New advisory groups for the National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse

The National Office for Child Safety (National Office) is seeking experts, advocates and people with lived experience to help drive its efforts to prevent and respond to child sexual abuse.

The National Office is establishing a National Strategy Advisory Group and a National Clinical Reference Group to provide regular advice on the implementation of Australia’s first National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse 2021–2030 (National Strategy).

The two groups will play a key role in implementing the National Strategy in a way that is informed by diverse views and experiences.

National Strategy Advisory Group

The National Strategy Advisory Group will provide advice on the development, implementation and evaluation of National Strategy measures.

The National Office invites a diverse range of stakeholders to apply. This includes academics, professionals, practitioners, not-for-profit organisations, peak bodies and community members, including those that can represent the National Strategy’s priority groups:

• Victims and survivors of child sexual abuse
• Children, young people and their support networks
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
• Culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities
• People with disability
• LGBTIQA+ people
• People living in regional and remote communities.

National Clinical Reference Group

The National Clinical Reference Group will provide expert advice to better design and implement responses to children with harmful sexual behaviours.

The National Office invites professionals with relevant expertise in responding to children with harmful sexual behaviours (or a related field), including health professionals, clinicians and academics, to apply.

The National Office is seeking interested individuals with one or more of the following skills:

• Relevant clinical or academic expertise in identifying, treating or supporting children with harmful sexual behaviours.
• Relevant clinical or academic experience in childhood development, child psychology or childhood sexuality.
• Relevant knowledge and experience in developing and/or evaluating public health approaches and service models to respond to harmful sexual behaviours and promote child safe behaviours.

The advisory groups will be one of several ways stakeholders can be involved in the implementation of the National Strategy.

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If you have been impacted by or are concerned about child sexual abuse, there are services and resources to help.