Ho said: “After the amendments are made, professionals may only face custodial sentences in egregious cases.”

What risks do Hong Kong professionals face in new bill to prevent child abuse?

He said the amendments would not reduce child protection as professionals could still make reports on the extent of suspected abuse under existing mechanisms.

Under the bill announced last year, professionals who fail to report incidents such as psychological attacks, neglect and physical or sexual abuse, face up to three months in prison and a HK$50,000 (US$6,400) fine.

On Monday morning a Legco bills committee resumed discussions on the proposed legislation, which requires workers in 23 professions to report suspected cases.

Ho said authorities had made three amendments.

Under the first, workers will be exempted if they have reported suspicious child abuse cases or “sincerely and reasonably believe” another professional has done so. The government will also add a new defence provision allowing professionals to use a reasonable excuse for not reporting cases.

In the second amendment, the legislation will clearly stipulate the government has to prove a professional had suspicions about a case. The existing draft said it was immaterial whether the specified professional had actually formed a suspicion of child abuse.

A look at how Hong Kong is handling legislation on child abuse

Third, the legislation will set out injuries that constitute “serious harm” as a response to criticism by some groups that the examples cited in the bill were ambiguous and could lead to a low threshold for professionals to make a report.

“It [the proposed amendment] is to replace the general provisions and examples of the bill and aims to strike the right balance so the mandatory reporting mechanism can clearly spell out ‘serious harm’ to increase the certainty of the reporting threshold,” Ho said.

He added the government would list the constituent elements of “serious injury” in the “mandated reporters’ guide”, which sets out the considerations on whether reporting is necessary.

Earlier on Monday, welfare-sector legislator Tik Chi-yuen said the threat of jail terms might cause professionals to unnecessarily report some cases and that the proposed punishments were too heavy.

“We believe the current proposed penalties, which include both a jail term and fine, are not very proportional forms of punishment,” Tik said on a radio show.

“The penalties might lead to misreporting. Professionals would prefer not to have a criminal record, as it could lead to them losing their qualifications.”

Tik is among the lawmakers who voiced opposition to the original penalties.

Fellow legislator Lai Tung-kwok, a former security chief, earlier said the costs would outweigh the benefits of the bill if the penalties were too severe, which could put undue pressure on professionals and prompt false reporting.

Among the 23 professions listed in the draft legislation, 18 are from the healthcare sector, including doctors, nurses, dentists, traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, pharmacists and psychologists.

Teachers, boarding school wardens, social workers, childcare staff and the heads of residential care homes for youngsters are also included.

But Patrick Cheung Chi-hung, chairman of the charity Against Child Abuse, told the same radio programme that the penalties were appropriate as the legislation needed to have a deterrent effect.

“The proposed penalties are well-founded. They follow the same rationale for failure to report crimes such as drug trafficking and terrorism,” Cheung said.

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Both Tik and Cheung noted the government was also working on a guide book which would provide “decision trees” to help frontline professionals recognise abuse and take the right steps to report cases.

Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han said earlier that deliberations over the bill had reached the final stage.

On the potential scrapping of prison terms, he emphasised that penalties with a deterrent effect should be imposed for severe cases where the professional was fully aware of the abuse.

But authorities were confident consensus would be reached with the welfare sector by taking into consideration the original intent of the draft legislation and addressing industry concerns.