From journal articles to Quick Guides and webinars, you will find tools and information to support.
This resource sheet presents a snapshot of data describing child protection activity in Australia. It looks at the figures from each state and territory, including the number of investigated and substantiated reports of harm, the most common types of substantiated reports, and characteristics of children who are the subjects of reports.
This Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse report explores the factors related to institutional child abuse. It identifies four dimensions of risk factors in an institutional setting; situational, vulnerability, propensity and institutional risks. It examines to what extent various risk factors might be more concentrated within some institutions or activities than others.
New research describes how memory can affect child sexual abuse prosecutions. This report summarises research findings that ‘common sense’ beliefs about memory, often held by police, lawyers, judges, juries and community members, has not been consistent with scientific knowledge about memory. The research is intended to contribute to the development of guidance for lawyers, magistrates, judges, juries and police.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has released a new research report that suggests a strong connection to culture can help protect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from sexual abuse in institutions. The paper argues that culture can help children develop their identities, foster positive self-esteem and resilience, and strengthen family and community supports.
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) has published a summary report of the existing evidence for the impact of child sexual abuse. The report shows that child sexual abuse is associated with an increased risk of negative outcomes in all areas of victims and survivors’ lives, and can play out at any stage of the survivor’s life. The report also highlights some gaps in the existing literature, including the impact of child sexual assault on older survivors, minority ethnic groups, and on lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender people.
Public Health England (PHE) has released a literature search identifying the most up to date international research about effective interventions to prevent child sexual exploitation. The paper presents a comprehensive list of the latest research, with a brief description of each study. This literature search will be useful for research teams to use as a guide to recent literature on child sexual abuse, and practitioners and other groups interested in these themes.
This report presents findings from an evaluation of the Multiagency Investigation & Support Team (MIST) pilot, an emerging multi-disciplinary approach to responding to children and families affected by abuse in Western Australia. The approach aims to provide a holistic response to allegations of severe child abuse. It includes bringing multidisciplinary teams together in local communities in a more effective way, and timely connection of children and families to support services. The study shows that the co-location of child abuse interviewers, child protection officers, child advocates and therapeutic services within a child friendly setting had significant benefits for children and families.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has released a new research report that finds Australian oversight bodies have inconsistent scope and powers in protecting children from sexual abuse in institutions. Researchers examine several oversight bodies, including Ombudsman’s offices, children’s commissions and advocacy and guardianship agencies. The report highlights the localised factors and resource constraints that influence capacity to implement oversight powers and priority areas for oversight.
Child abuse and neglect can take many different forms. This resource sheet discusses the different forms that child abuse and neglect may take, including physical abuse, neglect, emotional maltreatment, exposure to family violence, and sexual abuse. There are significant gaps in Australian research into the prevalence of the different forms of child abuse and neglect, and to date; there has been no comprehensive, nationwide study into its prevalence. To try and fill this knowledge gap, the paper provides a review of ten Australian studies that have examined the prevalence of child maltreatment in its different forms.
