SASVic acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional and ongoing Custodians of the lands on which we live and work. We pay our respects to Elders past and present. We acknowledge that sovereignty has never been ceded and recognise First Nations peoples' right to self-determination and continuing connection to land, waters, community and culture.
SASVic also acknowledges victim survivors of sexual violence who we work for every day. We acknowledge the pervasive nature of sexual violence, and the impact that it has on survivors and their communities. We celebrate the powerful advocacy of survivors that is changing systems and policy.
SASVic Member Update
Hi everyone,
Did you see last week's news about Liana Buchanan's report on the 12 year-old-girl who was initially charged with murder last year?
Liana is the Victorian Commissioner for Children and Young People, and in her annual report, tabled in parliament last week, said that the young woman had been 'exposed to some of the most profound service system failures I have seen'. Amongst those failures was the fact that, despite being in state care, the girl was being sexually exploited. This is not an isolated case. The Commissioner received formal reports of 180 children in out-of-home care being sexually exploited last year. Separately, SASVic has been told that there are up to 500 kids in care being sexually exploited. (See below for more detail about the report.)
What role do you think our sector can and should play for these kids? The SASVic board has identified child sexual exploitation as a priority for our sector, and we'd value your thoughts, through the survey below.
Liana will be speaking at SASVic's AGM this coming Wednesday, as will Federal Attorney General, the Hon. Mark Dreyfus KC. You can reserve your place through the link below.
Hope to see you at the AGM,
Kathleen
CEO
SASVic
In August this year, Project Respect released its report, "Improving service pathways: The COVID-19 pandemic and the experiences of women and gender diverse people in the Victorian sex industry."
The report found that 36.4% of respondents to a personal safety survey experienced sexual violence by clients in the sex industry/workplace, including sexual assault via non-payment of sexual services (27.3%), and 25% reported clients threatening to share intimate images of them and "out" their connection to the sex industry.
It also explores barriers to accessing help. In response to violence in the sex industry/workplace during the pandemic period, sexual assault services was one of the highest service areas in which women and gender diverse people wanted to access but were unable (15.9%). The key barriers to support services were identified as:
- Lack of knowledge of available services (61.2%)
- Lack of trust (42.8%)
- Past negative experiences (28.6%)
- Stigma and/or discrimination related to the sex industry (26.5%)
- Unable to meet criteria (24.5%)
We thought that some of you may be interested in reading this report given the horrible news this week about the murder of Yuqi Luo and Hyun Sook Jeon, two sex workers, in Melbourne in 2022 and the sentencing of the perpetrator.
DFFH is offering an online learning session tailored to the family and sexual violence sector to give an overview of the changes to the Client Incident Management System (CIMS).
Date: Tuesday, 19 November
Time: 10am - 11am
Location: Online, via Teams
Attendees are expected to have already completed the updated online e-learning module and be familiar with CIMS.
Our study tour recently returned from Europe, where they visited Sweden, which is home to a small city known to some as the most feminist city in the world: Umea.
As Viv Groskop writes in The Guardian, "from snow-clearing to bus stops, civic furniture to football teams, women and men are considered and treated equally in this small city in Scandinavia - with the aim of making life happier for everyone".
A Ministerial Statement of Expectations to the Social Services Regulator is now available to read on the SSR's website.
A Ministerial Statement of Expectation is a formal public statement made by the responsible minister(s) to each regulator providing clear guidance on the government’s strategic priorities as they relate to the regulator.
The Commission for Children and Young People's annual report was recently tabled in parliament, revealing some important numbers on child sexual exploitation.
The report said that:
- 190 sexual exploitation incidents in out-of-home care were reported this financial year, a decrease of 21% from the previous financial year but still alarmingly high.
- There were 190 reported incidents of "inappropriate sexual behaviour" in out-of-home care, a 23% increase from last financial year.
The report notes that the Commission is concerned the Client Incident Management System (CIMS) doesn't capture all serious incidents.
The report also reveals statistics from the Reportable Conduct Scheme, which requires organisations to notify the commission of alleged abuse by workers or volunteers. According to the report:
- the most common allegation reported from the education sector this financial year was sexual misconduct (498 notifications)
- the education sector has accounted for 70% of all sexual misconduct allegations across all sectors subject to the scheme since it began in 2021
- there is a higher proportion of sexual offence allegations in religious bodies than any other sector, with "sexual offence" being a different allegation from "sexual misconduct".
