1. Home
  2. Policies and Procedures
  3. Phases
  4. Intake
  5. Receiving, registering and classifying a report

Receiving, registering and classifying a report

Receiving, registering, classifying,
1003
Follow this procedure when receiving, registering and classifying a report.

Document ID number 1003, version 16, 1 July 2024.
Introduction

For supporting information see Receiving and processing reports - advice.

This procedure outlines the process for responding to reports, including:

  • receiving and registering a report
  • seeking and recording information
  • conducting a L17 Family Violence Portal (the Portal) search where the report indicates the presence of family violence
  • completing the intake risk assessment
  • classifying a report
  • concluding the intake phase
  • dispute process for an intake classified as a protective intervention report.
Procedure

Case practitioner tasks

Receiving and registering a report

  • Explain Child Protection’s role and confidentiality protections to the reporter.

Unless they consent in writing, the reporter’s name, or any information likely to identify them must not be disclosed to anyone other than a protective intervener or a community-based child and family service or to a court or tribunal if necessary (s. 191 and s. 41 CYFA).

Identifying Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children who are involved with Child Protection in Victoria is a practice requirement.

If the reporter (or other source) does not know if a child or sibling is Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, the child’s Aboriginal status should be recorded as under assessment on the client file (CRIS) and further inquiries can be made later.

Where either parent identifies as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, the child is to be recorded on CRIS as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, irrespective of whether the other parent or carer identified the child as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.

Using the essential information categories and evidence-based factors as a guide, seek from the reporter and store in CRIS, information about the reporter’s concerns. Let the reporter tell you what they are concerned about and ask the reporter about:

  • each individual child they are making a report about
  • any other children in the household
  • the child’s parents and caregivers and other family members including siblings
  • the community in which the child and family live and the environment in which they live
  • strengths identified by the reporter
  • protection or safety factors identified by the reporter
  • whether the reporter is aware of family violence occurring (refer to the screening prompt tool)
  • the concerns for harm or risk of harm held by the reporter, and the basis for their concerns.
  • If the reporter believes the child has exhibited sexually abusive behaviour and the child is 10 years of age or over and under 18 years of age, register a therapeutic treatment report. See procedure 1005 Allegations of sexually abusive behaviour (TTR) for tasks that must be undertaken.
  • Record the relevant information in CRIS within the appropriate essential information categories. An evidence-based factor in the harm essential information category must be selected to reflect the harm type reported.
  • Register the report in CRIS and select the appropriate intake type.
  • For intake types not registered as an intake report, other procedures apply. See other intake procedures.

Seeking further information

  • Seek information as per the SAFER children framework practice activity to seek, share, sort and store information and evidence.
     
  • Seek case direction by consulting your supervisor at all significant decision points, including:
    • receipt of the initial report
    • receipt of any new information that may change current case direction (including information obtained from the historical search).
  • Complete a CRIS search on the subject child, siblings and parents:
    • by name using all known family and given names (including aliases) and similar spellings
    • by address using current and past addresses for the child and siblings or parental figures.
       
  • Undertake a CRIS check of relevant adults to consider ‘person assessed as responsible for harm’. This check may tell you if an alleged perpetrator has previously been assessed as responsible for harm and whether he or she has had contact with other children who are not the subject of the current report.
     
  • Seek relevant assessment information from other professional sources including information holders or service agencies where possible, including interstate child protection history where relevant.
     
  • Store all information and evidence clearly and succinctly in CRIS.
     
  • Where the report is in relation to family violence, conduct an L17 Family Violence Portal historical search (historical search) on the perpetrator and the victim/survivor to provide a pattern and history of violence and information on a victim/survivor’s experiences of family violence.
  • Where family violence is identified as a reported concern, the information and evidence reported is recorded in the family violence essential information category with the relevant evidence based factors selected, practitioners then complete the MARAM section and MARAM risk rating with their intake risk assessment, considering the family violence risks as part of the overall consequence and probability of harm.

