The Child Information Sharing Scheme (CISS) is intended to facilitate services working together to identify needs and risks, promote earlier and more effective intervention and integrated service delivery to improve outcomes for children, young people and families in Victoria.
The CISS is articulated in the Child Information Sharing Scheme Ministerial Guidelines, which are legally binding for all prescribed information sharing entities (ISEs).
The Secretary to the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing is a prescribed ISE in respect of a number of functions, including the extent to which the Secretary performs functions under the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (CYFA). The functions of the CISS have been delegated to all child protection practitioners (and above).
Nothing in the CISS prevents information sharing permitted under the CYFA.
The CISS expands the circumstances in which prescribed ISEs can share confidential information with each other if certain legislative thresholds are met.
Thresholds
The thresholds have three key aspects:
- sharing information must be for the purpose of promoting the wellbeing or safety of a child or group of children and
- the department reasonably believes that the information may assist the requesting entity to carry out one of more of the following activities:
- making a decision, assessment or plan
- initiating or conducting an investigation
- providing a service
- or managing any risk, relating to the wellbeing or safety of a child or group of children, and
- excluded information cannot be shared (see below for a summary list, or the Child Information Sharing Scheme Ministerial Guidelines for a complete list).
If the thresholds are met, information can be requested, shared in response to a request or shared proactively between information sharing entities.
For the more limited purpose of managing risk or safety to a child, information can also be shared with the child or an adult with parental responsibility or with whom the child lives.
Obligation to share
Prescribed ISEs must comply with requests for information, if the request meets all three parts of the threshold for sharing under the scheme.
The relevant information, including information originally obtained from another source, should be provided in a timely manner.
If an ISE determines that a request for information does not meet the threshold of the CISS, they must decline the request and provide the requesting entity with the reason they consider the threshold is not met.
Prescribed information sharing entities
Several organisations and services relevant to Child Protection practice such as schools, hospitals, allied health, and disability services are also prescribed ISEs – see Information sharing entities (ISEs) under the Child and Family Violence Information Sharing Schemes.
Principles
When sharing information under the CISS, the legislative principles require ISEs to:
- Give precedence to the wellbeing and safety of a child or group of children over the right to privacy, noting that confidential information should only be shared to the extent necessary to promote wellbeing or safety, consistent with the best interests of that child/ren.
- Seek to preserve and promote positive relationships between a child and the child’s family members and people significant to the child.
- Seek to maintain constructive and respectful engagement with children and their families.
- Be respectful of and have regard to a child’s social, individual and cultural identity, the child’s strengths and abilities and any vulnerability relevant to the child’s safety or wellbeing.
- Promote a child’s cultural safety and recognise the cultural rights and familial and community connections of children who are Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander or both.
- Seek and consider the views of the child and the child’s relevant family members, if it is appropriate, safe and reasonable to do so.
- Work collaboratively in a manner that respects the functions and expertise of each information sharing entity.
Restrictions
While the CISS overrides some secrecy and confidentiality provisions in other laws, any that are not specifically overridden continue to apply.
In relation to the CYFA, the CISS overrides:
- s. 207(2) – which would otherwise prevent disclosure of information contained in a protection report provided to police at their request.
- ss. 537(3) and 582(5) – which would otherwise restrict information sharing in relation to court orders.
For further information about legislation overridden by the CISS, see the Child Information Sharing Scheme Ministerial Guidelines.
Most restrictions in the CYFA are not overridden, and therefore still apply when sharing under the CISS including those provisions that:
- protect the identity of reporters
- protect the identity of people providing information in confidence during an investigation
- limit access to reports to the Children's Court
- prohibit disclosing details of a conciliation conference
- restrict publication of identifying details in relation to Children’s Court proceedings and orders
- restrict disclosure of information regarding a registrable sex offender.
There may be circumstances where information sharing is not permitted under the CYFA but the CISS and/or the FVISS may apply.
Child Protection may be asked for, or believe it should proactively share information, both for the purpose of promoting the safety and wellbeing of a child or group of children (under the CISS), and/or to assess or manage a family violence risk (under the FVISS). Sharing information in the context of family violence may pose particular and complex risks for children and other family members, and the principles and requirements of both schemes will apply, as determined by the nature and purposes of sharing the information.
Child protection practitioners should exercise their professional judgement, relevant frameworks, and expertise to determine the safest and most effective approach in each circumstance.
Child protection practitioners should consider whether information is excluded under the schemes before sharing. See also Excluded Information.
Proactively sharing information
In the course of working with a child, Child Protection may become aware of information relevant to the safety or wellbeing of another child or group of children. If the information did not raise concerns that another child:
- may be in need of protection then a report to Child Protection is to be made
- would benefit from a referral to The Orange Door.
The CISS enables Child Protection to contact another ISE in relation to the child or group of children to share information for the purpose of promoting the safety and wellbeing of that child or group of children (where consistent with the threshold and other requirements of the CISS).
Requesting information from another ISE
Child Protection can still use the CYFA to gather information in relation to its functions.
However, if a prescribed ISE has refused to provide information in response to a request under the CYFA, making a formal request under the CISS enlivens the obligation to respond and may be appropriate.
Another ISE may request information from Child Protection to promote the wellbeing or safety of a child or group of children.
