The APS is committed to support efforts to prevent child sexual abuse. Preventing child sexual abuse is central to the APS mission, values and ethics and relevant to many areas of psychological research and practice.
The APS has strongly argued for the rights of people who have been abused to access psychological care as part of redress. In 2016, the APS won a tender to undertake a number of activities which would support the implementation of the Commonwealth Redress Scheme for survivors of institutional child sexual abuse which included the development and management of the Trauma Support Directory.
In 2013 the Australian Government established a Royal Commission to investigate how institutions with a responsibility for children have managed and responded to allegations and instances of child sexual abuse. The APS provided evidence at several public hearings and contributed a series of submissions to the Royal Commission.