Executive Summary

If your organisation employs people who work with children, you almost certainly carry obligations under a Reportable Conduct Scheme. Depending on your state or territory, those obligations may be immediate, recently expanded, or arriving within the next twelve months. And if you operate across multiple jurisdictions, you are navigating a patchwork of overlapping requirements, each with its own regulator, timelines, penalty provisions, and investigation standards.

Reportable Conduct Schemes are statutory frameworks that require certain organisations to report allegations of child abuse or misconduct to a regulator, conduct an investigation, and report the outcome. They are not optional. They are not self-assessments. They are mandatory obligations on heads of entities personally - and the failure to notify, investigate, or report carries penalties.

The national picture has changed significantly in the last two years and continues to change. Victoria expanded its scheme from 1 July 2024 to capture labour hire workers, secondees, and directors of engaged companies - a material expansion of who counts as an "employee" for scheme purposes. Queensland's Child Safe Organisations Act 2024 commenced on 1 October 2025, with its Reportable Conduct Scheme commencing for all organisations on 1 July 2026. Western Australia expanded its scheme from 1 January 2024 to include emotional and psychological harm. Tasmania launched its scheme in 2024. And New South Wales, Victoria, ACT, and now Western Australia are all actively monitoring compliance.

What has not kept pace with the legislative expansion is the governance and reporting infrastructure inside many of the organisations that carry these obligations. This article examines what Reportable Conduct Schemes require, how the obligations vary across the active jurisdictions, the intersection with WHS psychosocial law, and why the reporting culture and infrastructure an organisation builds today determines not only its compliance position but its ability to detect, respond to, and prevent the conduct the schemes are designed to address.

What a Reportable Conduct Scheme Is - and Why It Exists

Reportable Conduct Schemes were recommended by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse as a mechanism to ensure that organisations respond appropriately to allegations of child abuse and misconduct by their workers, rather than managing complaints quietly, protecting institutional reputation, or failing to identify patterns of concerning behaviour that fall below the threshold for criminal prosecution.

The schemes operate independently of criminal proceedings. A reportable allegation can exist, must be notified to the regulator, and must be investigated regardless of whether the conduct is being investigated by police. The notification threshold is not guilt - it is the existence of an allegation that, on its face, suggests reportable conduct has occurred or may have occurred.

Five categories of conduct are reportable under most schemes: sexual offences against or in the presence of children; sexual misconduct involving children; physical violence against children; behaviour causing significant emotional or psychological harm to children; and serious neglect. In Victoria and Tasmania, emotional and psychological harm has been a covered category since inception. Western Australia expanded to include emotional and psychological harm and significant neglect from 1 January 2024, broadening what was previously a narrower physical and sexual abuse focus.

The scheme is allegations-based, not findings-based. When an allegation is received, it must be notified. When a conviction is received that relates to a reportable category, it must be notified. Whether or not the organisation has investigated, concluded, or formed a view about the allegation at the point of notification is irrelevant - the notification obligation is triggered on receipt of the allegation.

The Jurisdictional Landscape: What Applies Where in 2026

Australia's Reportable Conduct Schemes are state and territory legislation. As of March 2026, active statutory schemes exist in NSW, Victoria, ACT, Tasmania, and Western Australia, with Queensland's scheme commencing 1 July 2026. South Australia does not yet have a statutory Reportable Conduct Scheme but operates the Child Safe Environments Program under the National Principles. Each has its own regulator, coverage, timelines, and procedural requirements.

South Australia

South Australia does not currently have a statutory Reportable Conduct Scheme. The state operates the Child Safe Environments Program under the Department of Human Services, which has adopted the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations as its guiding framework. Organisations covered by the program can submit a compliance statement indicating they are a Child Safe organisation, and the DHS assists organisations in developing Child Safe policies. While the National Principles provide a strong organisational framework, they do not impose the mandatory notification, investigation, and reporting obligations that apply under a statutory Reportable Conduct Scheme. South Australian organisations working with children that also operate in NSW, Victoria, ACT, WA, Tasmania, or Queensland carry the scheme obligations in those jurisdictions. All South Australian organisations remain subject to existing mandatory reporting obligations under state child protection law, and those obligations are separate from and not diminished by the absence of a Reportable Conduct Scheme.

New South Wales

The NSW scheme, administered by the Office of the Children's Guardian (OCG) under the Children's Guardian Act 2019, is the most operationally mature in Australia. The OCG must be notified within 7 business days of the head of the relevant entity (HRE) becoming aware of a reportable allegation. An entity report must be provided to the OCG within 30 business days of commencing the investigation, unless the OCG consents to an extension. If investigation is not complete by the 30-day mark, an interim report is due.