Receiving a request from another ISE
The ISE requesting information should provide sufficient detail to enable Child Protection to make a decision about whether sharing under the CISS is permitted, that is:
- the purpose is promote the wellbeing or safety of a child or group of children and
- it will assist with:
- making a decision, assessment or plan
- initiating or conducting an investigation
- providing a service
- or managing any risk relating to the wellbeing or safety of a child or a group of children and planning, delivering a service, assessing or managing risk
- the requested information is not excluded information.
When making a request, an ISE may disclose information that may assist Child Protection to:
- identify the information Child Protection holds that is relevant to the request
- form an opinion on whether the information may be disclosed under the scheme.
Responding to the request
Open cases
If the CISS requirements are met, verify that the requester is a prescribed ISE, provide the information in a timely manner, and record the exchange in a case note in CRIS:
- select the case note type 'Information Sharing Scheme'
- use the subject 'Information Sharing Scheme exchange'. Record the exchange in a case note
- record the requestor details, a summary of the information shared, and any consent considerations. If the information sharing scheme case note type is not used, also record the relevant scheme/s
Where a child protection practitioner receives a request under the CISS in relation to a current client they must respond to the request by either:
- sharing relevant information (in circumstances where the request meets the thresholds of the relevant scheme/s), or
- declining the request and notifying the requestor in writing of the reasons for declining the request (in circumstances where the request does not meet the thresholds of the relevant scheme/s).
In all cases, child protection practitioners must acknowledge the request, either verbally or in writing, and indicate what legislation they are using to respond to the request and then record this on CRIS. See Recording requirements.
The team manager may seek advice from the Information Sharing Team if required.
Closed cases
If the request relates to a closed case, the requester should be advised to make the request in writing by submitting a webform request to the Information Sharing Team.
Declining a request for information
Child Protection may determine that the request doesn’t meet the thresholds of either the CISS or FVISS that certain information it holds in relation to a child is excluded information because sharing it could be reasonably expected to, for example, prejudice an investigation.
Careful consideration is required before declining a request from another ISE for information. In consultation with the team manager, prompt advice should be sought from the Information Sharing Team in the first instance.
Excluded information
See the Child Information Sharing Scheme Ministerial Guidelines for complete details.
In summary, excluded information is any information that, if shared, could be reasonably expected to:
- endanger a person’s life or result in physical injury
- prejudice an investigation or the enforcement or proper administration of the law
- prejudice a coronial inquest or inquiry
- prejudice the fair trial of a person or the impartial adjudication of a particular case
- breach legal professional privilege or client legal privilege
- identity of a confidential source of information in relation to the enforcement or administration of the law
- contravene a court order or law that prohibits or restricts the publication or disclosure of information about or closes a court proceeding to the public
- be contrary to the public interest.
Recording requirements
When Child Protection receives a request or shares information under the CISS, whether verbally or in writing, a record is to be made as an information sharing case note type in the CRIS file of the child/ren to whom the information shared related, to comply with the Child Wellbeing and Safety (Information Sharing) Regulations 2018.
When a request has been received, the following must be recorded:
- the name of the requesting ISE
- the information that was requested
- the date on which the ISE made the request.
When disclosing information voluntarily or in response to a request, the following must be recorded:
- the name of the ISE to which the information was provided
- the date the information was disclosed
- the information that was disclosed
A record may consist of a summary or short description of the content of the information that was disclosed.
- whether the views of the child and/or their relevant family members were sought and obtained in relation to the information that was disclosed
The views of the child and relevant family members should be sought if appropriate, safe and reasonable to do. Typically, this would not be reasonable in relation to a closed Child Protection case. It may not be safe or appropriate to delay information sharing to seek the views of the child and others.
If it is not considered appropriate, safe or reasonable to seek and obtain the views of either the child or the relevant family members for any reason, this must be recorded.
- whether the child and/or their parent was informed that their information was or would be disclosed
Where Child Protection has direct contact, the privacy notices provided to children and parents set out how Child Protection will use and disclose information. In addition, in the course of child protection involvement, child protection practitioners should be keeping touch with children and families in relation to contact with other professionals concerning the investigation or case plan, and their views about this. As such, children and parents are unlikely to require specific contact to seek their views on a particular request, or to inform them that their information has been shared.
- copies of the following documents, if relevant to the disclosure
- a family violence risk assessment in relation to the child and any relevant family members
- a family violence safety plan in relation to child and any relevant family members.
Safeguards
If a child protection practitioner acts in good faith and with reasonable care when sharing information under the CISS, they are protected from liability.
Good case note recording provides a good foundation for demonstrating this.
The CISS and FVISS include offences for unauthorised and intentional or reckless use or disclosure of confidential information and for impersonating an information sharing entity.
Any complaints about information sharing under the child scheme by Child Protection are to be handled in accordance with usual complaints procedures.
Sharing information appropriately and with due care is important to children’s safety and wellbeing.
The CISS was created in response to numerous independent reviews and inquiries that have recommended streamlining Victoria’s information sharing arrangements to improve outcomes for children and young people by promoting shared responsibility for their wellbeing and safety and increasing collaboration across the service system. They also identified the need to modify a risk-averse culture, which has resulted in some professionals being hesitant to share information even when it would benefit children or young people to do so.
See Privacy legislation and Child Protection for a summary of the privacy principles governing information sharing.
- Information sharing policy
- Information sharing in child protection practice
- Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme
- Privacy legislation and Child Protection
- Child Information Sharing Scheme Ministerial Guidelines
- List of ISEs
- The Information Sharing team SharePoint site
- WOVG Information Sharing schemes website