Child protection is required to consult Aboriginal Child Specialist Advice and Support Service (ACSASS) about all reports (including child wellbeing reports) regarding Aboriginal children, and about significant decisions in all phases of intervention – as per responsibilities under sections 7E, 12 (1)(b), 13(1)(a) and 14 of the CYFA.

ACSASS must be consulted, and the recognition principles (s. 7E) considered, for all significant decisions throughout the Intake phase, including the registration and classification of a report. 

The recognition principles (s.7E) must be considered through consultation with ACSASS for all significant decisions at intake phase.

  • Contact the relevant ACSASS in the child's area to establish consultation and ensure that the distinct cultural rights are recongised, respected and supported for an Aboriginal child.
    • Victorian Aboriginal Child and Community Agency Co-operative Limited (03) 9287 8800 – Statewide except Mallee and Loddon areas 
    • Mallee District Aboriginal Services – (03) 5018 4100, or for after hours contact 042747863 – Mallee, Kerang, Swan Hill, Robinvale, Mildura and surrounds
    • Bendigo District Aboriginal Co-operative – 03 5442 4947 – Bendigo and surrounds, Loddon Campaspe area
    • Njernda Aboriginal Corporation – 03 5480 6252 – Loddon area
  • Consider contacting an appropriate CALD organisation for children of a CALD background.
  • Refer to the 2819 Family Court and Federal Circuit Court protocol if there is an indication the family have proceedings in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia. 
  • Record consultations in CRIS.
  • Contact Victoria Police about reports of physical or sexual abuse or serious neglect.
  • Consider a case conference with professionals if appropriate and approved by your supervisor. See 2021 Case conferences - advice.
  • Share information with a professional with whom you have contact to the extent you believe is required, in the best interests of the child, to:
    • inform the intake risk assessment or
    • identify or arrange appropriate services for the child or family.

Child Protection may request or receive information from and disclose information to others where they reasonably believe the information sharing is required to carry out their responsibilities, and others are allowed to disclose information to child protection and are protected if they do so in good faith.

Contact is not to be made by intake with the child, parents or other relatives, community members or friends for the purpose of gathering information to assess the risk to the child.

The intake risk assessment is to be based on information provided by the reporter and professionals to reach the report classification decision.

Following classification of a report as a wellbeing report or unborn child report, contact may be made with the child or family, and if appropriate other non-professionals, for the purpose of providing assistance to the child or family or to facilitate referral to an appropriate service.

  • Consult your supervisor if the report indicates a child is in need of therapeutic treatment and determine if a therapeutic treatment report will be recorded – see procedure 1005 Allegations of sexually abusive behaviour (TTR). A child wellbeing report or a protective intervention report may also be required.
  • Ask your supervisor whether to conduct a national police history check in regard to parental carers if the report suggests violence or other serious offending – see National police history checks policy.

A national police history check at intake is not routine. Checks should be undertaken only if critical to assessment, as a clear police check does not negate the possibility of criminal activity.

Seeking further information about family violence

Reports that concern family violence, and in particular L17 reports, can sometimes be difficult to assess, as the reported information may be limited to a single incident and little may be known about the nature, patterns or severity of the family violence. The essential information categories on CRIS guide intake practitioners on what information to seek about family violence. Practitioners also use the MARAM assessment prompt tool for intake and after hours to support seeking information about family violence for the MARAM assessment and risk assessment.

When family violence risk factors are identified, seek information about current indicators of risk and the pattern and history of violence and its impact on the child from the L17 Portal, Victoria Police and relevant service providers, including specialist family violence services.

