if required
• preserving evidence where relevant, for example, CCTV, electronic messages and any other physical items
• taking statements from relevant parties
• actions to monitor and mitigate risk
• investigating the concern under the guidelines for managing conduct and unsatisfactory performance

• refer any allegation of sexual offending to the Sexual Harm Response Unit for specialist support and advice to the school

3. 3Report an incident in eduSafe Plus

Your school must also record any allegations, complaints, disclosures or concerns that an adult in a school may be abusing a child as an incident.

You can report by:

• logging an incident in eduSafe Plus(opens in a new window), or
• by calling the department’s Incident Support and Operations Centre (ISOC) on 1800 126 126. The managing and reporting school incidents (including emergencies) policy provides guidance to schools on reporting timeframes for incidents. Consider who in your school receives eduSafe Plus alerts.

No wrong door

Your school must report to the Conduct and Integrity Division as soon as possible so action can be taken swiftly.

If you report through ISOC or another area, they will refer it to the department’s Conduct and Integrity Division. There is no wrong door.

The Conduct and Integrity Division will help your school record an incident in eduSafe Plus if this has not been completed.

Support

The Conduct and Integrity Division and/or the incident report will notify relevant regional or centralised services. These services will help your school arrange support for affected students and staff. See support for further details.

Report crime to Victoria Police

Report to Victoria Police if you believe a crime has been committed:

• call 000 in an emergency
• call Victoria Police on 131 444 in non-emergency situations
• contact your local police station.

Common crimes against children include:

• physical and sexual assault or abuse
• grooming
• threatening behaviour
• sharing intimate images or videos
• sextortion.

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• What Victoria Police can do

Victoria Police can:

• investigate the situation
• assess risk
• interview and take statements from key people
• collect evidence
• enforce intervention orders
• make arrests and issue warnings.

• When to report

Reports should be made as soon as reasonably practicable after a complaint, allegation or concern is raised as some crimes have a limitation period that may apply.

There is no time limit to report a crime about sexual abuse. Victoria Police will accept and assess all reports, no matter when the alleged crime occurred.

• If you are unsure

If you are unsure of whether a crime has been committed, contact the department’s Conduct and Integrity Division as soon as possible for advice on reporting to police:

• Call: 03 7034 6788
• Email: employee.conduct@education.vic.gov.au.

Do not stop here

Make sure you complete all 4 Critical Actions.

Follow the rest of the steps on this page, then continue to support and refer the student.

After you report

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• Engage the student’s parents or carers

Before engaging with parents and carers, you need clearance from:

• Victoria Police (in situations involving a police response)
• the Conduct and Integrity Division. Once you have clearance, you must inform the student’s parents or carers of the matter, if they are not already aware. This is a critical step. It helps parents or carers support their child in partnership with the school, authorities and support services.

You must contact the parents or carers as soon as possible. Ideally, this should happen on the same day.

Victoria Police and the Conduct and Integrity Division will:

• guide you on speaking to parents or carers
• tell you what information you can share with all impacted students and the wider school community. Your primary responsibility is to ensure the safety of the student. Before engaging with parents and carers consider whether it is safe to do so.

Do not engage with the student or their family if:

• it is unsafe. For example, if

• it is likely to jeopardise a child’s wellbeing or safety or place another person at risk of harm
• if could adversely affect an investigation
• timeliness is an issue, such as when there is an immediate risk.

• it is inappropriate. For example, if:

• a young person is living independently and their family members no longer have access to their personal information.

• Facilitate interviews with students at school

If Victoria Police want to interview a student about abuse, schools can follow the guidance at interviews with students at school.

• Preserve evidence

Leave the area where the incident occurred as you found it, until Victoria Police can attend and provide you with further instructions. Victoria Police will tell you what steps you need to take.

Your school must preserve any items that may be of potential forensic value that may later be seized by police. This may include:

• laptops
• other devices
• CCTV footage
• other objects and materials. See preserving evidence.

• Document your actions

Record all steps your school has taken in report. You can use the identifying and responding to child abuse template to do this.

See document your actions.

Next steps

Continue the 4 Critical Actions

After completing these steps to report, you must continue to support and refer.

⬣ Identify ▲ Report ● Support ■ Refer

Check with Victoria Police or the Conduct and Integrity Division on when to take these steps.

Education & training

Updated 10 April 2026

At all times

Throughout the 4 Critical Actions, you must:

• Respond to an emergency
• Adapt to changing circumstances
• Document your actions

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