21 October 2015 | General Interest
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is seeking submissions on issues relating to advocacy and support and therapeutic treatment services.
With the release of its most recent paper, Issues Paper 10, the Royal Commission examines what institutions and governments should do to address, or alleviate the impact of, past and future child sexual abuse and related matters in institutional contexts, including, in particular, by ensuring justice for victims through the provision of redress by institutions, processes of referral for investigation and prosecution and support services.
Many victims and survivors of child sexual abuse seek support outside the informal support of family and friends. Advocacy and support and therapeutic treatment encompass a range of services victims and survivors need to address the impact of child sexual abuse and trauma as well as assist them to heal and lead a fulfilling and meaningful life.
“Through our case studies and private sessions we have heard about the lack of quality support services as well as a range of difficulties survivors face when seeking support and therapeutic treatment services,” said Philip Reed, Royal Commission CEO.
“Through the Royal Commission’s consultations on redress and civil litigation, it is clear that survivors have a range of needs beyond being able to access counselling and psychological care as part of a redress scheme. We noted in our final report on redress and civil litigation that a separate project would investigate the adequacy of advocacy and support services.”
The Royal Commission is now calling for responses from interested individuals and organisations – building of the expertise and experiences of these parties – to develop a greater understanding of the issues at hand and the options for improvement.
Requests for specific responses cover topics including:
- victim and survivor needs and unmet needs
- diverse victims and survivors
- geographic considerations
- service system issues
- evidence and promising practice
