1 in 4 Australians have experienced child sexual abuse. What’s truly unbelievable isn’t the statistic, but the silence.
Ahead of National Child Protection Week (6–12 September), Knowmore Legal Service is calling on communities across Australia to host one conversation about childhood sexual abuse, warning that silence and disbelief remain the biggest barriers standing between children and safety. The Australian Child Maltreatment Study shows that one in four Australians has experienced childhood sexual abuse. Yet research from the Australian Childhood Foundation has found one in three Australians say they would not believe a child who disclosed abuse to them, while one in five don’t feel confident, they would even recognise the signs.
For Knowmore, a free national legal service supporting people with lived experience of childhood sexual abuse, that gap between how common abuse is and how ready the community is to respond, is exactly what this year’s campaign, Host One Conversation, is designed to close.
“These numbers should stop us in our tracks,” said Jackie Mead, CEO of Knowmore. “Nearly a quarter of all Australians have lived through this. That’s a quarter of every workplace, yet when a child finally finds thecourage to speak up, the odds are their disclosure will be met with doubt rather than belief. That silence is where harm keeps hiding. It’s on all of us to change it, not just services like ours.”
Knowmore’s campaign centres on a new seven-part web series featuring in-depth conversations between victim-survivors Chris and Barb, covering lived experience, justice seeking, and the ongoing impacts of abuse. The series is designed to give community members, workplaces and families a starting point for their own conversations, backed by a short online quiz that lets people test their own understanding of child protection against others in real time.
“Hosting one conversation, whether that’s around the dinner table, sharing a survivor video with your team or a friend, is something every single person can do,” said Chris. “We’re not asking people to become experts overnight. We’re asking them to start believing children are telling the truth, and to know that it’s genuinely okay to talk about this.”
Knowmore is using Child Protection Week to renew calls for:
- Continued investment in trauma-informed legal support for people navigating redress and justice pathways, including the National Redress Scheme
- Sustained, long-term funding for services supporting people with lived experience of institutional and familial abuse, recognising that the impacts last well beyond childhood
- A cultural shift away from silence and disbelief and toward communities that are equipped, and willing, to respond
What Knowmore does
Knowmore is a free, independent, nationwide legal service supporting
people with lived experience of childhood sexual abuse, including survivors of institutional and familial abuse including those engaging with the National Redress Scheme. Knowmore’s Lived Expertise Advisory Panel ensures the voices of people with lived experience shape the organisation’s advocacy and service design.
Spokespeople available
Knowmore can offer interviews with:
- Jackie Mead, Knowmore CEO
- Sean Bowes, Manager of Advocacy & Law Reform on the advocacy and systemic reform angle
- Victim-survivors of institutional and familial childhood sexual abuse
- Web Series for Child Protection Week
To arrange an interview, please contact:
Barbara Charan | Communications Manager
Knowmore Legal Service
E: media@knowmore.org.au | M: 0432 681 037
Note to journalists: Content relating to childhood sexual abuse may be distressing. Support is available through 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) and Lifeline (13 11 14).
Knowmore is a community legal centre that provides free, independent legal advice and multidisciplinary support for survivors of child sexual abuse.