The Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

Abstract

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is the largest royal commission in Australia's history and one of the largest public inquiries into institutional child abuse internationally. With an investment from the Australian government of half a billion dollars, it examined how institutions with a responsibility for children, both historically and in the present, have responded to allegations of child sexual abuse. Announced in the wake of previous Australian and international inquiries, public scandals and lobbying by survivor groups, its establishment reflected increasing recognition of the often lifelong and intergenerational damage caused by childhood sexual abuse and a strong political commitment to improving child safety and wellbeing in Australia. This article outlines the background, key features and innovations of this landmark public inquiry, focusing in particular on its extensive research program. It considers its international significance and also serves as an introduction to this special edition on the Australian Royal Commission, exploring its implications for better understanding institutional child sexual abuse and its impacts, and for making institutions safer places for children in the future.

Child Sexual Abuse Perpetrated by Women: Case Series and Review of the Literature

“…In a study published in 1995, among 121 men receiving psychological therapy services for sexual abuse, 60% identified a woman as offender . Recently, the Australian Royal Commission reported that 10% of child sexual abuses (CSAs) are perpetrated by females . In the 2016 meta‐analysis by Cortoni et al., victims of CSA reported to be victimized by a woman in 11.6% of cases, in contrast to a small percentage of cases attributable to FSOs (2.2%) when the source was represented by the official Police reports .…”

The long and winding road to assisted dying in Australia

“…The long‐running Royal Commission on institutional responses to child abuse handed down its final report on 15 December 2017 (Wright et al. ). The hearings of the Royal Commission, and case studies published by the Commission over its course, had shown the Roman Catholic Church to be an epicentre for abuse of children, and perhaps these revelations contributed to a weakening of the moral authority of the Roman Catholic Church and, to some extent, the other churches as well.…”

Modern Schooling and the Curriculum of the Body

“…Although the chapter details various kinds of power, it touches only briefly on the violence of physical bodily contact. Recent public inquiries in Australia and other places have forcefully drawn attention to sexual violence in schools perpetrated by those in authority (Wright et al 2018). Additionally, understandings of the curriculum of the body will continue to shift and require adaptation in relationship with a range of nonhuman actors and circumstances including planetary climate change as well as developments in artificial intelligence that in a different way pose existential questions about the conduct, meaning, and mutability of bodies.…”