Submission to Royal Commission: Preventing child sexual abuse in out of home care

This APS submission was made in 2013 in response to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse Issues Paper 4 relating to preventing sexual abuse of children in out of home care (OOHC).

In the submission, APS uses a public health model of prevention, highlighting aspects of primary, secondary and tertiary prevention, with particular attention to determining risk and the development of strategies for safe and secure OOHC.

The APS makes eight recommendations in relation to: a universal working definition of sexual abuse; community awareness and school based education around acceptable behaviours; protective behaviour programs for the OOHC setting; independent advocacy for all children in OOHC; the need for a Charter of Rights for children and young people in OOHC; development of processes for protection of children in OOHC where allegations of sexual or physical abuse of children are raised; processes that encourage children to disclose sexual abuse; and holistic efforts to improve the safety of Indigenous children in kinship-based care.

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