184Mandatory reporting

184 Mandatory reporting S. 184(1) amended by No. 30/2010 s. 44(1). (1) A mandatory reporter who, in the course of practising his or her profession or carrying out the duties of his or her office, position or employment as set out in section 182, forms the belief on reasonable grounds that a child is in need of protection on a ground referred to in section 162(1)(c) or 162(1)(d) must report to the Secretary that belief and the reasonable grounds for it as soon as practicable— (a) after forming the belief; and (b) after each occasion on which he or she becomes aware of any further reasonable grounds for the belief. (2) It is a defence to a charge under subsection (1) for the person charged to prove that he or she honestly and reasonably believed that all of the reasonable grounds for his or her belief had been the subject of a report to the Secretary made by another person. S. 184(2A) inserted by No. 30/2019 s. 10(1). (2A) To avoid doubt, a person is not exempt from the requirement to report under subsection (1) merely because the information would be privileged under section 127 of the **Evidence Act 2008**. (3) The requirement imposed by subsection (1)(b) applies to a mandatory reporter referred to in paragraph (f) to (l) of section 182(1) even if his or her belief was first formed before the relevant date under section 182(1) for that paragraph. S. 184(3A) inserted by No. 30/2019 s. 10(2). (3A) The requirement imposed by subsection (1) applies to a person in religious ministry, even if the person's belief was first formed before the commencement of section 9 of the **Children Legislation Amendment Act 2019**, provided the person continues to hold that belief on or after that commencement. (4) For the purposes of this section, a belief is a belief on reasonable grounds if a reasonable person practising the profession or carrying out the duties of the office, position or employment, as the case requires, would have formed the belief on those grounds. S. 185 amended by No. 33/2018 s. 5.