National Office commissions analysis of services available for victims and survivors
In Australia, there are a range of specialist and community support services for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse. The National Office for Child Safety has commissioned an analysis of these services as part of the National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse.
The analysis is part of achieving the aim of a holistic, nationally coordinated and consistent response that reduces the risk, extent and impacts of child sexual abuse and related harms in Australia.
The analysis will provide a clear picture of the service sector by:
- developing minimum practice standards for services, agreed by Commonwealth, state and territory governments
- identifying Australian services that meet the agreed standards
- finding gaps in the service system
- making recommendations for expanding or developing new support services ‑ including for the National Strategy’s priority groups
- making recommendations on the feasibility of developing a nationally consistent minimum data collection for relevant support services.
The analysis will be conducted through a partnership between the National Office for Child Safety, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, and the Australian Centre for Child Protection (ACCP) at the University of South Australia – led by Amanda Paton – with support from PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting (PwC).
Gaining an understanding of any service gaps, and the demand and capacity in the sector, will help inform where resources could be directed in future. Importantly, the minimum practice standards will not be a regulatory tool or tied to sector funding.
ACCP will consult broadly on this project with Commonwealth, states and territories; key priority groups; key sector representatives and non-government organisations working on preventing and responding to child sexual abuse; and key advisory groups.
Consultation on this project will take place in different phases and will include a mix of surveys, virtual workshops and focused consultations to obtain a broad range of views, and consultation participants will receive feedback from consultation processes.