If further information is required:

  • Conduct a historical search of the L17 Portal to determine the following:
    • perpetrator’s pattern and history of family violence, frequency, the nature of the violence (i.e. significant physical or verbal abuse including threats to kill)
    • a history of intervention order applications or breaches of intervention orders
    • victim/survivor’s previous experiences of family violence, specifically in the context of cumulative harm for the child/ren.
  • Contact specialist family violence services, where known, to determine the following:
    • the outcome of any risk assessments conducted by the service (including MARAM assessments)
    • whether the service is currently involved with the family
    • if there is a safety and support plan in place
  • Contact the relevant Victoria Police Family Violence Unit to determine:
    • what safety plans, if any, Victoria Police, has put in place for the family
  • Consider contacting Safe Steps Family Violence Response Centre if you believe the adult victim survivor may have accessed emergency accommodation currently or in the past.

If family violence is not identified by the reporter:

  • ask the screening and identification questions from the MARAM assessment prompt tool for intake and after-hours practitioners
  • store information about family violence, or any other essential information category generated from asking the screening and identification questions in CRIS.

Note: Information contained in a risk assessment is current only at the point in time it was collected. 

While obtaining historical risk assessments is valuable to understand the dynamic risk of family violence and gain an understanding of the pattern and history of family violence and previous support provided to the family, the intake risk assessment completed for each new report must be conducted based on current circumstances.

Obtaining the outcome of an intervention order (including a safety notice) application or Family Law Act Order made in the Magistrates Court

  • Contact the Registrar of the local Magistrates Court to request the outcome of an intervention order or parenting order application. Matters will usually be heard in the Magistrates Court located closest to where the family reside.
  • Request a copy of the intervention order in place and attach this to CRIS in a separate case note.
  • Contact the relevant Victoria Police Family Violence Unit to determine the outcome of intervention order applications if the matter is urgent and there are any delays or issues obtaining this information from the Magistrates Court, ensuring you record, in a separate CRIS note, all conditions in the order. 
  • Upon request from Victoria Police, provide the results of any risk assessment completed by the department that indicates a risk of family violence to a child or young person to support Victoria Police’s application for a family violence intervention order in the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria.

Obtaining information from the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia 

Requests for information from the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia can be made by:

The request may include:

  • Parenting orders (Interim and Final Orders)
  • Application, response and affidavit material
  • Date of Next Hearing
  • Verifying if there are current proceedings
  • Child Impact Report or Family Report
  • Judgement
  • Viewing of a court file
  • Expert reports
  • Details of any court appointed Independent Children's Lawyer 
  • Notice of Child Abuse, Family Violence or Risk 

Managing a request for information from a prescribed information sharing entity (ISE)

Intake may receive request for information under the Child Information Sharing Scheme – see Child Information Sharing Scheme and Child Protection, or the Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme – see Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme and Child Protection.

  • If the request relates to the current intake:
  • If the request relates to an open case beyond intake, refer the request to the allocated worker or team manager.
  • If the request relates to a closed case, advise the requester to make the request in writing by emailing the central Information Exchange Team at info.exchange@dffh.vic.gov.au
  • If you are uncertain about how to manage the request, after checking the relevant advice, consult with your team manager (who may seek advice from the Information Exchange Team if required).

Intake decision making

To guide decisions about report classification and urgency, intake practitioners use the SAFER practice activities of:

  • Seek, share, sort and store information and evidence.
  • Analyse information and evidence to determine the risk assessment.

When completing the analysis activity as part of the intake risk assessment, factors such as the age and development of the child, the parent or caregiver capacity and availability, alleged perpetrator access to the child, information about serious family violence risk factors and any known pattern and history of the family should be considered in determining whether the investigation is urgent.

Consult your team manager within three days of the report, and make a recommendation to the team manager about final report classification including priority and urgency.

  • Report classifications can be either:
    • protective intervention report and/or a therapeutic treatment report or   
    • child wellbeing report or
    • inappropriate/insufficient information.

When the consequence of harm is either severe or significant, and the probability of harm is either likely or very likely, then a decision to classify as a protective intervention report should be considered.

When the consequence of harm is severe, the decision to classify as a protective intervention report and progress the investigation as urgent (two day) should be considered, regardless of the probability of harm level.

