Following on from an initial positive response late last year, yesterday we had a very constructive conversation with the office of Hon Catherine King MP, the federal member for Ballarat. We talked about a meeting occurring after the final report of Board of Inquiry into historical child sexual abuse in Beaumaris Primary School and certain other government schools is published. As we are hopeful the recommendations will include what our petition is requesting, that the Victorian government pilot the full implementation of Recommendation 9.1 of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in the Ballarat and Bayside Melbourne regions of Victoria.

Although to-date no other Victorian state government or Federal government MP has responded to our communications, we will continue to reach out to them, including Ms Zoe Daniel MP, the federal member for Goldstein. Because the urgent action our petition seeks, is very well known to Victorian State and Federal governments.

The 2017 Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse Report, Recommendation 9.1: 
"The Australian Government and state and territory governments should fund dedicated community support services for victims and survivors in each jurisdiction, to provide an integrated model of advocacy and support and counselling to children and adults who experienced childhood sexual abuse in institutional contexts. Funding and related agreements should require and enable these services to:

a. be trauma-informed and have an understanding of institutional child sexual abuse
b. be collaborative, available, accessible, acceptable and high quality
c. use case management and brokerage to coordinate and meet service needs
d. support and supervise peer-led support models.”

Victorian Government submission to the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System July, 2019, "Pathways should be designed to make it easier for people to access and move between services. Lessons from the Royal Commission into Family Violence and other service reform initiatives indicate it is important that:

• intake into services is person-centred, with multiple entry points and a ‘no wrong door approach’.
• services are coordinated, with linkages between a range of different service elements of different intensities and types over a person’s recovery journey.
• consumers can access services in a timely and efficient way, with minimal double-up."

Mental Health, Productivity Commission Inquiry Report, 30 June 2020, "the National Mental Health Commission stated in its 2014 review that a successful mental health system would have a ‘no wrong door’ approach, and consumers would be referred onto the appropriate service for their needs, regardless of their initial point of entry into the mental health system. While parts of the system are working towards a ‘no wrong door’ approach, this remains far from the norm (box 15.3).

The ‘no wrong door’ approach means that when a person approaches a service or gateway, they are not turned away, even if it is not the right service for them. Instead, they are helped to access care from the right place. The no wrong door approach is often used in the context of integrated care to describe a situation where people ‘can access a tailored combination of supports wherever they first ask for assistance’."

The Federal Department of Social Services Stakeholder consultation in 2020 with victims and survivors of child sexual abuse and their advocates, practitioners, non-government organisations, academics and government officials identified the following key gaps in Victoria: 

• Systemic barriers to disclosure / lack of action on reporting
• Understanding of trauma and child sexual abuse in general services (e.g. health, law enforcement, welfare etc.)
• Silos between sectors and organisations
• Community and general sector (e.g. health, welfare, education, law enforcement) understanding of child sexual abuse
• Inconsistent practices / legislation across jurisdictions / need for a national collaborative approach
• Primary prevention and early intervention – needs adequate funding

Sexual Assault Services Victoria submission to the Victorian Law Reform Commission ‘Improving Justice Responses to Sexual Offences’ Inquiry February 4, 2021 Page 14. Pathways to justice – the role of support and services
What would make it easier for people who have been sexually harmed to get the supports and services they need, so they can decide whether to report the sexual harm?

"Sexual assault and family violence disclosures need to be met with a ‘no wrong door’ approach by any service – universal family and child welfare services, education.

This is what facilitates greater reporting. Improved competencies in recognising and responding to disclosures across sectors would lead to greater reporting if sexual assault wasn’t such a stigmatised issue."

Mental Health and Wellbeing Bill 2022, tabled in Victorian Parliament, June 2022, includes the establishment of Regional multiagency panels

"to support mental health and wellbeing service providers to deliver integrated treatment, care and support to people living with mental illness or psychological distress who require ongoing intensive treatment, care and support from multiple services."

