The government on Thursday launched a guide on mandatory reporting of child abuse suspicions, to help professionals to identify and report cases.

The Mandatory Report of Child Abuse Ordinance, which will take effect on January 20, requires 25 categories of professionals, including doctors, social workers and teachers, to report suspected serious maltreatment cases.

Speaking to the media after a launch ceremony, Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun said the guide aims to help professionals report child abuse cases by providing them with practical guidelines so they can properly discharge their legal obligations.

“Apart from the usual practice of publishing guidelines covering all the requirements and setting out all the scenarios, this time round we have also decided to create an electronic version,” Sun said.

Professionals, he added, "could click into the website by answering a series of questions, and then they will lead to a conclusion under the system, telling them whether or not the case in point is one that he or she has to report under the law, or one that's not required under the law to be reported”.

The guide provides decision trees, supplementary analytical frameworks and sample case scenarios for various circumstances such as physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse and neglect.

The professionals will have to make an assessment by answering a number of questions such as whether the child has visible injuries or shows signs of non-visible injuries and whether the injuries are caused by accident or suspicious.

The professionals can also find out from the guide how to make a report and what information needs to be provided.

Sun said training would be provided to professionals in medical, education and social welfare sectors this year.