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Report: respond to student-to-student abuse

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

Schools

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

4 CRITICAL ACTIONS

⬣ Identify ▲ Report ● Support ■ Refer

Also see

On this page

Note: This page is about responding to non-family violence incidents. When student-to-student abuse is defined as family violence (intimate partner relationships and siblings), go to respond to abuse in the family and follow the steps on that page.

Report abuse to authorities

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You must report student-to-student abuse as an incident.

You can report by:

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 details.

For more information on when a crime is alleged to have been committed by students, see police – department protocol on reporting criminal activity.

Matters involving multiple students

Matters involving multiple students could include:

You must report incidents involving multiple students as an incident. You can report by:

Consider who in your school receives eduSafe Plus (opens in a new window)(opens in a new window) alerts. If the issue is sensitive or confidential, you can ask ISOC to limit who sees the report.

You must report student-to-student abuse to your relevant governing body consistent with your school’s PROTECT reporting policy and procedures. See a list of school governing bodies.

Your relevant governing body will advise you of the next actions consistent with your school’s reporting policy.

Independent schools should follow the procedures outlined in their school policy.

You can contact Independent Schools Victoria for support and advice on child safety related matters, including if you unsure of whether a crime has been committed and need advice on reporting to Victoria Police.

Report crime to Victoria Police

If you believe a crime against a child has been committed, you must make a report to Victoria Police.

Common crimes against children include:

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Victoria has laws about the minimum age of criminal responsibility. Under these laws:

Victoria Police can:

Reports should be made as soon as reasonably practicable from when a report is received, 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.

Some matters may not require police involvement because:

Report: eSafety Commissioner

If the matter involves harmful online communications or content such as:

you should report to the eSafety Commissioner. They provide a range of information and resources for schools including how to report a serious online incident.

eSafety can provide advice and help to remove content.

To report, you can go to eSafety’s report online harm hub.

For more information see Safe Socials.

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

Victoria Police or Child Protection will:

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

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.

If a student is abused at the school, your school must preserve any items that may be of potential forensic value that may later be seized by police. This may include:

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

For more information, see document your actions.

If Victoria Police find that there is no abuse

If Victoria Police finalises their involvement, you can still act if you are worried about a student’s wellbeing.

See support and refer. You may need to take both actions at the same time.

Next steps

Continue the 4 Critical Actions

Support is ongoing. You may need to support and refer the student at the same time.

⬣ Identify ▲ Report ● Support ■ Refer

If you need support yourself, see wellbeing support for school staff.

Education & training

Updated 30 March 2026

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