The Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse Bill will be gazetted on June 2 and introduced into the Legislative Council on June 14.

The Labour & Welfare Bureau said to protect children, the Chief Executive announced in the Policy Address that the Government will take forward at full steam the setting up of a mandatory reporting regime for child abuse cases and provide training for relevant practitioners to facilitate their early identification and reporting of child abuse cases.

The bill defines a child as a person under the age of 18, and specifies professional practitioners in the social welfare, education and healthcare sectors as mandated reporters.

These professional practitioners must make a report as soon as practicable if there is a reasonable ground to suspect that a child has been suffering or is at real risk of suffering serious harm.

The maximum penalty for non-compliance is three months' imprisonment and a fine of $50,000.

The bill will also provide a statutory defence and legal protection for mandated reporters.

To dovetail with the commencement of the ordinance, the Government will provide training for mandated reporters and draw up a practice guide to assist them in identifying target cases for early identification, reporting and intervention as well as reducing over-reporting.

In addition, the Government will increase the number of residential child care places to provide emergency placement when necessary, and enhance public education and publicity activities to raise public awareness of child protection.

The bill will be introduced into LegCo for the first and second readings on June 14.

The bureau stressed that the Government will fully complement LegCo's work in scrutinising the bill, with a view to seeking its support and passage of the bill.