Legal Update: Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse Ordinance (Cap. 650) to come into effect in January 2026

The Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse Ordinance (Cap. 650) (the “Ordinance”) was gazetted on 19 July 2024, and will come into operation on the expiry of 18 months thereafter (i.e. January 2026) (the gazetted version can be accessed here).The Ordinance requires certain specified professionals to report suspected serious child abuse cases and/or the risk of child abuse. The identities of such professionals making any such report is protected under the Ordinance.

Mandatory reporting of child abuse

Under this Ordinance, a “child” is defined as a person below the age of 18 years.

Section 4(1) of the Ordinance provides that: –

“If a reasonable ground to suspect the following comes to the notice of a specified professional during the course of his or her work as a specified professional—

(a) A person is a child at the material time; and

(b) At the material time, the child—

(i) Is suffering from serious harm; or

(ii) Is at real risk of suffering serious harm,

the professional must, as soon as practicable after the material time, make a report in respect of the child in compliance with section 6.”

The above obligation is imposed on 25 categories of specified professionals set out in Schedule 1 of the Ordinance. They include, amongst others: –

• Registered medical practitioners, pharmacists, dentists, nurses, and Chinese medicine practitioners;

• Registered teachers or permitted teachers within the meaning of the Education Ordinance (Cap. 279) who are working in a specified school (defined in the Education Ordinance), and government-employed teachers;

• Registered physiotherapists, occupational therapists and optometrists; and

• Registered social workers, clinical psychologists and educational psychologists.

The definition for “serious harm” is in Schedule 2 of the Ordinance. Examples of serious harm include: –

• Loss of or loss of function of any limb;

• Loss of sight or hearing;

• Injury to internal organs;

• Burns and serious wounds;

• Loss of or impaired consciousness;

• Any harm that endangers a child’s psychological health or development;

• Any harm caused by coercing or enticing a child to take part in certain sexual acts or acts of gross indecency; and

• Any harm caused by neglect of a responsible person of a child that endangers the child’s life or health.

Section 4(2) of the Ordinance provides several exceptions to this reporting obligation. A specified professional is not required to make the above report if: –

Exception 1:

The professional honestly and reasonably believes that the serious harm—

(i) was caused solely by an accident that is not caused by the neglect of a responsible person of the child;

(ii) was, or is to be, caused solely by the child himself or herself; or

(iii) was, or is to be, caused solely by any other child (otherwise than caused by any act of a sexual nature).

Exception 2:

The Social Welfare Department or the Police had informed the professional at or before the material time of the same or substantially the same serious harm suffered by the child (or risk of serious harm to the child).

Exception 3:

The professional had or honestly and reasonably believes that another specified professional had made a report before the material time in respect of the same or substantially the same serious harm suffered by the child (or risk of serious harm to the child).

Penalties

A specified professional who contravenes the above reporting obligation commits an offence and is liable: –

• On summary conviction, to a fine at level 5 (HK$50,000);

• On conviction on indictment, to a fine at level 5 (HK$50,000) and to imprisonment for 3 months.

Section 5 of the Ordinance also provides a number of statutory defences to this offence.

Whom to report to?

Reports under this Ordinance should be made to the Director of Social Welfare or the Commissioner of Police (section 6 of the Ordinance).

Protection for specified professionals

Under section 9 of the Ordinance, it is an offence to wilfully inhibit or obstruct a specified professional from making a report. Under section 11, it is also an offence to disclose the identity of specified professionals who made reports.

Specified professionals are also relieved from any civil or criminal liability, as well as the possibility of being held to have breached any code of professional conduct, only by making a report (section 12 of the Ordinance).

Conclusion

The Ordinance imposes an active obligation upon the relevant, specified professionals to report serious child abuse and harm they might encounter in the course of their work, and imposes criminal liability for any omission by them to do so.

Russell Bennett and Joanne Brown

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Disclaimer: This publication is general in nature and is not intended to constitute legal advice. You should seek professional advice before taking any action in relation to the matters dealt with in this publication. This article was last updated on 31 July 2024.