Children and young people in residential care settings face heightened vulnerability to child sexual exploitation (CSE), requiring informed, coordinated and compassionate responses across the service system.
About the event
On Monday 13 July 2026, OPEN hosted the webinar Strengthening System Responses to Child Sexual Exploitation. Emma Rees and Conrad Townson from Project Paradigm, discussed findings from their paper Practitioners’ views on training and systemic barriers to deal with child sexual exploitation in residential care: Results of a qualitative study (Rees, Mathews & Townson, 2026), published in the Centre’s Children Australia journal. The discussion focussed on how the service system can better recognise and respond to child sexual exploitation (CSE) in residential care settings.
The session explored findings from a recent two-phase research project with residential care practitioners in Queensland, including a qualitative study and quantitative survey examining how training influenced practice and how systemic factors shaped responses to CSE.
You can access these articles for free: Practitioners’ views on training and systemic barriers to deal with child sexual exploitation in residential care: Results of a qualitative study | Download PDF Residential Care Practitioners’ Knowledge, Training and Insights into Child Sexual Exploitation | Open access
Presenters shared practical reflections on workforce capability, training effectiveness, cross-sector collaboration and the broader conditions needed to improve outcomes for children and young people in care.
Key themes from the session
Drawing on interviews with residential care practitioners, the webinar highlighted several themes for strengthening practice and system responses:
Participants had the opportunity to:
Additional questions
Presenters were asked questions from the audience, and were able to compile some responses to questions we didn’t get time for.
The lack of prevalence data makes it difficult to provide an evidence-based response to this question. However, First Nations children and young people are over-represented in out of home care systems. They also experience a gap between the life opportunities enjoyed by Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians and perpetrators prey on vulnerability. Therefore, it is highly likely that First Nations young people and those from other cultures experience CSE at a higher or similar level.
2. As a service system, we are getting better at identifying CSE… I am particularly interested to hear more about risk mitigation strategies and ideas.
The case study example suggests that if we can respond to any unmet needs that the child or young person exhibits, the influence that the perpetrator holds over them can be reduced. There are also some effective responses from the UK such as contextual safeguarding and the all-Wales protocol on safeguarding children from child sexual exploitation. Within that it mandates CSE multi-agency statutory meetings. These approaches could be adapted for an Australian context, such as the case example of multi-agency working group meetings and engaging with the hotels who were inadvertently ‘hosting’ CSE perpetrators.
3. What combined operational and policy system have you seen that has had the biggest impact?
When police use alternative avenues to stop persons of interest from accessing the child, they can efficiently and successfully stop the exploitation rather than solely attempting to convict sexual offence charges. This needs to run alongside responding therapeutically to victims of CSE. Examples of disruptive practices are outlined in this article; Ciftci, S., Wilkinson, H., & Heward‐Belle, S. (2026). Disrupting Child Sexual Exploitation in New South Wales: A Mixed‐Method Survey Exploring Workforce Capacities. The Australian Journal of Social Issues, 61(1), 39–50. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajs4.70066
4. Do the systemic approaches also include preventative or responsive work focused on perpetrators/offenders of Child Sexual Exploitation?
We could learn from domestic and family violence practice and consider if or how the perpetrator could be held accountable. We know that these individuals can be part of a network, or criminal gang, and therefore might be dangerous. However, exploring whether there are any agencies or practitioners working with perpetrators who can talk to them about their behaviour, could contribute to accountability or behavioural change. We have not had any opportunity to instigate this approach ourselves, so this is a theoretical proposition.
5. Is this type of research (and training to recognise and respond to CSE) being communicated to the public more broadly? I have experienced the lack of interest by police to follow up exploitation (particularly where kids are over 16 and the criminal element relies on their disclosure of exploitation, rather than on evidence of sexual activity) and I feel that a better educated public would put more pressure on police to take this issue seriously. How can this message be spread more broadly in our national media landscape?
Establishing clear media guidelines around the ways that they describe and discuss CSE. Centring lived experience to establish empathy for children who are usually portrayed as problematic or troublesome. Challenge comments on social media which demonise young people involved in crime and present an alternative discourse. Project Paradigm run campaigns aimed at the broader community so check out the resources on our webpage and follow us on socials.
The research underpinning this event is based on a two-phase research project with residential care practitioners in Queensland. The qualitative study and quantitative survey explored how training influences practice, and examined the systemic factors that shape responses to child sexual exploitation.
The findings highlight both the critical importance of practitioner training and the need for broader systems reform to better protect children and young people in care.
Dr Mandy CharmanSenior Program Manager – OPEN Team
Dr Mandy Charman leads the Outcomes, Practice and Evidence Network (OPEN), a sector‑led initiative strengthening evidence use, outcomes measurement and reflective learning across Victoria’s child and family services. She oversees OEN’s advisory and capability‑building work, supporting organisations to embed evaluative thinking, develop program logics, and strengthen monitoring and evaluation practice.
Emma ReesProject Paradigm Project Officer
Sessional Academic, QUT School of Public Health and Social Work
Emma Rees is an experienced social work practitioner, early‑career researcher, and educator with expertise in child protection, child sexual abuse and exploitation. Emma currently works as a project officer for Project Paradigm, sessional academic and external supervisor supporting social work students.Read more
Conrad TownsonPrincipal Advisor – Child Sexual ExploitationProject Paradigm, Integrated Family and Youth Services Inc.
Conrad is the Principal Advisor on Child Sexual Exploitation for IFYS where he oversees Project Paradigm, a national program aimed at increasing the capacity of professionals and communities across Australia to better understand and respond to child exploitation | Read about Project Paradigm
This event is made possible through the cross-peaks Family Violence and Sexual Violence (FVSV) Knowledge Project. For more information and to access all resources and past event recordings, please visit the FVSV Knowledge Hub.
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