For all other combinations that may involve either severe or significant and/or likely or very likely, the delegated decision-maker must record a clear rationale before closure in intake or where it is determined that a protective intervention report is not necessary. Recording a rationale for decision making, including how professional judgement is applied, is good practice. Refer to the intake judgement matrix in the SAFER children framework for further information to guide decision making.

A report is classified as urgent where there is severe or significant consequence of harm , and likely or very likely probability of harm, and may include:

  • current serious injury or serious harm to the child and sufficient safety cannot be demonstrated in the immediate period
  • the need to sight forensic evidence such as injuries
  • medical neglect where medical attention has not been provided, or is unlikely to be provided, and where failure to provide that attention places the child at significant and immediate risk of harm
  • risk of serious injury or harm due to the environment in which the child is currently placed
  • recent threat to kill, or self-harm or a suicide risk requiring risk assessment
  • parental or caregiver characteristics such as mental health concerns, violence or substance abuse which present a significant risk to the child and there are no mitigating factors to ensure safety in the immediate period
  • the child or family are at risk of leaving the known address and therefore the investigation may not be able to commence
  • the child has made a disclosure of serious harm and is to return to the environment in which this harm has occurred or is likely to recur
  • abandonment or death or incapacity of parents and insufficient safety can be demonstrated in the immediate period.

Additionally, factors such as the age and development of the child, the parent or caregiver capacity and availability, alleged perpetrator access to the child, and any known pattern and history of the family should also be considered in determining whether the investigation is urgent.

All protective intervention reports and therapeutic treatment reports must be investigated.

  • Response classification for a protective intervention report can be either:
    • investigation required within two days of report (urgent investigation), or
    • investigation required within 14 days of report.
  • Unless, following consultation, a team manager or above determines it is not necessary, the report must be automatically classified as a protective intervention report if:

If the report is received before 1.00 pm, that day is counted as 'day one' and the 'two calendar days' period concludes the next day. 

If the report is received after 1.00 pm, that day is counted as 'day zero' and the 'two calendar days' period concludes the day after the next day.

  • Consult the principal practitioner or practice leader if recommending closure of a report regarding a child in contact with a registered sex offender.
  • Consult your supervisor and decide on the appropriate phase outcome.
  • Provide feedback to a professional reporter about the outcome of the report, usually within two days of classification of a report, unless exceptional circumstances exist, or it is not in the child’s best interests to do so.
  • Close as ‘Wellbeing report – advice to reporter only’ if, after consultation with a supervisor, it is established the report does not meet the threshold for any further follow up. Include a record of your supervisor consultation in the SAFER statement.

For a child wellbeing report, you can tell the child or family about the report for the purposes of providing advice or assistance if that disclosure is in the best interests of the child. 

If you receive information from the child or family that changes your assessment, consult your supervisor about whether to change the classification from a child wellbeing report to a protective intervention report.

Concluding the intake phase

Case practitioner tasks for phase outcome ‘Protective intervention report – child assessment required’

  • Consult the team manager to review the report and the intake risk assessment decision. 
  • Finalise the intake risk assessment in CRIS.
  • A team manager or above endorses the decision in CRIS.
    • Consideration of the recognition principles (s.7E) must be recorded on CRIS for all key decisions and actions undertaken for Aboriginal children. The ‘Statement of Recognition’ case note category should be used for recording at all points of child protection involvement.
  • Provide advice to professional reporters and any other relevant parties on the outcome of the report.
    Where appropriate, non-professional reporters may be informed of the outcome of their report.
    • Transcribe the details of family violence reports into a case note, upload the scanned (minimum 200 DPI) family violence report into CRIS. 
    • In consultation with your supervisor, provide a verbal handover for investigation. 
       

Dispute resolution process

There will be occasions where disagreement occurs about the classification of a report as a protective intervention report between intake and the area.