The OCG has broad oversight powers: it can conduct its own investigation, request further information, monitor an entity's investigation, and is required to report to Parliament if an investigation has not been completed within six months. Disclosure of reportable conduct information outside permitted channels is a criminal offence under section 159 of the Act.

The scheme covers a wide range of entities listed in Schedule 1 of the Act, including schools and early childhood services, out-of-home care providers, disability services, government agencies, religious bodies, and organisations providing services to children. The head of a relevant entity bears ultimate legal responsibility for scheme obligations and cannot delegate that responsibility away, though they may appoint an investigator.

Victoria

The Victorian scheme, administered by the Commission for Children and Young People (CCYP) under the Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005, underwent a material expansion from 1 July 2024. The definition of "employee" was expanded to expressly capture labour hire workers and volunteers engaged through third parties, secondees, and directors or office holders of companies engaged to perform work for the entity. This means that covered organisations must now apply their reporting and investigation obligations not only to their direct employees and volunteers, but to this significantly expanded category of indirectly engaged workers.

The practical implication is significant. An organisation that uses labour hire staff, contractors engaged through a company structure, or workers on placement from another entity must ensure its reportable conduct systems extend to those workers. If an allegation arises involving a labour hire worker performing work under the direction or control of the entity, the notification and investigation obligation sits with the entity - not with the labour hire agency.

Victoria's five categories of reportable conduct include behaviour causing significant emotional or psychological harm, defined as conduct that causes or is likely to cause harm to a child's wellbeing or development - including continually ignoring or rejecting a child, scaring a child to force compliance, constant criticism or humiliation, or bullying and belittling. The CCYP has published a dedicated information sheet (Information Sheet 18) on this category.

Australian Capital Territory

The ACT scheme is administered by the ACT Ombudsman under the Ombudsman Act 1989. It is one of the earlier schemes nationally, with religious organisations added in 2018. The scheme covers certain employers who work with children, with reportable conduct covering allegations or convictions of child abuse or misconduct. Notification must be made to the ACT Ombudsman and the Ombudsman monitors investigations. The scheme does not interfere with separate reporting obligations to ACT Policing or Child and Youth Protection Services - criminal conduct should be reported to police in the first instance.

Queensland

Queensland's Child Safe Organisations Act 2024 commenced on 1 October 2025, implementing both the Child Safe Standards and a Reportable Conduct Scheme. The Reportable Conduct Scheme commences for all reporting entities on 1 July 2026, having been brought forward from an earlier date. The Queensland Family and Child Commission (QFCC) administers the scheme.

Reporting entities include religious bodies, organisations providing out-of-home care, disability services, education services, and other child-related service providers. On becoming aware of a reportable allegation, the head of the entity must notify the QFCC within 3 business days. If the investigation is complete within 30 business days of the initial concern being reported, a final report must be provided. If not, an interim report is due at 30 days. Failure to comply can result in penalties of up to 100 penalty units, which at the current Queensland value of 66.90 per unit is 6,690 per contravention. QFCC-authorised officers have powers to enter premises, inspect documents, and enforce compliance, with obstruction carrying penalties of up to 50 units.

Queensland organisations in the relevant sectors that are not yet operationally ready for scheme commencement on 1 July 2026 should begin their preparation now. The legislation is in place; the reporting obligations are months away.

Western Australia

WA's scheme, administered by the WA Ombudsman under the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1971, commenced on 1 January 2023. From 1 January 2024, the definition of reportable conduct was expanded to include behaviour causing significant emotional or psychological harm and significant neglect - categories not included in the original scheme. The WA Ombudsman's 2025 systems review of the scheme found that monthly notifications grew from 8 in January 2023 to 85 in June 2024, reflecting developing awareness and understanding of scheme requirements rather than necessarily increasing prevalence.

Tasmania

Tasmania's Reportable Conduct Scheme, established under the Child and Youth Safe Organisations Act 2023 and administered by the Office of the Independent Regulator, commenced in 2024. It aligns with the national model and covers the same five categories of reportable conduct.

The Three Governance Obligations: Notify, Investigate, Report

Despite jurisdictional variation in details, every active Reportable Conduct Scheme imposes three core governance obligations on heads of covered entities.

1. Notify the Regulator

Notification is mandatory and time-bound. In NSW, it is 7 business days from the HRE becoming aware of the allegation. In Queensland, it is 3 business days. These are not targets or aspirations - they are legal deadlines, and failure to notify without reasonable excuse is an offence. The notification obligation is triggered by the allegation, not by any assessment of its merits or any preliminary investigation.

A critical and frequently misunderstood point: the notification obligation applies to conduct in a person's personal life as well as their professional conduct, as long as the person was an employee of the entity at the relevant time. In both NSW and the ACT, the schemes expressly apply whether or not the conduct occurred in the course of employment. An allegation of sexual misconduct involving a child that occurs outside the workplace still triggers scheme obligations for the employing entity.

