‘Kids are begging their doctors not to report the abuse’: GPs’ mandatory reporting dilemmas
Dr Jacqueline Kuruppu (PhD) says reporting more families to child protection is not the solution.
“One GP told me they were confronted with a gun by one of their patients following a report.”
Dr Jacqueline Kuruppu (PhD), a researcher and co-author of the RACGP White Book, has spoken to dozens of GPs for her research on primary care responses to child abuse, from private practices to high schools.
She says the legal requirements for GPs to report abuse are putting them in tough positions — not just risk of physical harm but ethical quandaries.
Some doctors feel that lodging a report can violate the Hippocratic oath because it risks making things worse.
