AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

15 March, 2017

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has released a new research report that finds there are limited programs and services to help prevent child sexual abuse and those that do exist are not well coordinated.

The Royal Commission contracted researchers from the Institute of Child Protection Studies, Australian Catholic University, to examine the potential service needs of a range of target groups, with a focus on individuals concerned that they or someone they know may sexually harm or abuse a child.

The research report, Help-seeking needs and gaps for preventing child sexual abuse, finds there is no coordination of prevention programs for these target groups. It also suggests that the development of programs are often unregulated and their outcomes under-evaluated.

It also finds there is a lack of confidence in the…