2. Investigate

The entity must investigate the reportable allegation. In most jurisdictions, the head of the entity may appoint an investigator, but ultimate responsibility for the investigation and its outcome remains with the head of the entity. The investigation must be conducted in accordance with procedural fairness standards: the employee who is the subject of the allegation must be notified, given details of the allegation, and provided an opportunity to respond. In NSW, no finding of reportable conduct can be made without the employee having had that opportunity.

Critically, the investigation must be conducted in a way that does not compromise any concurrent criminal investigation. Where police or child protection agencies are involved, the entity's investigation obligations may be suspended. This creates a coordination obligation - entities must actively manage the interface between their internal investigation and any external proceedings.

What the Codes of Practice and regulators increasingly expect is that investigations involving traumatic subject matter be conducted with a trauma-informed approach. WorkSafe Victoria's Compliance Code on Psychological Health specifically addresses this: investigations must be conducted in a way that prevents further psychological harm, with investigators who are trained in trauma-informed interviewing techniques and who understand that trauma can affect how people recall and describe events. The NSW Code of Practice requires employers to control psychosocial risks while investigations are being conducted.

3. Report the Outcome

After the investigation, the entity must report the outcome to the regulator within the specified timeframe - typically 30 business days from commencement. The report must contain sufficient detail for the regulator to assess whether the investigation was conducted appropriately, including: the nature of the allegation, the investigation steps taken, the findings, the reasons for those findings, and the risk management steps taken. Interim reports are required when investigations run beyond 30 days. In NSW, the Children's Guardian must report to Parliament when any investigation has not been completed within six months.

The Psychosocial Dimension: Investigations as a WHS Obligation

This is the intersection that most organisations miss, and it has become materially more significant since the model WHS Codes of Practice explicitly addressed it.

Every reportable conduct investigation involves employees who are the subject of allegations, employees who are witnesses, and potentially children and families who have been harmed or at risk of harm. The investigation process itself can create or increase psychosocial risk for all of these people. As Q Workplace Solutions, one of Australia's largest specialist workplace investigation firms, has noted: if the investigation is conducted in a procedurally unfair manner, lacks adequate interviewee support, or addresses traumatic matters in a way that lacks a trauma-informed approach, the investigation becomes a source of secondary harm in its own right.

Both the NSW and Queensland WHS Codes of Practice are explicit on this. The NSW Code states that the employer "must control the risks whilst investigations are being conducted, so the potential for further harm is eliminated or minimised." The Queensland Code identifies using a trauma-informed approach when responding to complaints of work-related violence, aggression, and harassment as a specific work design control, and states directly that workplace responses and investigations can escalate or de-escalate distress in those with a history of trauma.

For heads of entities under Reportable Conduct Schemes, this creates a dual obligation. They must conduct the investigation in the manner the scheme requires - procedurally fair, timely, appropriately documented. And they must conduct it in a way that meets their WHS duty to manage psychosocial risk to the participants. These obligations reinforce each other and are not in tension. A trauma-informed investigation is simultaneously better WHS practice and better scheme compliance.

The employee who is the subject of a reportable allegation is also, under WHS law, a worker to whom the employer owes a duty of care. The NSW OCG's guidance expressly acknowledges this: it is stressful for employees to learn that a reportable allegation has been made against them, and good practice includes reassuring the employee that no decision has been made, providing clear information about the process, and treating the employee with procedural fairness throughout. An employer that fails to manage the psychosocial impact of the investigation process on the subject employee may simultaneously be failing its WHS duty.

What Heads of Entities Must Have in Place

The regulators in each jurisdiction are explicit that covered organisations must have systems - not just policies - for preventing, detecting, and responding to reportable conduct. The system is the substance of compliance. A policy document that sits in a folder and has not been implemented, tested, or reviewed is not a system.

The minimum governance requirements for a covered organisation operating across one or more active jurisdictions include:

• A documented, jurisdiction-specific notification process that captures who is responsible for identifying reportable allegations, the notification timeline for each jurisdiction, and the mechanism for making the notification to the relevant regulator

• A process for receiving and recording all allegations, including those that may not meet the reportable threshold, with documentation of why a matter was assessed as not reportable (required in ACT and advisable in all jurisdictions)

• An investigation framework that meets procedural fairness standards, addresses the trauma-informed requirements in applicable Codes of Practice, manages the interface with police and child protection proceedings, and produces a report that meets the regulator's expectations

• Risk management procedures that operate in parallel with the investigation, including any protective measures taken in relation to the employee during the investigation period

• A system for receiving reports from employees, contractors, volunteers, and others - accessible, trusted, and documented

• Clear coverage of the expanded worker categories: in Victoria, this means labour hire workers, secondees, and directors of engaged companies; organisations in other jurisdictions should review their equivalent coverage requirements

• Records kept in a manner that can withstand audit, including in jurisdictions where the regulator has entry and inspection powers

Why Reporting Culture Is the System That Holds It All Together

Every scheme rests on the same foundation: that when a person becomes aware of conduct that may be reportable, they will report it. This requires a reporting culture - not just a reporting policy.

