First Commonwealth Action Plan to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse 2021–2024

Child sexual abuse is a challenging issue. Reading this document may bring up strong feelings for some people. Please take care of yourself as you read the National Strategy and First Commonwealth Action Plan and ask for help if you need it. You might want to talk to your family and friends, or your counsellor, doctor, or Aboriginal Medical Service.

The following services can also give you help and support.

Crisis and suicide prevention

If you are, or someone else is, in immediate danger, call Triple Zero: 000

Lifeline: 13 11 14 or www.LifeLine.org.au

Mental health and support advice

Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800 or www.KidsHelpline.com.au

Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636 or www.BeyondBlue.org.au

MensLine Australia: 1300 78 99 78 or www.MensLine.org.au

QLife: 1800 184 527 or www.QLife.org.au

Family and domestic violence support

1800Respect: 1800 737 732 or www.1800Respect.org.au 

Child sexual abuse support and advice

Blue Knot Foundation: 1300 657 380 or www.BlueKnot.org.au

Bravehearts: 1800 272 831 or www.BraveHearts.org.au

Care Leavers Australasia Network (CLAN) Inc: 1800 008 774 or www.Clan.org.au

National Redress Scheme: 1800 737 377 or www.NationalRedress.gov.au

Survivors & Mates Support Network (SAMSN): 1800 472 676 or www.Samsn.org.au

For local sexual assault services, go to HealthDirect.

Help is available if you have experienced, are experiencing, or are at risk of child sexual abuse. If you are worried that you, your child, or a child or young person you know is at risk, it is important to act on it and report it.

If you are, or someone else is, in immediate danger, call Triple Zero on 000. 

If you want to report a crime, contact your local police on 131 444. 

If you want to report a crime anonymously, you can visit the Crime Stoppers website or call their toll-free number on 1800 333 000.

You can report online child sexual abuse, including online grooming, to the Australian Federal Police’s Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation. 

If you want to report illegal or harmful online content, including photos or videos, you can contact the eSafety Commissioner. 

If you suspect a child or young person is at risk, contact your relevant state or territory child protection organisation. This includes children at risk of:

• harm
• sexual abuse
• physical or emotional abuse
• family violence
• neglect.

You can find links to these organisations on the Make a report page.

The First Commonwealth Action Plan sits under the National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse 2021–2030 (the National Strategy). The National Strategy makes the following dedication

We dedicate the National Strategy to the thousands of victims and survivors who shared their stories and experiences with the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (the Royal Commission). We also dedicate the National Strategy to all the victims and survivors of all forms of child sexual abuse who came before, during and after the Royal Commission. Many of their stories have never been heard.

We recognise your strength and courage. 

We recognise your pain and suffering. 

We recognise the people who helped you carry the burden of your experience. 

We recognise the tragedy of those who have lost their lives.

The National Strategy is our commitment to ongoing and meaningful change to protect children and young people now and into the future, and to help those affected by abuse. 

We hope that the National Strategy, and other reforms inspired by the Royal Commission, will put the words of the National Apology to Victims and Survivors of Institutional Child Sexual Abuse into action. We want the National Strategy to make Australia safer for all children and young people.

The Australian Government acknowledges the important contributions of everyone 
involved in developing the National Strategy and its First Commonwealth Action Plan.
This includes:

• victims and survivors of child sexual abuse and their advocates
• children and young people
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
• people with disability
• culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities
• LGBTQIA+ communities
• child protection experts
• clinical professionals
• organisations
• academics.

We could not have created the National Strategy or its First Commonwealth Action Plan 
without their wisdom and knowledge. 

Monday 22 October 2018 is a day I will never forget.

On that day, I stood in the Parliament to deliver the National Apology to Victims and Survivors of Institutional Child Sexual Abuse. I offered an unreserved apology, on behalf of the Government, 
the Parliament, and all Australians, to victims and survivors, and to their families, friends and supporters. 

I said sorry for the pain, the suffering and the trauma. For the deep and lasting impacts of abuse. 

It was a sorry that dared not ask for forgiveness. It did, however, speak of our deep, unshakeable 
determination to create a safer future for our children. 

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse highlighted historical abuse in Australia’s institutions. But we know abuse is not a thing of the past. As I said in my address in the Parliament, “We can never promise a world where there are no abusers. But we can promise a country where we commit to hear and believe our children.”

That means protecting our children wherever they may be: in homes, in schools, in communities, in 
institutions and, increasingly, online. Australian governments must and will work together to develop and deliver a coordinated response to child sexual abuse. The National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse and its First National Action Plan 2021–2024 set out how we will do this.

There are also steps the Australian Government is taking to ensure our country is safer for all 
Australian children.

This First Commonwealth Action Plan, released alongside the National Strategy, sets out the Australian Government’s priorities and responsibilities.

It contains ambitious and world-leading measures that will help us prevent, detect and respond to child sexual abuse committed by Australians here and overseas, and online.

These measures, for which we have committed $153.8 million, will build on and complement the work we are doing with all governments under the National Strategy’s First National Action Plan. 

While nothing can undo the past, we can learn from its lessons. Australians want to live in a country where we protect the most vulnerable and innocent in our community from harm. Through the work we are committing to, the First Commonwealth Action Plan will help us to live up to that worthy ideal in the years ahead.

The Hon Scott Morrison MP 
Prime Minister of Australia

We recognise that not everyone agrees on terminology. We have carefully considered the terms we use in the National Strategy and its First Commonwealth Action Plan. They are based on the opinions of many victims and survivors, and people with understanding and knowledge in these areas.

For a full glossary of the key terms we use across the National Office for Child Safety website, visit the Glossary of terms page.