If it is an emergency call 000 immediately.

Child Abuse Report Line (CARL)

To report/notify suspicion that a child or young person is, or may be, at risk of harm, telephone the Child Abuse Report Line (CARL) 13 14 78. The report line is available 24 hours a day.

All serious concerns must be reported/notified via the CARL telephone report line and not via the e-CARL online reporting system. Serious concerns include when you suspect a child or young person is in imminent or immediate danger of:

  • serious harm
  • serious injury
  • chronic neglect
  • or when the concerns are for an infant under 12 months old
  • or when the concerns are for a child or young person who is in the care of the department.

See Preparing to report or notify suspected harm to children and young people for details on what to provide in a report.

Online reporting system (e-CARL)

All serious concerns must be reported via the Child Abuse Report Line (13 14 78) and must not be submitted via eCARL. Serious concerns include when you suspect a child or infant is in imminent or immediate danger of:

  • serious harm
  • serious injury and deaths
  • chronic neglect
  • or when the concerns are for an infants under 12 months old
  • or when the concerns are for a child or young person who is in care of the department.

To make a report/notification online you must register and login to the online child protection reporting system. For help, see the Instructions for using the online child protection reporting system.

See Preparing to report/notify suspected harm to children and young people for details on what to provide in a report.

Correctly submitting online notifications (e-CARL)

It is important to note that draft online child protection notifications/reports must be submitted for the Child Abuse Report Line staff to be able to assess the information. Any notifications/reports that remain in a draft state will not be assessed by the Child Abuse Report Line until they have been submitted. To ensure you have correctly submitted your online child protection notification/reports, please log in to the system and check that the notification/report is not a draft. Notifiers/reporters will receive two email reminders to complete and submit their online notification/report after creating the draft. All draft notifications will automatically be marked as cancelled/not required 21 days after the date it was created.

Reporting further information to an earlier report/notification

If you become aware of further information, you must add to the report/notification you have made by re-contacting the Child Abuse Report Line 13 14 78.