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Confidentiality in child protection cases Who benefits?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 February 2016

Frank Ainsworth  and
Patricia Hansen
Frank Ainsworth
Affiliation:
School of Social Work and Community Welfare, James Cook University, Townsville Campus, Queensland 4811, Email: frankainsworth@hotmail.com
Patricia Hansen
Affiliation:
School of Social Work, Australian Catholic University, Strathfield Campus, Sydney, NSW 2135
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Abstract

Child protection legislation in every Australian state and territory prohibits the disclosure of the identity of a person who acts as a mandatory reporter. There is also provision in most child protection legislation that prevents the naming of children and families in protection cases. It is argued that disclosure is not in the interests of the child, the family or the general public. Children's Court proceedings in most states and territories in Australia are closed to the public so that, unlike in most other jurisdictions, interested parties are not able to observe the proceedings. Child protection authorities also have considerable power to collect information about children and families from many sources. This power to obtain information is compounded by legislation which removes confidentiality provisions from professional codes of ethics. Furthermore, the rules of evidence do not ordinarily apply in the Children's Court. This article uses New South Wales as the exemplar state and raises questions about all of these issues.

Type
Research Article
Information
Children Australia , Volume 35 , Issue 3 , 2010 , pp. 11 - 17
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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