Recently the National Centre for Action on Child Sexual Abuse (the National Centre) commissioned the Gendered Violence Research Network at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and Blue Knot Foundation to undertake a rapid evidence review. Last year:

"the review established the following best practice approaches for working with adult survivors of child sexual abuse experiencing complex trauma:

• A ‘no wrong door approach’. This was a key principle of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, first included in the 2014 interim report and reiterated in multiple publications and statements.
• Trauma-informed care. The principles of this approach were articulated by Fallot and Harris in 20094 and include safety, trustworthiness, choice, collaboration and empowerment, as well as attuning to diversity in all its forms. Working from a trauma-informed orientation means being aware of the prevalence of trauma and the sensitivities and vulnerabilities with which survivors live.
• A focus on self-determination and recovery. These principles are common to many trauma leaders. Notably Christine Courtois in her book “Treating Complex Traumatic Stress Disorders: An Evidence-Based Guide,” emphasises the importance of empowering survivors and supporting their self-determination in the recovery process. She advocates for a strengths-based approach that focuses on the individual’s resilience, coping strategies, and goals for the future.
• Prioritising safety, flexibility, continuing and predictable care. In its final report, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse recommended trauma-informed and survivor-centred approaches to service delivery, with a focus on providing safe, flexible and continuing care and support. It also highlighted the need for services to be predictable and reliable, so that survivors can have a sense of stability and consistency in their recovery journey.
• The need for practitioners working in generalist or specialist roles to support survivors with empathy, build trust and show an understanding of the lived and living experience of child sexual abuse and complex trauma has been repeatedly affirmed by survivors and trauma leaders.
• It is vital for practitioners to adopt best practice approaches and to have particular expertise in working with survivors of child sexual abuse and complex trauma. In its final report in 2017, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse recommended that specialist training be provided to professionals working with survivors of child sexual abuse, to ensure that they have the knowledge and skills necessary to provide effective and sensitive care.
• Offering multiple modalities. Many therapists who work with survivors of child sexual abuse experiencing complex trauma draw from a number of modalities and techniques informed by each survivor’s needs and preference and tailored to the individual’s unique needs and circumstances, and specifically within different population groups.
• For therapeutic work following a phased-based approach, which is believed by many to be a gold standard for practice. This approach was developed by Judith Herman and first articulated in her seminal work:
  Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence – From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror (1992) with a key focus on safety and stabilisation of a fundamental basis for all therapeutic work.

The report found that while there are promising approaches to supporting victims and survivors of child sexual abuse, there is still so much more that remains unclear. In particular, there needs to be more investment in research that is informed at its core by the unique experiences and insights of people with lived and living experience of child sexual abuse."

The cost of unresolved childhood trauma and abuse in adults in Australia, A Report for Blue Knot Foundation, 2015.

Not funding evidence-based services for child sexual abuse survivors is a false economy. "Pegasus Economics estimates that if the impacts of child abuse (sexual, emotional and physical) on an estimated 3.7 million adults are adequately addressed through active timely and comprehensive intervention, the combined budget position of all Governments could be improved by a minimum of $6.8 billion annually. In the population of adult survivors of childhood trauma more broadly i.e. a figure of 5 million adults, this estimate rises to $9.1 billion. On different, but still plausible assumptions, the annual budgetary cost of unresolved childhood trauma could be as high as $24 billion."

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The delay in implementation of a 'no wrong door' integration of health, social, welfare, employment, financial, justice and community systems, has undoubtedly cost lives of Victorian survivors through suicide and early deaths, that could have been saved. The delay has also extended levels of illness, disadvantage, disconnection and suffering for Victorian survivors, families, and communities, (social, emotional, mental, physical, financial, legal) that could have been reduced.

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The next Victorian Child Sexual Abuse Survivors and Supporters lunch is on Wednesday, 13th March, two weeks after the Victorian government will have received the recommendations from the Board of Inquiry into historical child sexual abuse in Beaumaris Primary School and certain other government schools. An important time for the community to come together.

The Sandringham Hotel is accessible via public transport, a short walk from the Sandringham Railway Station. There is also off street and undercover parking, plus it is wheel chair accessible. There is no minimum spend requirements either, nor is there a booking fee, and there is an express menu available from 11:30 AM - 3 PM midweek, that is a main and dessert for $19.

You can turn up on the day, but if it is possible please RSVP beforehand via the Facebook event, thank you. 
https://fb.me/e/4KeUCMTLl

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We are stronger together, thank you to our 16,348 supporters!!