Case practitioner tasks for cases closed at intake

These tasks apply when the case is classified as:

  • ‘Child wellbeing report – advice to the reporter and/or advice to child and/or family’
  • ‘Inappropriate report – no action necessary’ or
  • ‘Insufficient information – no action possible’.

For child wellbeing reports, complete the intake risk assessment and seek team manager endorsement before preparing the intake report for closure.

An intake risk assessment is not required for intake reports classified as ‘insufficient information’ or inappropriate report’.

For child wellbeing reports, contact the family if required to provide advice or referral to appropriate services. If the parents were contacted after classification of the report and during the intake phase, write to the parents advising them of:

  • the decision and rationale to close
  • any referrals to services or information provided.

If referring to The Orange Door, where appropriate you may contact the family to discuss and seek consent.  At a minimum a letter must be sent to the family advising of the referral. Assessment must occur in relation to whether you contact the family should there be a family violence risk. Where it is not appropriate to contact the family, the rationale should be documented on CRIS. 

  • If referring to The Orange Door, seek to inform the family of the referral and seek their consent for the referral, then complete the referral. 
  • If a referral has been made to The Orange Door, a family service or a service agency (as defined in s.3 CYFA), do not close the case until the referral is accepted or other action taken within the prescribed timelines.
  • If a referral to The Orange door is declined due to insufficient information, ascertain if additional information is available to child protection and determine if this should be provided to The Orange Door. If there is no available additional information, review the original intake to determine if further information should be sought from relevant service agencies or information holders. 
  • When the report classification and intake risk assessment (where required) are endorsed, prepare the case for closure by:
    • ensuring records are complete and correct including client details, associated people, agencies and professionals
    • transcribing details of family violence reports into a case note, uploading the scanned (minimum 200 DPI) family violence report into CRIS
    • ensuring any client paper file contains all relevant documents and is returned to departmental archives
    • recording rationales for decisions.
  • Complete the phase outcome in CRIS, selecting the appropriate value.
  • Generate or create a new version of the intake record.
  • Move the case to closure phase.
  • Provide advice to professional reporters on the outcome of the report and to non-professional reporters where appropriate.

Supervisor tasks

  • Provide ongoing supervision and consultation.
  • Undertake criminal history checks.

Team manager tasks

  • Review and endorse the intake risk assessment prior to transferring or closing an intake. Place the case on the transfer list of the area where the child resides. Refer to Case transfers policy.
  • Provide ongoing supervision and consultation.
  • Seek advice from the Information Exchange Team on 1300 090 979 in relation to managing requests for information under the Child Information Sharing Scheme or Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme if required.
  • Endorse key decisions including classification and priority and urgency of protective intervention reports.
  • Transfer cases to other teams.

Practice leader tasks

  • Endorse closure of a report regarding a registered sex offender if in the child’s best interests.

Deputy area operations manager, Child Protection (or delegate) tasks

  • Review cases when three reports are received on a child within 12 months and no investigation has occurred. A third report within 12 months must be investigated unless you or your delegate determine that an investigation is not warranted. See 2017 Re-reports - advice.
  • Record your rationale for a decision not to investigate a third report within 12 months on CRIS.
  • You may delegate the classification decision on re-reports to a team manager or a more senior officer.
  • Consider an independent review when a fifth report is made on a child and no investigation has occurred, regardless of the time period over which the reports were made. The practitioner, supervisor, team manager and an independent reviewer undertake a review of the case history with a specific focus on cumulative harm. Consider involving a practice leader or principal practitioner in the independent review.
  • Conduct the dispute resolution process when a protective intervention report classification is disputed. See procedure Transfers within and between divisions for tasks to be undertaken and Case transfer policy for further information and the Dispute resolution flowchart for actions and timeframes. 

Principal practitioner tasks

  • Endorse closure of a report regarding a registered sex offender if in the child's best interests.
  • Participate in an independent review of cases where a fifth report has been received about a child but no investigation has occurred.
Related procedures and resources
Related articles & tools
Instrument of delegation and revocation