In New South Wales, Australia, in July 1987, the category of professionals required to report suspected cases of child sexual assault to the Department of Family and Community Services was extended to include teachers and other school professionals. Although there has been a significant increase in the number and proportion of reports of suspected sexual assault received from teachers, there has been no change in the quality of teachers' reports, as measured by the percentage of reports which are verified on assessment. Results indicate that the new legislation has increased the likelihood that child victims will be identified and has, therefore, achieved its primary objective. However, it has done so at the expense of an increase in the number of families that are inappropriately identified as abusive. 3 tables, 11 references, appendix. (Author abstract modified)