The NSW OCG's guidance to employees is direct: reportable conduct that is left unreported generally escalates, and the potential consequences for the employee who is the subject can be more severe. Unreported low-level concerning behaviour may indicate a pattern that, addressed early, can be remedied through training and support. Left unreported, it tends to progress. The goal of "prevention" is a critical element of every Reportable Conduct Scheme - and prevention requires early detection, which requires reporting.

But the barriers to reporting are real. Employees may fear being seen as disloyal. They may be uncertain whether what they observed is serious enough to report. They may be concerned about the consequences for the employee who is the subject, particularly if that employee is a colleague or peer. In organisations with hierarchical cultures, reporting concerns about senior staff can feel unsafe. In organisations with casualised workforces, workers may be unwilling to raise concerns for fear of losing shifts or future engagement.

These are not hypothetical barriers. They are the barriers that the Royal Commission found had allowed institutional abuse to persist for decades. The scheme is the regulatory response. But the regulatory response only works if the reporting culture inside the organisation enables it to function.

Salus is designed for exactly this environment. As a confidential, accessible, 24/7 reporting platform, Salus removes the barriers that prevent workers from raising concerns through formal channels: anonymity where that is appropriate, accessibility outside business hours and from off-site locations, and a clear pathway that ensures concerns are captured, triaged, and responded to. For organisations with Reportable Conduct Scheme obligations, Salus provides the reporting infrastructure that turns a legal obligation into a functional safeguarding system - one where early signals are surfaced before they escalate to allegations, and where heads of entities have documented evidence of an active, trusted reporting culture that both regulators and, in the worst case, courts will recognise as evidence of genuine compliance.

Key Takeaways

• Reportable Conduct Schemes are active in NSW, Victoria, ACT, Western Australia, and Tasmania. Queensland's scheme commences for all reporting entities on 1 July 2026 under the Child Safe Organisations Act 2024. Every covered organisation should know which schemes apply to it and in which jurisdictions, and should have jurisdiction-specific systems for each.

• The notification obligation is triggered by the allegation, not by a finding. NSW requires notification to the OCG within 7 business days. Queensland will require notification to the QFCC within 3 business days. The obligation applies to conduct in a worker's personal life as well as their professional conduct, as long as they were employed by the entity at the relevant time.

• Victoria expanded its definition of "employee" from 1 July 2024 to include labour hire workers, secondees, and directors of engaged companies. Covered organisations must apply their reporting and investigation obligations to all these categories. Other jurisdictions should be reviewed for equivalent coverage requirements.

• The investigation obligation is not a HR investigation. It is a statutory obligation with procedural fairness requirements, documentation standards, timeframes, and reporting obligations to the regulator. It must be conducted in a trauma-informed manner consistent with the WHS Codes of Practice that apply in each jurisdiction. The employer simultaneously owes a WHS psychosocial duty of care to all participants in the investigation process, including the employee who is the subject of the allegation.

• Western Australia expanded its scheme from 1 January 2024 to include emotional and psychological harm and significant neglect. The category of behaviour causing significant emotional or psychological harm to children - including continual ignoring, rejection, humiliation, or bullying - is now a reportable conduct category in NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, and WA, and will be in Queensland from 1 July 2026.

• Reporting culture is the foundation of scheme compliance. A policy without a functional reporting system does not meet the regulator's expectation of a "system for preventing, detecting and dealing with reportable conduct." Salus provides the confidential, accessible, real-time reporting infrastructure that turns an organisation's legal obligations into a functioning safeguarding culture.

• Multi-jurisdiction organisations face a patchwork of scheme requirements. Notification timelines, coverage, regulator expectations, and penalty provisions vary. Organisations operating across states should have a jurisdiction map that identifies which scheme applies, what the specific obligations are, and who in the organisation is responsible for them.

Reportable Conduct Scheme obligations are personal, time-bound, and enforceable. The head of a covered entity cannot delegate the legal responsibility away, and the obligation to notify, investigate, and report does not wait for an HR process to conclude. Safe Work Tech's Salus platform provides the confidential, accessible reporting infrastructure that organisations with Reportable Conduct Scheme obligations need: a system that surfaces early concerns before they reach allegation level, that documents the reporting culture that regulators expect to see, and that gives heads of entities the evidence base to demonstrate that their safeguarding system is active, trusted, and functioning. Contact Safe Work Tech to understand how Salus can strengthen your Reportable Conduct Scheme compliance across every jurisdiction in which you operate.