Tier 1 – Foundational knowledge

Knowledge

You need to know: 

• while your core business may not be responding to child sexual abuse, you can be the recipient of a disclosure or providing services to victims and survivors at any time
• victims and survivors can have a range of therapeutic and support needs resulting from the traumatic impacts of child sexual abuse, and may need to engage or have engaged with multiple service systems, including health, legal, child protection, housing, employment, financial, drug and alcohol, family violence, and justice and corrections services
• systems and processes need to be flexible to accommodate the specific needs of the victim or survivor
• you may require extra time to provide an appropriate response where your usual processes are not meeting the needs of the victim and survivor.

Skills

You can: 

• work with the child, young person or adult victim or survivor to consider their preferences for support and referral
• recognise circumstances where your processes should be adjusted to minimise distress to an individual
• patiently and compassionately work with an individual who requires adaptations in the usual response you provide, rather than make them feel like they are being difficult or a burden
• seek guidance from a manager if you are unsure whether usual processes can be adapted, or if you need specific information and support to address complex issues.

What do victims and survivors tell us?

‘Part of the barrier seems to be they want to fit you into a mould, so they’ve got a system that operates in a certain way. If you’re not fitting into that system, you’re not fitting in with them.’ 

– Male adult victim or survivor, quoted on page 69 of the Framework for historical influences on institutional child sexual abuse: 1950–2014 by Antonia Quadara (2017).

Knowledge

You need to know: 

• ‘joined-up care’ in the context of child sexual abuse can take a number of forms:
  • integration
  • coordination of care (sometimes called casework or case management)
  • collaboration (sometimes identified as multi-agency working or a multidisciplinary response)
• victims and survivors receive the best outcomes when services are ‘joined up’ and coordinated with one another through information – and resource-sharing between local services. This can be achieved through formal protocols or informal interagency partnerships
• a victim and survivor-centred approach requires services to work together to provide care and support to children, young people and adults, who often have complex needs
• relevant services that provide joined-up care for victims and survivors in your area
• any processes within your organisation to seek permission to share information, and the limits of confidentiality
• how regulations and policies regarding working with children checks, child safe organisations, information-sharing, and management, privacy and confidentiality apply to your work.

Skills

You can: 

• convey understanding and empathy for victims and survivors experiencing difficulties navigating service systems and offer to help them navigate the complexity
• provide warm referrals to other agencies and service providers:
  • to reduce the number of times victims and survivors must tell their stories
  • minimise the burden of navigating multiple systems for victims and survivors and their families
• share information with consent and/or in accordance with legal requirements in your state or territory and in accordance with your role.

Did you know?

Pathways to support services 

In their Framework for historical influences on institutional child sexual abuse, Quadara et al. (2017) examined pathways to support services for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse and their families in the context of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. They found that victims and survivors and parents/carers use ‘… a constellation of key services in the medium and longer terms that they perceive to be helpful for their own particular context.’ The most common services involved in a response were: 

• doctors, medical professionals/services
• individual counselling
• police.

Extending out from these core services were a range of other services, including: 

• lawyers and legal professionals
• sexual assault services
• mental health services
• advocacy services
• peer support services
• alternative and complementary services

Any worker or organisation can ensure help is provided 

Victims and survivors tell us that they get the most effective help when all services work together and there is a ‘no wrong door’ response to their disclosure. The practice tip below provides more information about a ‘no wrong door’ response.

Practice tip

A 'no wrong door' response to disclosure

Problem

Victims and survivors often struggle to find the help they need

• Victims and survivors may have to knock on multiple doors and tell their story numerous times.
• Workers may believe they are the ‘wrong person’ to receive the disclosure and shut the conversation down.
• Services are often fragmented and poorly coordinated, leading to a ‘merry-go-round’ of referrals and an endless help-seeking journey.
• Poor responses can further traumatise victim-survivors and prevent them from accessing services they need.

Solution

Victims and survivors receive a joined-up, compassionate and trauma-informed response regardless of whom they disclose to

• Services are able to provide a response or facilitate a warm referral to appropriate services in a timely manner (i.e. ‘no wrong door’).
• Services effectively collaborate and coordinate with one another, reducing the number of times a victim or survivor must retell their ordeal and supporting their path to recovery.

Knowledge

You need to know: 

• navigating multiple systems can be complex, especially when people are in crisis
• the process of help seeking can be re-traumatising for victims and survivors as they are often required to retell their story to multiple services
• it is not your role to ask about the details of child sexual abuse.

Skills

You can: 

• invite the victim or survivor to tell you what they believe is relevant to their business with you
• reassure them that they do not need to tell you anything about the child sexual abuse
• use any processes designed by your organisation to minimise the number of times a person is required to repeat their disclosure of child sexual abuse.

What do victims and survivors tell us?

‘Too many of us are being re-traumatised trying to engage with systems that are meant to “protect” us but fail. Systems that create barriers to access and have costs beyond our means because services are not designed for the realities of our lives. Instead, they perpetuate the same dynamics of power and control as our abusers. Systems that wait until the worst has happened before they respond, then blame us for not reporting …’ 

– Extract from a statement from Members of the Independent Collective of Survivors, in the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2023