The commissioner, Liana Buchanan, will be a guest at our AGM next week and you'll have the opportunity to ask her questions. You can also inform SASVic's upcoming discussion paper on child sexual exploitation by completing and sharing our survey.
"We can't solve family violence until we include violence between siblings in the conversation," write Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Hayley Boxall and Silke Meyer in The Conversation.
303 people in a survey of 5,021 16-20 year olds about family violence said they'd experienced sibling violence. Almost all of the 303 young people had experienced multiple forms of sibling violence, with the most common form being verbal abuse (72%), and the least common form being sexual abuse (13%).
The researchers also found that, like other forms of family violence, sibling violence is gendered. It also often co-occurs with violence or maltreatment from other family members.
Join Deb Dana and her team of Polyvagal-informed senior trainers and consultants in this unique and comprehensive 6-month online training series designed specifically for those in the helping professions.
Gain a deeper understanding of Polyvagal Theory, explore and befriend your own nervous system profile and autonomic patterns, and learn to effectively and confidently integrate a Polyvagal-guided perspective and Deb's renowned methodology and practices into your professional work with clients.
Scholarships are available; please see the form for the further information
Last week, two SASVic staff attended the Non-fatal Domestic Violence Strangulation - Learnings for Practice Symposium. Dr Monica Campo, our senior officer in research and knowledge translation, presented on non-fatal strangulation (NFS), pornography and sexual violence, and Jacqueline Bell, our legal policy manager, presented on a panel with Safe and Equal and No to Violence, where she spoke about the need to extend the new NFS legislation to situations outside of a family violence context.
Our staff heard from researchers, practitioners, police and victim survivor advocates across two days, with a focus on NFS as an extreme tactic of coercive control and the implications for practice, risk assessment, and response, including responding to men who use NFS.
There were some really outstanding presentations, including from Jackie McMillian from Women’s Health NSW and Rosie O’Malley from Domestic Violence Prevention Centre Gold Coast.
There were also some important points made throughout the days about the need to think about the potential for criminalisation of marginalised communities through NFS legislation, including through misidentification of the primary aggressor.
Our staff who attended recommend looking at Women's Health NSW's public health campaign on NFS, 'it left no marks'.
Applications for Lead + Adapt in 2025 are opening soon!
Lead + Adapt is a professional development program for executive and senior leaders in Victoria working to end or respond to family, gender-based and sexual violence. Connect with each other and with your purpose as a leader as you explore the power of adaptive leadership.
Researchers from the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health, and Society (ARCSHS) at La Trobe University are conducting a study funded by (ANROWS) to build an evidence base on the use of sexual violence against LGBTQ+ people in Australia.
They're inviting support service providers to share their experiences and insights in interviews as part of this research and are hoping to speak with those who have worked with LGBTQ+ victim survivors of sexual violence and/or individuals who have used sexual violence against LGBTQ+ people.
Further details are available in the explainer linked below.
If you have any questions, or are keen to participate in an interview please reach out to Dr Sophie Hindes, s.hindes@latrobe.edu.au
Almost 80% of Australian teachers in a new survey by Collective Shout reported a rise in harmful sexual behaviour in their schools.
The survey of more than 1000 teachers found 46.9% had experienced sexual harassment in a school environment, 66.6% had seen a student being sexually harassed by another student and 57.4% had received at least one disclosure from a student about being sexually harassed.
Of those who had experienced sexual harassment, 80% were sexually harassed by a student and 58.8% said they felt unsafe in the classroom afterwards.
Most of the harmful sexual behaviour is coming from boys in year 9 and 10, who frame it as "just a joke" or "just banter". The most common form of sexual harassment of teachers is sexual moaning in the classroom.
Many teachers also said parents and school leaders didn't take the issue seriously.
Collective Shout is calling for "radical intervention and a strong, clear, national and uniform response". The report made six recommendations, including that schools should have policies in place for when students sexually harass teachers and other students. You can read the rest of the recommendations in the full report, linked below.
