Australian Capital Territory

Working with Vulnerable People Registration

Anyone in the ACT who is 16 or over and engages in a “regulated activity” must be registered with the Working with Vulnerable People) Scheme. Importantly for our purposes, the following are considered “regulated activities”:

Coaching or tuition specifically for children; and
Activities conducted by a club, association or movement that has significant membership or involvement by children.

There are circumstances in which registration isn’t required; for example, a person doesn’t have to be registered if they:

Do the activity for less than 7 days in any 12-month period, and less than 3 days in any 4-week period; or
Are a “close relative” of every child in the activity with whom they’ll have contact; or
Do the activity as a volunteer, are a close relative of a child in the activity, and a close relative of each child is expected to be present.

More information is available on the Access Canberra website.

Mandatory reporting of suspected child abuse

Anyone over 18 years old who obtains information leading them to believe that a sexual offence has been committed against a child must report that information to the police as soon as practicable. This differs from “mandatory reporting” in that it applies to every adult in the ACT.

There are a few limited exceptions to this requirement, such as when the information is obtained after the person becomes an adult, and the victim does not want a police officer to be told.

For more information about the reporting requirements, please see this fact sheet prepared by the ACT government.

Contacts

If you believe a child is in immediate danger, call 000. Otherwise, to make a report to police, call 131 444.

Report Child Abuse and Neglect - Community Services (act.gov.au)