If you or a child is in immediate danger, call Triple Zero (000).

If you want to talk to someone about child sexual abuse or need support, help is available:

Lifeline – 13 11 14 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week)

13YARN – 13 92 76 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week) – a culturally safe crisis support line for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

1800RESPECT – 1800 737 732 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week) – for people impacted by sexual assault, domestic and family violence and abuse

Blue Knot Helpline and Redress Support Service – 1300 657 380 (9am-5pm, 7 days a week) – for adults impacted by childhood trauma including child sexual abuse

Kids Helpline – 1800 55 1800 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week)

If you need to report child abuse, search for ‘child abuse’ in your state or territory.

Child Sexual Abuse is a crime. It is common and it can cause a lot of harm. Without the right responses, its impacts can continue across the lifespan. In its final report, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse recommended the Australian Government, along with state and territory governments invest in a national centre to raise awareness and understanding of the impacts of child sexual abuse, support help-seeking and guide best practice advocacy and support and therapeutic treatment. The National Centre is committed to substantially addressing the harm from child sexual abuse, now and well into the future.

The Centre not only recognises the vital importance of the knowledge and expertise of people with lived experience of child sexual abuse but will ensure that it will be at the heart of everything the Centre does. One of the first ways the Centre will be informed by survivors is through three Colleges: a Survivor-led Adult College, a First Nations College and a Children and Young People College. Each college will include broad membership and engage extensive networks to significantly influence the outcomes of the Centre. The Colleges will provide input and feedback on the Centre’s strategic directions and activities and share knowledge with and from their communities about what is needed as well as the Centre’s work and its impact.

College members will be appointed following a stakeholder-led process in early 2022.

The National Centre for Action on Child Sexual Abuse is truly a ‘national’ Centre. Its Board, staff and members of Colleges, Expert Advisory Panels and the Advisory Group will be appointed from all over Australia, and it will collaborate and engage with people and diverse communities from across the country. It will use online and digital platforms, as well as face-to-face opportunities to engage with all Australians.

To ensure a collaborative approach honouring the different types of knowledge of people with lived expertise, academics, service providers and policy makers the National Centre will establish the three Colleges and a Government, Sector and Academic Advisory Panel, the collective wisdom of which, will inform its Advisory Council which will in turn provide strategic input to the Board of the Centre. The Centre is committed to ensuring diverse and inclusive membership for the Colleges and Panels taking into account age, gender, culture, ability, language, survivor experience, geographical location and expertise. Each of these Colleges and Panels will be established in early 2022.

To receive updates about the recruitment and appointment of each of the Colleges and Advisory Panels, as well as keep abreast of any upcoming roles, connect with us using the link below.

What is the role of the Survivor-led Adult College?

The Survivor-led Adult College is one of the three foundational colleges of the National Centre.

It provides a forum for adult and older survivors of child sexual abuse to draw on their lived and living expertise, knowledge and views to inform the strategic directions, activities and functions of the National Centre.

It recognises the critical value of the lived and living experience to support enhanced outcomes for survivors from diverse backgrounds who have a range of needs.

How many members are on the Survivor-led Adult College?

Membership is comprised of twelve to fifteen persons including two National Centre Directors.

People are appointed to the College for a period of two years, and a member may be reappointed for a further two years, depending upon the strategic priorities of the College and the National Centre.

How were members of the Survivor-led Adult College appointed?

Appointments to the College were overseen by the Nominations Committee of the National Centre Board of Directors. Participants were contacted through networks of the Founding Members and other survivor and advocacy groups.

As part of the appointment process participants were invited to share their personal experience, interest in the work of the National Centre and hopes for what the Survivor-led Adult College could achieve.

The Survivor-led Adult College was formed with broad representation from across Australia with consideration of a diversity of personal experiences, geographical location, age, and gender, as well as cultural and other backgrounds.

The National Centre for Action on Child Sexual Abuse (National Centre) believes that anyone should be able to make a complaint regarding our services, knowing it will be fairly investigated, is free from bias and in accordance with the principles of natural justice and procedural fairness. To this end, we have a detailed complaints procedure.

Complaints can be received in person, via phone, email or in writing.

You can make a complaint in two ways:

An informal complaint. We will contact you within 2 working days and will endeavour to resolve these quickly, without the need for further action.

A formal complaint which may follow on from informal complaints. These will be acknowledged within 2 working days and we will aim to resolve within 14 working days. Where we’re not able to resolve the complaint within 14 working days, we will inform you of the progress of the investigation and any further steps.

If you feel your complaint has not been resolved following this, we have an appeals process.

Confidentiality

The National Centre recognises that complaints and subsequent actions can be complex experiences for all those involved. As such, complaints received by the National Centre will be treated as confidential. In some instances, it may be necessary to share complaints with the Department of Social Services. This is only done when appropriate and in consultation with the complainant. Complaints that are of a child protection nature which will be addressed in accordance with child protection laws and reporting obligations.

Contact details:

Email us: info@ncacsa.org.au
Telephone: 0417 919 722
In writing: PO Box 3335, Richmond, VIC, 3121

The National Centre recognises feedback as a valuable tool to measure the organisation’s performance, promote engagement and continuously improve. We welcome feedback from all stakeholders to maintain quality standards, improve performance, grow trust and confidence and promote stakeholder satisfaction. Your feedback will be treated as confidential but may be shared internally or with our partners if necessary.

Contact details:

Email us: info@ncacsa.org.au
Telephone: 0417 919 722
In writing: PO Box 3335, Richmond, VIC, 3121

We encourage and welcome you to contact us directly by email, telephone or written mail.

Email us: info@ncacsa.org.au
Telephone: 0417 919 722
In writing: PO Box 3335, Richmond, VIC, 3121