A quarter of workplace leaders still don't know that workplace sexual harassment is illegal, according to new research from Our Watch. And 40% of workplace leaders and 60% of employees don't know that employers have a positive duty to prevent workplace sexual harassment.
The research also found men had more confidence in how their workplaces would handle a sexual harassment incident.
While over 70% of male leaders said they had "high confidence" a colleague would feel safe to report sexual harassment, this figure was only 50% for female leaders. And while almost 80% of male leaders had "high confidence" appropriate action would be taken, this was only 69% for women leaders. Confidence was even lower among employees.
The University of Sydney Women's Collective is calling on the university to abolish residential colleges after two students tore up and mocked an End Rape on Campus report during an SRC meeting last week.
The 2018 report, The Red Zone Report: an investigation into sexual violence and hazing in Australian university colleges, was handed out at the meeting by the Womens Collective, who were giving a speech about a recent hazing incident that involved sexual humiliation and resulted in 27 students getting suspended or expelled.
During the speech, two representatives from the USYD Conservative Club began ripping up the document while other students from the Young Liberals and residential colleges cheered them on. One allegedly shouted "no one cares".
The Red Zone Report contains stories of named victim survivors of sexual assault and hazing.
The SRC president has condemned their actions as "nothing short of deplorable".
In an Instagram Post, the USYD Women's Collective extended solidarity to all victim survivors and called on governments and institutions to act.
You can read more in Women's Agenda, linked below.
New research by the National Centre has revealed some troublesome and alarming truths about Australians' attitudes towards child sexual abuse. The study was based on a survey of more than 4000 adults and found:
- While 62% agreed they probably knew someone who was sexually abused as a child, only 9% had received a disclosure of abuse from a child, and only 35% had received a disclosure from an adult who had been abused as a child.
- While 89% agreed there were more victim survivors in the community than people realised, 56% thought child sexual abuse didn't happen where they lived.
- 40% agreed that "older children have a responsibility to actively resist adults' sexual advances"
There are many more findings to explore in the full report and executive summary, which are linked below.
Survivors of sexual violence, family violence and stalking will be protected from cross examinations during committal hearings under a Bill introduced to Victorian Parliament last week. The new laws will ensure survivors of "particularly traumatic cases" only have to give evidence at trial. The laws will also:
- strengthen the test for cross-examination for all victims and witnesses
- allow children and people with cognitive impairments to prerecord evidence in family violence cases.
We welcome the new laws but are calling for all survivors to be able to pre-record their evidence in sexul assault cases.
On 19 November, SASVic, in collaboration with Fair Agenda will launch our new report, 'Improving the court experience: A model for pre-recorded testimony in sexual assault cases'. The new report offers a comprehensive model for states and territories across Australia to expand access to pre-recorded testimony, allowing victim survivors to give their statements months - or even years - before a trial, in a setting that supports their safety and wellbeing. Research shows that pre-recorded testimony can reduce anticipatory anxiety, eliminate the stress of the courtroom environment and help improve the quality of evidence presented.
Zoe Belle Gender Collective is inviting practitioners who have existing experience or knowledge in working with trans and gender diverse people to learn and contribute practice wisdom.
Date: Friday, 22 November
Time: 9:30am - 12:30pm
Location: Thorne Harbour Health training rooms, 200 Hoddle St Abbotsford
Contents
Featured
New legislation to ban cross examination in committal hearings and the launch of our new report on pre-recorded evidence
Survivors of sexual violence, family violence and stalking will be protected from cross examinations during committal hearings under a Bill introduced to Victorian Parliament last week. The new laws will ensure survivors of "particularly traumatic cases" only have to give evidence at trial. The laws will also:
- strengthen the test for cross-examination for all victims and witnesses
- allow children and people with cognitive impairments to prerecord evidence in family violence cases.
We welcome the new laws but are calling for all survivors to be able to pre-record their evidence in sexul assault cases.
On 19 November, SASVic, in collaboration with Fair Agenda will launch our new report, 'Improving the court experience: A model for pre-recorded testimony in sexual assault cases'. The new report offers a comprehensive model for states and territories across Australia to expand access to pre-recorded testimony, allowing victim survivors to give their statements months - or even years - before a trial, in a setting that supports their safety and wellbeing. Research shows that pre-recorded testimony can reduce anticipatory anxiety, eliminate the stress of the courtroom environment and help improve the quality of evidence presented.
