Child Sexual Abuse in Early Childhood Education and Care Settings
Sexual abuse of children in early childhood education and care settings is a crime that profoundly breaches community trust. These are places where we expect children are safe, nurtured and supported.
Whether your child has been directly harmed or not, it is normal to have strong emotional and physical reactions, including feelings of self-blame, guilt, anger, isolation or anxiety.
Below, you will find information about how to support your child and yourself during this difficult time.
For information about a current ongoing investigation of alleged incidents in Victorian childcare centres, the Victorian government has set up a website with further health information for impacted families and this is accessible at: https://www.vic.gov.au/childcare-centres-investigation#childcare-centres-where-alleged-offender-worked
Victoria Police are urging anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers on www.crimestoppersvic.com.au or via 1800 333 000.
If anyone is unsafe or in immediate danger, please call Triple Zero (000)
Information & support services
The Department of Health and Victoria Police have contacted families whose children attended the childcare centres at the same time that the alleged offender was employed.
If you believe that your child was at one of the listed child care centres at those times, please contact the dedicated advice line on 1800 791 241 (open 7 days a week, 8 – 9pm weekdays and 8am – 5pm weekends).
If you are concerned about your child in any way, or feel that you need support yourself, always seek professional advice. A good place to start is your family GP and your existing networks.
Sexual assault support services are available across Victoria for adults, children and young people who have experienced both past and recent sexual assault.
Sexual Assault Crisis Line (SACL) on 1800 806 292 for support with an immediate crisis. SACL is a state-wide (Victoria), after-hours, confidential telephone service for people who have experienced both past and recent sexual assault. SACL operates between 5pm - 9am on weeknights and throughout weekends and public holidays.
Specialist Sexual Assault Services. There are specialist sexual assault services in every part of Victoria that provide free and confidential support to children, young people, and their families, who have been impacted by child sexual abuse. They also provide support to adults who have experienced historic child sexual abuse. You can find your local specialist sexual assault service on our interactive map or by visiting our list of services.
In these videos, you will hear from Caroline Whitehouse, a manager and family therapist from a specialist sexual assault service in Melbourne.
It’s important to remember it is not your fault.
You may also be seriously impacted. The person who has sexually abused children is responsible for the harm caused.
Perpetrators of sexual abuse are often highly skilled at manipulating children, as well as the child's family, friends and other adults, to believe that they are respectable, trustworthy and genuinely invested in their wellbeing.
Frequently asked questions
How can I help my child if I don’t know if they have been harmed?
You may be struggling with the uncertainty of whether your child has been harmed.
Every child responds differently to experiences of child sexual abuse. As a parent, caregiver or important adult in a child's life, you're best placed to know whether your child has any concerning behaviour or emotional responses.
To support your child at this difficult time, there’s a lot you can do.
Simply maintaining normal routines is important for your child to know they are safe.
Letting your child know that they can always tell you about things they are worried about or not sure about can help. You can do this by allowing them to express all of their emotions, listening to them and reassuring them that you love them.
It is also important to take time for yourself so you can create a positive, supportive environment. You have also been impacted. It is very normal to have strong emotional and physical reactions, including feeling anger, self-blame, anxiety or isolation. Looking after yourself can include formal counselling, but it could also mean spending time in nature, with trusted people like family and friends or doing breathing exercises.
Should I speak to my child about what is happening?
It can be challenging to know how or whether to talk to your child about whether they have been abused or harmed. There can be an added layer of complexity for children who are pre-verbal or if you are unsure if they have experienced sexual abuse, or are aware or have memories of the abuse.
You don't have the navigate these decisions and conversations alone. Specialist sexual assault services can support you to create a trauma-informed, emotionally and physically safe approach that is responsive and enables children of all stages of development to express their needs and ask for support.
You might also be wondering whether to speak to older siblings or family members about what’s happening.
If my child has been harmed, will this impact their future?
