Helpline eReporting How to guide for mandatory reporters

Contents

What is eReporting? 3

Before you start the eReporting process 4

A reminder to complete an eReport in one session 4

Use the Mandatory Reporter Guide 4

Software requirements 5

Accessing the eReport 6

Security verification 6

Making an eReport to the Child Protection Helpline 7

Mandatory reporter verification 7

Mandatory reporter instructions 8

Terms and conditions 8

Your details 9

Report information 10

Details about the child or young person 11

Details about the parents, carers and other siblings 13

Details about the report 14

Submitting the eReport to Community Services 15

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Do I need to phone the Helpline as well as send an eReport?

No, sending the eReport removes the need for you to phone the Helpline.

What is eReporting?

eReporting is an internet based system used to make child protection reports to Community Services if you have current concerns about the safety, welfare or wellbeing of a child or young person.

eReporting is easily accessible and simple to use.

eReports are delivered securely and automatically to the Child Protection Helpline for assessment.

Helpline eReporting must only be used for non-imminent suspected risk of significant harm reports. ALL urgent reports must still be made by phone to the Helpline on 133 627 (13 DOCS).

You can access an eLearning module at: http://elearning.community.nsw.

gov.au/ereporting/ereporting.swf

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Before you start the eReporting process

A reminder to complete an eReport in one session

Please be aware that you cannot save an eReport and go back to it at a later time − you must complete an eReport in one session. If you do not complete an eReport in one session you will not be able to use the information that you filled in at a later time.

Use the Mandatory Reporter Guide

Mandatory reporters are encouraged to use the Mandatory Reporter Guide (MRG) before making a report to the Child Protection Helpline.

The Mandatory Reporter Guide assists you to determine when to make a report to the Helpline. It helps you decide whether your concerns about a particular child or young person are likely to meet the risk of significant harm threshold.

Access the Mandatory Reporter Guide at: sdm.community.nsw.gov.au/mrg/

Results and actions from using the guide

MRG result Action required

Immediate report to Community Services

Call the Helpline on 13 36 27 (TTY 9633 7698). DO NOT complete a Helpline eReport

Report to Community Services Complete a Helpline eReport

Refer to Child Wellbeing Unit Contact your relevant Child Wellbeing Unit or, if there are still concerns based on professional judgment or knowledge, complete a Helpline eReport

Consult with a professional or Continue relationship (monitor)

Do not make a report. If you still have concerns based on professional judgment or knowledge, you can complete a Helpline eReport

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Software requirements

The Helpline eReporting system is compatible with most frequently used browsers and versions of Adobe Reader. The minimum system requirement is Internet Explorer Version 8 and above with Adobe Reader Version 8.0 however the latest version of Adobe Reader is recommended for optimal user experience. You can download the latest version of Adobe Reader by going to: get.adobe.com/reader/otherversions/

What if there are multiple unrelated children involved in the one incident, can I include all of them in the one eReport? No. eReports are only suitable

for a sibling group. For multiple unrelated children you can either complete multiple eReports for each family or call the Helpline. If you complete multiple eReports, you can copy and paste relevant report information from a saved eReport transcript that has already been submitted to the Helpline.

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Accessing the eReport

The Helpline eReport can be accessed at: https://kidsreport.facs.nsw.gov.au

eReports are delivered securely and automatically to the Child Protection Helpline for assessment.

Security verification

When you enter the eReport you will first have to complete a security verification screen.

Enter the displayed characters in the text field then click Validate.

TipsThe characters can be refreshed if required by clicking

The characters can be read out by clicking

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Making an eReport to the Child Protection Helpline

Mandatory reporter verification

eReporting can only be used by mandatory reporters as described under the NSW Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998.

A mandatory reporter in NSW is an individual required under section 27 of the Act to report to the Child Protection Helpline when he/she has reasonable grounds to suspect that a child, or a class of children, is at risk of significant harm from abuse or neglect, and those grounds arise during the course of or from the person’s work.

Mandatory reporters include those who as part of their work deliver health care, welfare, education, children’s services, residential services or law enforcement to children or young persons. The NSW legislation also mandates any person who manages an employee or volunteer from the above services to report suspected risk of significant harm.

The first page of the eReporting form requires you to confirm if you are a mandatory reporter. If you are not a mandatory reporter, you will not be able to use the form.

●● Click Yes or No

●● Scroll down and click Next => Mandatory Reporter Instructions

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Mandatory reporter instructions

This section captures whether you used the Mandatory Reporter Guide or consulted your Child Wellbeing Unit (if relevant) before making an eReport to the Helpline. It also highlights whether you should immediately phone the Helpline.

●● You are encouraged to use the Mandatory Reporter Guide prior to making a report to the Helpline.

●● All questions must be answered to be able to proceed.

●● You MUST NOT use the eReport for matters of imminent risk of significant harm. To proceed with the eReport, you must verify that the matter being reported does not require an immediate response. You do this by clicking Yes to the final question on the page.

TipYou can access the Mandatory Reporter Guide from within the eReport by clicking the blue link at the top of this section. The Mandatory Reporter Guide will open in another window. You can copy and paste information from the Mandatory Reporter Guide into the relevant fields of the eReport form.

Terms and conditions

The terms and conditions for using the eReporting system must be accepted to proceed with the eReport. Click Accept at the bottom of the page.

TipHover over for instruction on scrolling through the terms and conditions.