More than half of Australians believe child sexual abuse doesn't happen where they live
New research by the National Centre has revealed some troublesome and alarming truths about Australians' attitudes towards child sexual abuse. The study was based on a survey of more than 4000 adults and found:
- While 62% agreed they probably knew someone who was sexually abused as a child, only 9% had received a disclosure of abuse from a child, and only 35% had received a disclosure from an adult who had been abused as a child.
- While 89% agreed there were more victim survivors in the community than people realised, 56% thought child sexual abuse didn't happen where they lived.
- 40% agreed that "older children have a responsibility to actively resist adults' sexual advances"
There are many more findings to explore in the full report and executive summary, which are linked below.
Ministerial Statement of Expectations available
A Ministerial Statement of Expectations to the Social Services Regulator is now available to read on the SSR's website.
A Ministerial Statement of Expectation is a formal public statement made by the responsible minister(s) to each regulator providing clear guidance on the government’s strategic priorities as they relate to the regulator.
Service Design & Improvement
Please send any questions you have about our work in this area to maria.papadontas@sasvic.org.au
Advocacy & evidence
Please send any questions you have about our work in this area to amy.webster@sasvic.org.au
Commission for Children and Young People's annual report reveals troubling statistics
The Commission for Children and Young People's annual report was recently tabled in parliament, revealing some important numbers on child sexual exploitation.
The report said that:
- 190 sexual exploitation incidents in out-of-home care were reported this financial year, a decrease of 21% from the previous financial year but still alarmingly high.
- There were 190 reported incidents of "inappropriate sexual behaviour" in out-of-home care, a 23% increase from last financial year.
The report notes that the Commission is concerned the Client Incident Management System (CIMS) doesn't capture all serious incidents.
The report also reveals statistics from the Reportable Conduct Scheme, which requires organisations to notify the commission of alleged abuse by workers or volunteers. According to the report:
- the most common allegation reported from the education sector this financial year was sexual misconduct (498 notifications)
- the education sector has accounted for 70% of all sexual misconduct allegations across all sectors subject to the scheme since it began in 2021
- there is a higher proportion of sexual offence allegations in religious bodies than any other sector, with "sexual offence" being a different allegation from "sexual misconduct".
The commissioner, Liana Buchanan, will be a guest at our AGM next week and you'll have the opportunity to ask her questions. You can also inform SASVic's upcoming discussion paper on child sexual exploitation by completing and sharing our survey.
Project Respect report on experiences of women and gender diverse people in the Victorian sex industry
In August this year, Project Respect released its report, "Improving service pathways: The COVID-19 pandemic and the experiences of women and gender diverse people in the Victorian sex industry."
The report found that 36.4% of respondents to a personal safety survey experienced sexual violence by clients in the sex industry/workplace, including sexual assault via non-payment of sexual services (27.3%), and 25% reported clients threatening to share intimate images of them and "out" their connection to the sex industry.
It also explores barriers to accessing help. In response to violence in the sex industry/workplace during the pandemic period, sexual assault services was one of the highest service areas in which women and gender diverse people wanted to access but were unable (15.9%). The key barriers to support services were identified as:
- Lack of knowledge of available services (61.2%)
- Lack of trust (42.8%)
- Past negative experiences (28.6%)
- Stigma and/or discrimination related to the sex industry (26.5%)
- Unable to meet criteria (24.5%)
We thought that some of you may be interested in reading this report given the horrible news this week about the murder of Yuqi Luo and Hyun Sook Jeon, two sex workers, in Melbourne in 2022 and the sentencing of the perpetrator.
Our Watch research: quarter of workplace leaders don't know sexual harassment is illegal
A quarter of workplace leaders still don't know that workplace sexual harassment is illegal, according to new research from Our Watch. And 40% of workplace leaders and 60% of employees don't know that employers have a positive duty to prevent workplace sexual harassment.
The research also found men had more confidence in how their workplaces would handle a sexual harassment incident.
While over 70% of male leaders said they had "high confidence" a colleague would feel safe to report sexual harassment, this figure was only 50% for female leaders. And while almost 80% of male leaders had "high confidence" appropriate action would be taken, this was only 69% for women leaders. Confidence was even lower among employees.
