The impact of mandatory reporting legislation on reporting behavior.

In New South Wales Australia, in July 1987, the category of professionals required to report suspected cases of child sexual assault to the Department of Family and Community Services was extended to include teachers and other school professionals. This paper reports on the impact of the process associated with the enactment of the new mandatory reporting requirements on the reporting behavior of the new mandatory notifiers. There was a significant increase in the number and proportion of reports of suspected sexual assault received from teachers. At the same time there has been no change in the quality of teachers' reports, as measured by the percentage of reports which are verified on assessment.