●● i

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Your details

This section captures your identifying information. It is important the details are up-to-date and accurate at the time of the report.

Mandatory reporters cannot remain anonymous as per the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998.

Tips●● Fields with a red asterisk are mandatory.

●● Phone and Call back phone numbers may be different. Phone is your standard number, for example the main switch number for your office. Call back phone is the number that will be used to call you if further information is required, for example your mobile number or your extension. You can supply the same number in both fields.

●● Public domain email addresses such as Hotmail and Yahoo are discouraged. If possible provide an email address from a safe and secure domain.

●● Job title and Contactor role may be the same or different. For example a case manager at St Saviours may enter Case manager for their Job title but select Other soc welfare professional for Contactor role.

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Report information

This section captures your agency reference number and the reason for making a report to the Helpline.

Tips●● Agency reference number – is a number relevant to you, for example

a Child Wellbeing Unit reference number or medical reference number. If you do not have an agency reference number simply leave this field blank. This number will be included in the feedback letter sent by the Helpline.

●● Reason for reporting – what you select here will determine which questions will be asked in the next section of the eReport.

●● Primary reported issue – children/young persons – select the primary concern or the concern impacting on the child most significantly.

●● Primary reported issue – carer – consider whether the carer’s behaviour is having an impact on the child or young person that is relevant to the reported issue. You must document details of these concerns later in the eReport. If there are no concerns leave this field blank.

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Details about the child or young person

This section captures information about the child or young person including their name, address and current location.

It is important that all related children and young people under 18 years of age are included on the eReport even if they are not specifically related to the reported issues within the report. If there are multiple children or young people in the family, fill in the first page and then click Add another child or young person. Continue doing this until all related children and young people under 18 have been listed.

When all related children and young people have been listed click Go to Parents/carers/other siblings section

See Tips on next page

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Tips●● Enter Unknown in mandatory fields where specific information is not

known except where the exact Date of birth is not known, then:

●◗ enter 01/MM/YYYY if the month and year is known●◗ enter 01/01/YYYY where YYYY is the year based on the age of the

child or young person and then mark the DOB status as Estimated.

●● The address provided for the first child or young person entered on the form will auto-populate for any additional children or young people added. The address can be amended if required.

●● If there are any unrelated children or young people of concern for the reported issue, you must make a separate eReport for each affected child or young person.

How will I know my eReport has been received?

When you send the eReport, the eReport transcript and a Community Services reference number will be displayed.

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Details about the parents, carers and other siblings

This section captures important information about any parents, carers and siblings who are older then 18.

If you know a person’s address but not their family name, still click Yes to this section and enter Unknown for the family name. Provide any other details you have about the parents, carers or other siblings.

When all parents, carers and siblings older than 18 have been listed click Go to details about the report

Tips●● If you don’t know the person’s current address, provide the most recent

address known.

●● You can also use this section to provide details about any other person living in the home or relevant to the report.

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Details about the report

This section captures vital information about the risk of significant harm concerns for the children or young person. It is important you provide as much detail as possible about the current risk to the child and the impact to the child’s safety, welfare and/or wellbeing.

The information you provide to the Helpline in your eReport is critical to the accurate assessment of suspected risk of significant harm. Insufficient information may impact the assessment outcome or result in a call back by the Helpline to obtain the required information.

Tips

When completing this section remember to provide: ●● details of any disclosures in the child’s own words

●● details of any injuries to the child such as type of injury, location of injury, size and colour of injuries etc, how the injury occurred and if medical attention was required and/or obtained

●● details of the alleged offenders if known (e.g. name, age, address) and information about the child’s or young person’s ongoing contact with the alleged offender

●● information about whether the child or young person has expressed fear of contact with the alleged offender or of returning home

●● information about the parent’s or carer’s behaviour (e.g. alcohol abuse, mental health, domestic violence) and the impact of their behaviour on the safety, welfare and/or wellbeing of the child

●● information about the parent’s or carer’s protectiveness and what action the parent or carer has taken to protect and/or support the child/young person

●● details of any actions you, or any other professional, has taken to protect or support the child or young person.

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Submitting the eReport to Community Services

Submit the eReport by clicking Send to CS.

A pop up window encourages you to review the eReport content before submission. Click Cancel to review the eReport or Ok to submit the eReport.

Important: If you are using an older version of Adobe Acrobat, an additional Adobe security warning may appear when you click Ok. If you get this warning, ensure you click Yes to proceed with submission. If you click No all data in the eReport will be lost.

After the eReport is submitted, the eReport transcript and a Community Services reference number will be displayed for your own record keeping purposes. The eReport transcript can be saved and printed.

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Advantages of Helpline eReporting:

●● Easily accessible and easy to use

●● No user registration process required

●● Built-in drop down menus

●● Access to the Mandatory Reporter Guide from the eReport form

●● Ability to review your report before submitting

●● Instant receipt and reference number upon submission of the report

●● Copy provided of the submitted eReport

●● Ability to save and print the eReport transcript to store for your own record keeping purposes

Useful links

Access the:

●● Helpline eReport at: https://kidsreport.facs.nsw.gov.au

●● eLearning module at: http://elearning.community.nsw.gov.au/ereporting/ereporting.swf

●● Mandatory Reporter Guide at: sdm.community.nsw.gov.au/mrg/

If you experience any technical difficulties with the eReporting system, please call the eReporting IT Support Desk on 1300 760 641.