Tier 3 – Specialist knowledge

Knowledge

In addition to Tier 1 & Tier 2 knowledge, you need to know: 

• memories of abuse can be limited and fragmented, which can affect the clarity of disclosures.

Skills

In addition to Tier 1 & Tier 2 skills, you can: 

• work therapeutically with victims and survivors to help them:
  • identify the dynamics of child sexual abuse and grooming tactics which may have made it harder for them to disclose
  • understand any ambivalence they feel about their disclosure
  • accept that they are not responsible for any ripple effects of a disclosure of child sexual abuse on the family or related community networks
  • develop the language to give meaning to their experiences.
• help other workers understand why victims and survivors may have incomplete memories of child sexual abuse.

Did you know?

Victims and survivors have the choice about whether to disclose 

‘What I really hope people take away from the last year is that disclosing is terribly difficult, and it’s not a one-off dilemma. The question comes up again, and again, and again. Do I tell? Do I tell now? Do I tell in this context? Is this the right person? So, I really hope this year has given survivors the space to start talking, or to choose not to, if that’s what they need to do.’

– Associate Professor Emma A. Jane speaking at UNSW Sydney Centre for Ideas ‘Grace Tame Speaking Out’ event, 2022

Knowledge

In addition to Tier 1 & Tier 2 knowledge, you need to know: 

• many victims and survivors may have disclosed previously and received unhelpful responses, which may affect their therapeutic engagement with you and your service
• some victims and survivors may prefer a worker from their cultural, religious or faith-based community, or of the same or a different gender.

Skills

In addition to Tier 1 & Tier 2 skills, you can: 

• work alongside other specialist workers to meet the needs of victims and survivors from a range of backgrounds and communities
• increase the capacity of workers in other services to respond to disclosures of child sexual abuse by sharing resources and practice wisdom
• provide debriefing and support to other workers who have received disclosures of child sexual abuse.

Did you know?

Supporting others to respond to child sexual abuse 

You may find the resources below, which were produced by the UK Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse, useful for increasing the capacity of workers in other services to respond to concerns about child sexual abuse. Tips include creating as much privacy as possible for the child when you speak to them, thinking about how the child communicates, and understanding other ways that a child might be communicating to you (body language and non-verbal cues, etc). 

• Being confident in responding to concerns of child sexual abuse (video)
• Key messages from research on identifying and responding to disclosures of child sexual abuse.

Knowledge

In addition to Tier 1 & Tier 2 knowledge, you need to know: 

• It is important to work with the child, young person or adult victim or survivor and, where appropriate, their non-offending family, carers, kin and supporters to ensure transparency in any referral provided for intrafamilial child sexual abuse
• working with, or ensuring appropriate services are provided to the child, young person or adult victim or survivor’s support network is a central part of your response.

Skills

In addition to Tier 1 & Tier 2 skills, you can: 

• recognise complexity in cases of intrafamilial child sexual abuse, particularly where the alleged perpetrator is living in the same house as the victim or survivor and there are other children living in the house
• identify when responses of family, kin and supporters are linked to their own unresolved trauma following child sexual abuse
• allocate family members, partners, kin and supporters who need their own support to another counsellor to avoid conflict of interest, or, if this is not possible, refer on to another appropriate service
• refer to appropriate clinical guidelines to respond to children and young people who have displayed harmful sexual behaviour, where your organisation provides these specialist services.

Resource

A whole-of-family approach 

You may find the following resources useful to build understanding of a ‘whole-of-family’ approach: 

• A whole family approach – supporting parents and carers to support the child and its companion videos produced by the UK Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse
• Webinars, podcasts and practice papers on the Emerging Minds website.

Knowledge

In addition to Tier 1 & Tier 2 knowledge, you need to know: 

• the importance of clear case notes to facilitate handover to another worker if needed and meet legal record keeping responsibilities
• that case notes may be relied upon at a later date in legal matters or to support compensation claims
• whether you need to report a disclosure to the relevant child protection services in your state or territory
• about relevant civil and criminal processes
• that provision of specialist advice to interagency colleagues can ensure consistency in information reported and recordkeeping.

Skills

In addition to Tier 1 & Tier 2 skills, you can: 

• ensure case notes are recorded in a timely way, are clear, factual and can be easily understood by others
• provide information to workers from other services about their mandatory reporting and other legislative obligations (such as failure to report offences for some jurisdictions) when they consult with specialist services
• provide support to victims and survivors if they would like to report to police
• provide support to victims and survivors during any relevant court proceedings.

Did you know?

Legal protection of counselling or treatment records 

The circumstances in which you can object to a subpoena varies between jurisdictions. 

The term used to describe the legal protection from subpoena of the counselling or treatment records of victims and survivors of sexual assault also varies depending on the jurisdiction: 

• NSW – sexual assault communication privilege
• Vic – confidential communication/protected confidence
• Qld – protected counselling communication
• WA – protected communication
• SA and NT – confidential communication
• Tas and ACT – protected confidence 

This Legal Aid NSW’s Subpoena Survival Guide offers insights into sexual assault communication privilege in NSW and provides some helpful information about record keeping and subpoenas that may be relevant across jurisdictions.

Knowledge

In addition to Tier 1 & Tier 2 knowledge, you need to know: 

• that taking a holistic approach means ensuring a broad range of referral options to support the needs of victims and survivors. This includes culturally appropriate healing activities or responses if preferred by the victim or survivor
• that other workers in your interagency network may benefit from a deeper understanding of your service
• interagency events that provide the opportunity for information exchange can be beneficial to all participating organisations
• victims and survivors with complex trauma may benefit from a referral to a psychiatrist for pharmacological interventions to help them cope with the impacts of trauma
• about sources of financial compensation and options for reducing the cost of therapy in your state or territory.

Skills

In addition to Tier 1 & Tier 2 skills, you can: 

• work with the complex needs of victims and survivors to assist them in managing traumatic impacts
• consider when victims and survivors have other needs which should be addressed prior to engaging in child sexual abuse-specific work, and provide appropriate referrals in these circumstances
• work collaboratively with victims and survivors to identify whether they might benefit from a psychiatric review
• discuss and refer victims and survivors to relevant schemes and legal support, such as:
  • National Redress Scheme for people who have experienced institutional child sexual abuse
  • Knowmore, which provides legal support for victims and survivors in their suite of services
  • state or territory victim’s compensation schemes
  • options for subsidised sessions with mental health practitioners, e.g. through a mental health treatment plan under Medicare.