Grooming Behaviours and Schools - January 2016

In Australia, the grooming or procurement of a child for sexual or unlawful activity is a criminal offence in each State and Territory. It is also a Federal criminal offence to use a carriage service, such as the internet, to procure a person under the age of 16 to engage in sexual activity.

Despite the existence of criminal laws prohibiting either grooming behaviour or the procurement of children for sexual activity, in many jurisdictions, ‘grooming behaviour’ has not been defined in the legislation, making it difficult for schools to understand:

• how to identify grooming behaviours involving students and/or staff
• at what point a school should take action when behaviour is ambiguous, and
• what their legal obligations are to report grooming behaviours.

This briefing paper covers what constitutes grooming behaviours, and identifies 'best practice' requirements for schools to create a child safe environment.