Speaking out against the spread of misinformation

  • Community Awareness

A recent media article headlined that Aboriginal children are eight times more likely to experience child sexual abuse, based on Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) data. The National Centre strongly rejects this claim and yesterday made a formal complaint to both the publication and the Australian Press Council. We also called for the the article to be immediately retracted. We are pleased to report that this request has been actioned.

The publicly available raw data actually shows that child sexual abuse was the least common type of primary harm to be substantiated for Indigenous children. Moreover, Indigenous children were less likelyto be the subject of substantiated child sexual abuse cases than non-Indigenous children (6.8% v 9%).

AAP FACTCHECK have also recently rejected similar claims made by Coalition Senator, Simon Birmingham.

The Australian Child Maltreatment Study this year reported that child sexual abuse across the Australian population is prevalent, with 1 in 3 girls and almost 1 in 5 boys experiencing some type of sexual abuse. It is an issue that is widespread and its impacts are often enduring and intolerable.

The National Centre is committed to ensuring a future where children are safe and victims and survivors are supported to heal and recover, free of stigma and shame. This includes speaking out against the spread of misinformation.

 

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The National Centre for Action on Child Sexual Abuse (National Centre) respectfully acknowledges and celebrates the many Traditional Owners of the lands throughout Australia and pay our respects to ancestors of this country and Elders past and present. We recognise that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, culture and lore have existed within Australia continuously for over 65,000 years.

We acknowledge the ongoing leadership of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across Australia and those who have and continue to work tirelessly to address inequalities and improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander justice outcomes for children and young people. The National Centre is committed to ensuring that the voices of those whose lives are affected by the decisions governments make should fundamentally inform those decisions. First Nations voices must be heard, raised and amplified through a Voice to Parliament. It is time for genuine and significant reform to progress healing through the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

We seek to honour the lived and living expertise of all victims and survivors of child sexual abuse, harnessing all ages, cultures, abilities and backgrounds, and commit to substantially addressing the harm of child sexual abuse, now and well into the future. We recognise that there are children and young people today who are experiencing sexual abuse and dedicate ourselves to doing all we can to promote their effective protection and care.

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