(1)  In this section –

abuse offence means the following:

(a) an offence against section 124 , 125 , 125A , 125B , 125C , 125D , 126 , 127 , 129 , 130 , 130A , 133 , 157 , 158 , 159 , 165A , 166 , 170 , 172 , 175 , 176 , 177 , 178 , 178A or 178B ;

(b) an offence under chapter XIX or XX ;

(c) an offence of attempting to commit an offence referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) ;

(d) an offence under a previous enactment that is substantially similar to an offence referred to in paragraph (a) , (b) or (c) ;

child means a person under the age of 18 years;

proper authority has the same meaning as in section 162A ;

religious confession has the same meaning as in section 127 of the Evidence Act 2001 .

(2)  A person is guilty of a crime if the person –

(a) has information that leads the person to form a reasonable belief that an abuse offence has been committed against another person who was a child at the time of the alleged offence; and

(b) fails without reasonable excuse to disclose that information to a police officer as soon as practicable.

Charge:  Failing to report the abuse of a child.

(3)  A person is not guilty of an offence under subsection (2) if –

(a) the information was obtained by that person when he or she was a child; or

(b) the alleged victim of the offence to which the information relates had attained the age of 18 years at the time the information was obtained by the person and the person believes on reasonable grounds that the alleged victim does not wish the information to be reported to a police officer.

(4)  Without limiting the matters that may constitute a reasonable excuse for the purposes of subsection (2) , a person has a reasonable excuse for failing to comply with that subsection if –

(a) the person fears on reasonable grounds that disclosing the information would endanger the safety of any person (other than the person reasonably believed to have committed, or to have been involved in, the child abuse offence); or

(b) subject to subsection (5) , reporting the information would disclose information in respect of which there is a lawful claim or right of privilege; or

(c) the person believes on reasonable grounds that –

(i) another person has already reported the information to a proper authority; or

(ii) a proper authority already has the information; or

(d) the information is generally available to members of the public.

(5)  Despite section 127 of the Evidence Act 2001 , a member of the clergy of any church or religious denomination is not entitled to refuse to disclose information under subsection (2) on the grounds that the information was communicated to that member of the clergy during a religious confession.

(6)  A prosecution for an offence against subsection (2) is not to be commenced without the written authority of the Director of Public Prosecutions.