More research highlights growing problem of teachers being sexually harassed by students
Almost 80% of Australian teachers in a new survey by Collective Shout reported a rise in harmful sexual behaviour in their schools.
The survey of more than 1000 teachers found 46.9% had experienced sexual harassment in a school environment, 66.6% had seen a student being sexually harassed by another student and 57.4% had received at least one disclosure from a student about being sexually harassed.
Of those who had experienced sexual harassment, 80% were sexually harassed by a student and 58.8% said they felt unsafe in the classroom afterwards.
Most of the harmful sexual behaviour is coming from boys in year 9 and 10, who frame it as "just a joke" or "just banter". The most common form of sexual harassment of teachers is sexual moaning in the classroom.
Many teachers also said parents and school leaders didn't take the issue seriously.
Collective Shout is calling for "radical intervention and a strong, clear, national and uniform response". The report made six recommendations, including that schools should have policies in place for when students sexually harass teachers and other students. You can read the rest of the recommendations in the full report, linked below.
Opportunity to participate in research on sexual violence against LGBTQ+ people
Researchers from the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health, and Society (ARCSHS) at La Trobe University are conducting a study funded by (ANROWS) to build an evidence base on the use of sexual violence against LGBTQ+ people in Australia.
They're inviting support service providers to share their experiences and insights in interviews as part of this research and are hoping to speak with those who have worked with LGBTQ+ victim survivors of sexual violence and/or individuals who have used sexual violence against LGBTQ+ people.
Further details are available in the explainer linked below.
If you have any questions, or are keen to participate in an interview please reach out to Dr Sophie Hindes, s.hindes@latrobe.edu.au
Article: we need to talk about sibling violence
"We can't solve family violence until we include violence between siblings in the conversation," write Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Hayley Boxall and Silke Meyer in The Conversation.
303 people in a survey of 5,021 16-20 year olds about family violence said they'd experienced sibling violence. Almost all of the 303 young people had experienced multiple forms of sibling violence, with the most common form being verbal abuse (72%), and the least common form being sexual abuse (13%).
The researchers also found that, like other forms of family violence, sibling violence is gendered. It also often co-occurs with violence or maltreatment from other family members.
Prevention
Please send any questions you have about our work in this area to jaeme.opie@sasvic.org.au
Legal policy
Please send an questions you have about our work in this area to jacqui.bell@sasvic.org.au
SASVic attends non-fatal strangulation symposium
Last week, two SASVic staff attended the Non-fatal Domestic Violence Strangulation - Learnings for Practice Symposium. Dr Monica Campo, our senior officer in research and knowledge translation, presented on non-fatal strangulation (NFS), pornography and sexual violence, and Jacqueline Bell, our legal policy manager, presented on a panel with Safe and Equal and No to Violence, where she spoke about the need to extend the new NFS legislation to situations outside of a family violence context.
Our staff heard from researchers, practitioners, police and victim survivor advocates across two days, with a focus on NFS as an extreme tactic of coercive control and the implications for practice, risk assessment, and response, including responding to men who use NFS.
There were some really outstanding presentations, including from Jackie McMillian from Women’s Health NSW and Rosie O’Malley from Domestic Violence Prevention Centre Gold Coast.
There were also some important points made throughout the days about the need to think about the potential for criminalisation of marginalised communities through NFS legislation, including through misidentification of the primary aggressor.
Our staff who attended recommend looking at Women's Health NSW's public health campaign on NFS, 'it left no marks'.
Other news
Article: the world's most feminist city
Our study tour recently returned from Europe, where they visited Sweden, which is home to a small city known to some as the most feminist city in the world: Umea.
As Viv Groskop writes in The Guardian, "from snow-clearing to bus stops, civic furniture to football teams, women and men are considered and treated equally in this small city in Scandinavia - with the aim of making life happier for everyone".
Sydney Uni student representatives tear up End Rape on Campus report
The University of Sydney Women's Collective is calling on the university to abolish residential colleges after two students tore up and mocked an End Rape on Campus report during an SRC meeting last week.
