In August 2020, the APS made the considered decision to set up a taskforce into child sexual abuse.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse recommended that all institutions, and professions such as psychology should be active in ensuring effective governance and regulation, and to contribute to the community’s understanding of the risk to children.
As psychologists, we witness first-hand the devastating and long-lasting impact of child sexual abuse. Within our profession we have an imperative to ensure survivors feel safe, validated and supported by psychologists.
The Taskforce was instructed to independently and comprehensively consider the APS’s engagement with survivors, members and stakeholders on the issue of child sexual abuse. The Taskforce reviewed our initiatives and advocacy, along with past and current governance, policies and practices.
The Taskforce recommendations were submitted to the Board in December 2020 and were accepted in their entirety. This includes the refinement and development of policies and resources, better access to and dissemination of resources, review of education and training curricula, increased advocacy and improved stakeholder engagement.
This issue of InPsych forms one part of our ongoing work to implement these recommendations.
We lead with an article exploring the child sexual abuse ‘pandemic’ and the parallels that can be drawn with the COVID-19 pandemic. Another article, by the Convenor of the APS Child Sexual Abuse Issues and Psychology Interest Group, covers a range of issues including the definition of child sexual abuse, its impact on individuals and communities, and treatment. Other articles explore the importance of a trauma-informed approach when working with childhood sexual abuse survivors, and the APS position statement on child abuse and psychology.
This special issue reflects what sits at the heart of the APS’s actions on this pervasive issue: our commitment to the needs of survivors, our commitment to ensuring the best quality of care for those subjected to such trauma, and our commitment to the prevention of child sexual abuse.
I hope you find this issue of InPsych comprehensive, instructive, rigorous and representative of psychology’s efforts to support survivors and our profession’s ongoing pursuit to prevent child sexual abuse.
The content of this publication is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional psychological, psychiatric or medical advice. Support services in your state or territory can be found here. The APS Position Statement on Child Sexual Abuse and Psychology can be found here.