There has been an unofficial campaign for at least 9 years to make reporting of abuse mandatory. There is now a ground swell of movement amongst the survivor groups to get this put into law. It is legal in all Commonwealth countries, and England is the exception. See Peter Garsden’s blog here.
The Guardian published an excellent article yesterday entitled “Children failed by lack of clarity about reporting allegations of abuse” by Louise Tickle. The opening paragraph sets the tone:-
“Parents may believe that if a teacher suspects a child is being abused by a member of staff it must be reported for independent investigation, but this is not the case. “
Read the rest of the article here