The National Centre's Monthly Newsletter: August 2025 edition
National Centre for Action on Child Sexual Abuse
Protecting children, guiding best practice responses and pathways to healing for survivors.
Welcome to our Newsletter, our LinkedIn edition alongside our Monthly EDM which you can subscribe to here. Our Newsletter welcome is written by National Centre CEO Dr Janine Bush .
"Across August, the national conversation on child safety remained front and centre - a reminder of the enduring importance of institutions we trust, like childcare, in protecting children. This message, powerfully reinforced by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse nearly a decade ago, continues to resonate.
In this context, strong federal leadership is essential to ensure a coordinated national response - one that closes jurisdictional gaps so that no child’s safety depends on their postcode. We welcomed the Victorian Government’s commitment to implement all 22 recommendations from its Rapid Child Safety Review - a significant step forward, and one we hope will prompt other states and territories to take similar action to strengthen child safety.
I joined sector leaders, people with lived experience and government representatives, including the Attorney-General, for two days of focused discussions through the National Strategy Advisory Group. These are ongoing, constructive conversations about building a safer future for children, and the National Centre remains committed to playing an important practical, solutions-focused role.
Words matter. This month we released the Child Sexual Abuse Language Guide - a living resource developed with victims and survivors. It will continue to evolve as we listen and learn, helping all of us communicate with greater respect, inclusivity and safety.
Real change starts when those most affected are heard and included. We are committed to ensuring their voices shape critical conversations and we were pleased to support people with lived experience to attend the international conference on childhood trauma - conversations that will influence future responses.
Internally, our team came together face to face for an all-staff gathering - a valuable opportunity to reflect on how we maximise our impact and deliver on our priorities. We consolidated three key pillars that will guide our forward commitment and shape the way we direct our energy and resources:
These priorities are central to all that we do and how we respond to the most pressing child safety issues and lifelong impact of child sexual abuse.
Warm regards,
Janine"
Monthly highlights
Child Sexual Abuse Language Guide
We are pleased to share with you the new Child Sexual Abuse Language Guide developed with the voices of more than 100 victims and survivors across Australia.
This guide provides victim and survivor-informed terms and definitions to support respectful, inclusive and trauma-informed communication about child sexual abuse.
This guide is intended for practitioners, policymakers, educators, healthcare workers, legal professionals, researchers, journalists and anyone who communicates about child sexual abuse.
This is a living document that will continue to evolve as language changes and as more voices contribute to its development.
New research publication
One of our commissioned research projects, 'Learning from victims and survivors about what helps disclosure and responses to child sexual abuse', led by Professor Lynne McPherson , Centre for Children and Young People, Southern Cross University, has published its latest article.
The research found that only a very small number of victims and survivors had supportive and safe adults to disclose to - and even then, responses were often inadequate or dismissive. Most victim-survivors had to disclose multiple times over their lives before being heard and supported.
These findings highlight the urgent need to improve responses to those who have experienced child sexual abuse.
Out and about
International Childhood Trauma Conference
The National Centre supported a number of survivor advocates to attend the Australian Childhood Foundation 's International Childhood Trauma Conference this month. The conference agenda was broad-ranging and included sessions from lived experience advocates and clinical experts. Below are some reflections from survivor advocates who attended the conference.
Lynelle: “Heard some incredible speakers!! Of them my fave was David Kessler on Grief… His talk was very pertinent to both my communities of adoption and childhood sexual abuse (CSA). One of those key sentences that resonated with me: “Grief doesn’t need to get smaller, we have to get bigger and grow around it”.
Sandra: “The strong current carries me without resistance. No snags, no rapids. In the quiet of still pools, I pause - cradled in weightless silence in my inner sanctuary. Suspended between motion and rest I am, seen, heard and held. Sudden splashes waken me.”
Paul: “Dan Siegel’s description of trauma as “constant, chronic disruption” allows me to look at my trauma, not as a large overbearing beast that I cannot fight, rather looking at each piece and designing a plan to address each one separately.”
Malika: “The conference was a gift. From great food for thought and personal stories that brought me to tears, practical tools to support myself and others going through trauma and connecting with amazing people.”
Robbie: “I am so thankful I was able to attend the ACF Conference. It was wonderful to listen to Emma Hakansson, and David Kessler's session on grief was amazing. It was very comforting sitting with my friends from the Survivor-Led Adult College.”
2025 Bright Futures National Symposium
We attended the 2025 Bright Futures National Symposium, hosted by the Daniel Morcombe Foundation and the Sexual Violence Research and Prevention Unit.
The event featured keynote presentations and panel discussions, focusing on contextual safeguarding of children and young people and the importance of collective, inclusive, preventative and responsive action in communities across Australia.
We were particularly engaged by the youth panel who explored ‘How can we better safeguard spaces and places for young people?’, underscoring the importance of centring the voices of young people and victims and survivors of child sexual abuse in our work.
Evaluation Lived Experience Advisory Group
On 22 August, nine survivor consultants met in Melbourne - marking the inaugural meeting of the Evaluation Lived Experience Advisory Group (E-LEAG).
The purpose of the day was for survivor consultants and E-LEAG members to meet each other, and to work alongside the evaluators and National Centre team as they begin an evaluation of the National Centre.
Establishing the E-LEAG will ensure that the evaluation centres the perspectives and voices of lived experience. Over the course of the evaluation, group members may be involved in:
New resources
Easy read resource: Creating safer spaces
As part of the Strengthening Primary Health Care Responses project, we commissioned the Council for Intellectual Disability to translate our Creating Safer Spaces resource into an easy read resource.
The resource, titled ‘Feeling Safer at Health Services’, has been developed to support health care workers, practitioners and families to start a conversation about safety when accessing primary health care services. Its goal is to support overall wellbeing and create an environment that encourages and supports disclosure.
Upcoming events
Our collaborative training sessions with Knowmore Legal Service have returned!
Are you a practitioner working with children and young people? Join us on 10 September 2025, to gain critical knowledge needed to navigate the legal and legislative requirements and environment when working with and supporting victims and survivors of child sexual abuse.
This session is ideal for practitioners from diverse organisations and settings who work with children and young people.
Opportunities
We’re hiring: Sector Development Lead
We are looking for a passionate, skilled professional to join our team and help us create change for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse.
The Sector Development Lead builds the capability, knowledge and confidence of practitioners, organisations, sectors and communities to respond compassionately to child sexual abuse and its impacts across the lifespan.
Subscribe here to keep up with communications from the National Centre.