This volume looks at the role community prevention could play in making communities and institutions child safe, the child safe standards that will make institutions safer for children, and how regulatory oversight and practice could be improved to facilitate the implementation of these standards in institutions. It also examines how to prevent and respond to online sexual abuse in institutions in order to create child safe online environments.

Summary

This volume examines the role that community prevention can play in making institutions child safe. It discusses the Royal Commission’s proposed Child Safe Standards which aim to make institutions safer for children, and the way that regulatory oversight and practice should be improved to facilitate the implementation of the Child Safe Standards in institutions. It addresses the emerging issue for institutions of creating online environments that are child safe.

Through case studies and in private sessions, the Royal Commission heard many stories where institutions failed to protect children in their care from sexual abuse. These stories showed that child sexual abuse in institutions continues today and is not just a problem from the past, and that institutional cultures and practices that allowed abuse to occur and inhibited detection and response continue to exist in contemporary institutions. Children’s safety and best interests must be at the core of an institution’s operations, and be supported by a well-informed community.

The initiatives recommended in this volume aim to achieve cultural change in the community and institutions to ensure that children are valued, their rights are respected and their best interests are paramount. This involves creating an environment where institutional child sexual abuse could be better prevented, identified, reported and responded to.

Download final_report_-_volume_6_making_institutions_child_safe.pdf (2.3MB).