The 2018 report, The Red Zone Report: an investigation into sexual violence and hazing in Australian university colleges, was handed out at the meeting by the Womens Collective, who were giving a speech about a recent hazing incident that involved sexual humiliation and resulted in 27 students getting suspended or expelled.
During the speech, two representatives from the USYD Conservative Club began ripping up the document while other students from the Young Liberals and residential colleges cheered them on. One allegedly shouted "no one cares".
The Red Zone Report contains stories of named victim survivors of sexual assault and hazing.
The SRC president has condemned their actions as "nothing short of deplorable".
In an Instagram Post, the USYD Women's Collective extended solidarity to all victim survivors and called on governments and institutions to act.
You can read more in Women's Agenda, linked below.
Follow SASVic for more updates.
Workforce training
Keep up to date with training and event opportunities for the sector by visiting the Workforce Training & Events page.
Bookings open now
If you are interested in registering for a training course, please speak with your manager. If you have any questions, please contact training@sasvic.org.au.
Working with Victim Survivors from a Migrant or Refugee Background
Join us on Tuesday 19 November from 10am to 1pm to improve your knowledge and skills for working with victim survivors from a refugee or migrant background. Hear speakers from InTouch, Multicultural Centre for Women's Health and WestCASA. Open to SASVic member services only. Free.
Introduction to the new Transfemme Practice Guide with Zoe Belle Gender Collective
Join SASVic, Starlady of Zoe Belle Gender Collective and CASA House on Tuesday 3 December, 9.45am to 11.15am, to learn more about 'Responding to the objectification, fetishisation and sexual exploitation of trans women and trans feminine people by cisgender men: A Transfemme Practice Guide'. Open to SASVic member services only. Free.
Webinars and events
Please check with your manager before registering, where appropriate.
Walk Against Family Violence
In Victoria, this event marks the beginning of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence – a global campaign for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls.
Date: Friday 22 November
Time: 11am
Location: Birrarung Marr
Transfemme workshop
Zoe Belle Gender Collective is inviting practitioners who have existing experience or knowledge in working with trans and gender diverse people to learn and contribute practice wisdom.
Date: Friday, 22 November
Time: 9:30am - 12:30pm
Location: Thorne Harbour Health training rooms, 200 Hoddle St Abbotsford
Launch of new ANROWS report
ANROWS will be hosting a free online event to release a new research report, led by Professor Kerry Robinson, on sexual harassment of LGBTQ young people in the workplace.
Date: Tuesday 3 December
Time: (AEDT): 11.00am – 12.30pm
Location: Online via YouTube livestream
Margins to Mainstream launch
Join the online launch of Margins to Mainstream: Preventing violence against women with disabilities (M2M) and the Women's Health Service Network's (WHSN) bid for investment in the2025-26 Victorian state budget.
Date: Monday, 25 November
Time: 11:00 AM -12:00 PM
Location: Online
National Redress Scheme workshop
The National Redress Scheme supports survivors of institutional child sexual abuse. In this half-day workshop, eight Victorian redress support services are collaborating to provide you with detailed information about how to assist clients on their journey.
Date: Thursday, 5 December
Time: 1pm - 4:30pm
Location: Holiday Inn Dandenong
Changing the landscape webinar
Our Watch and Women with Disabilities Victoria will highlight new practice resources from Changing the landscape: A national resource to prevent violence against women and girls with disabilities in this webinar for prevention practitioners. The webinar will have an Auslan interpreter and captioning.
Date: Wednesday 11 December
Time: 1:00 - 2:30pm
Conferences
Sector calendar
Below are some of the meetings happening across the sector. Please contact the meeting chair to find out more, including how you can join networks or comittees related to your area of work and interests.
WD Standing Committee
The Workforce Development Standing Committee provides advice to SASVic and supports the ongoing implementation and development of education and training projects, including but not limited to the workforce development program.
Kayti Murphy
catherine.murphy@sasvic.org.au
Resources and links
SASVic and member details
SASVic organisational structure with staff names and positions
Specialist Sexual Assault Sector Map
Here is a map that helps people find their local specialist sexual assault service.
National Association of Services Against Sexual Violence
SASVic is a member of the National Association of Services Against Sexual Assault (NASASV).
Acronyms
Here is a list of acronyms. Please let us know if you've discovered any more we should add.