It is normal to feel distressed and angry to know your child may have been at risk, especially in a place you had trusted to take care of your child. You are likely familiar with stories about the impact that can be caused by child sexual assault.
However, child sexual abuse experts tell us that lasting impact is usually caused when children don’t get the help they need after sexual harm. Where parents and authorities respond well, children can and do recover, heal and thrive.
We know by being loving, supporting and believing, you can help your child and prevent the impacts of trauma.
How do I respond if my child discloses sexual abuse to me?
When children disclose, it will generally be to a trusted person when they feel safe and if they think that person will be able to tolerate hearing the information they need to share. While every disclosure will be different, and there is no one way to respond, these are some key steps you can take to provide a supportive and caring response.
Listen carefully without interruption or judgment.
Be yourself, while mindful of your own emotional reactions; where possible use a tone of voice and facial expressions that convey a sense of calm and safety.
Tell them you believe them and they are not responsible or to blame.
Tell them that they have done the right thing by telling you.
Explain that they deserve to be safe and that you will do everything you can to keep them safe; avoid making any promises that you cannot keep.
Set the expectation that in order to keep them safe you will need to talk to other adults and professionals about what has happened and what to do next, but you will be there to support them throughout. Talk with the child about who you might have to tell (eg. police), and ask them who else they want to know about what has happened to them (eg. another parent or other trusted adult). Offer to help them tell the adults who need to be told.
Try not to ask too many questions. Avoid asking direct or leading questions; use open-ended questions, for example ‘tell me more about that’.
Explore what would help them to feel safe and supported. Ask them directly what you can do to help them feel safer.
Let them know that you are always available to continue talking about the topic and they can ask questions about what will happen next.
Further resources
Information about child sexual abuse and grooming
What is child sexual abuse?
Child sexual abuse is any sexual act or sexual threat imposed on a child or young person, aged under 18 years. It is an abuse of the authority and/or power held by the person causing harm and is never the fault of the child or young person. The Australian Child Maltreatment Study estimates that 3 in 10 (28.5%) Australians have experienced child sexual abuse.
In Victoria, a person under the age of 16 years cannot legally consent to any form of sexual activity with an adult. All forms of child sexual abuse are illegal and can have significant short-term and long-term impacts on children, families and communities.
Child sexual abuse is a broad term that includes a wide range of behaviours and situations:
Contact sexual acts such as touching or fondling the genital area.
Non-contact sexual acts such as exposing a child to pornography.
Can range from one-time occurrences to multiple experiences.
Can occur with or without the use of physical force or violence.
Can involve the use of technology – for example, creating child sexual abuse images or videos and sharing this content online.
What is grooming?
Grooming is the subtle, gradual, and often escalating process through which an offender builds a connection of trust and comfort with a child - and often the child's parents, caregivers, friends or community, with the intention of committing child sexual abuse.
Perpetrators of child sexual abuse are highly skilled at manipulation. They work not only to win the trust of the child but also to convince adults around them that they are respectable, trustworthy, and genuinely invested in the child's wellbeing. Grooming can involve a range of behaviours, with the overarching goal to gain access to the child and avoid detection or discovery.
Often, the perpetrator will work hard to build a relationship with the adults around the child or young person that makes it seem that they are committed to a child or young person's wellbeing.
When an offender is employed by an organisation that works with children and young people, such as an early learning, childcare centre or school, parents, caregivers and other staff members will often be subject to grooming. In these cases, grooming may involve building trust and likeability and befriending colleagues in order to gain unsupervised access to children and avoid raising suspicions.
The grooming process:
The grooming process often begins with behaviours that do not appear inappropriate or concerning. Perpetrators of child sexual abuse will go to great lengths to create the impression that they are likeable, caring, safe and trustworthy around children.
Perpetrators may groom children and young people, and the adults around them for weeks, months or years before any sexual abuse takes place. Often these behaviours are very hard to identify and may only be recognised after the abuse has occurred.