Over the last year, School Governance has been keeping a close eye on the recommendations and findings of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (Royal Commission). Recently, the Royal Commission released two reports about the reliability of data held by reporting bodies and the Police in various Australian jurisdictions. The two Royal Commission research reports are entitled: Child sexual abuse in Australian institutional contexts 2008–13: Findings from administrative data (Administrative Data Report); and Child sexual abuse in institutional contexts: The reliability of Police data, nature of allegations reported to Police, and factors driving reporting rates (Reliability of Police Data Report).

The Reports discuss what has been reported and recorded by authorities when an allegation of child sexual abuse (CSA) has been made. These Reports provide valuable data on various elements of a sexual abuse incident, including genders of perpetrators, their age, when and where the alleged offence occurred and how long ago the sexual abuse occurred. Significant information includes:

• CSA reports are higher in NSW than other jurisdictions - likely to the entrenched reportable conduct scheme there;  and
• many perpetrators of CSA attend the same school as their victims (student to student offending).

Given that reportable conduct schemes are being rolled out across Australia, the fact that such schemes may facilitate the reporting of CSA is a positive outcome. The student-student offending propensity is a worrying insight, and one that many state and territory jurisdictions address in guidance on compliance with child safe standards or laws. This article will discuss the key findings from each Report.

The Reports

Both the Reliability of Police Data Report and the Administrative Data Report utilised a methodology to analyse the recorded data of institutional child sexual abuse (ICSA) and non-institutional child sexual abuse (NICSA). The respective authors conducted a literature review to find similar methodologies to carry out their research, consultation with the custodians of the data (such as the Police in various Australian Jurisdictions), and conducted a file review and data analysis.

Findings from Administrative Data Report

The Administrative Data Report produced by Leah Bromfield, Craig Hirte, Olivia Octoman and Ilan Katz, aimed to:

• identify the data holdings that currently exist on recent (within the past five years) incidents of CSA in institutional contexts in Australia;
• determine the accessibility of any such data for research purposes; and
• identify what, if anything, the data reveals about the extent of CSA in institutional contexts in Australia.

From their findings, the Administrative Data Report was able to determine the:

• characteristics of alleged perpetrators and victims;
• disclosure time patterns; and
• specific institutional data.

Characteristics of an alleged perpetrator and victim

Females were more likely to be sexually abused by males, but a higher proportion of cases were recorded where males were abused in an institutional location, in comparison to the cases involving females in institutions. The Administrative Data Report showed that females were 1.4 to 2 times more likely than males to be abused.

The common age for victims in an institutional setting at the beginning of their abuse was 10 to 14 years of age. Victims of this age are over-represented in allegations of CSA in an institutional setting, compared to all forms of reported recent CSA and compared to the proportion of children aged 10 to 14 in the Australian population.

A vast majority of CSA perpetrators were male, consistent with all studies conducted on CSA. Where a perpetrator was reported or recorded, a substantial proportion were children or young people. Adult perpetrators accounted for less than a third of allegations in six states and territories, and represented the minority in six of the eight Australian jurisdictions where this data was available.

Disclosure times: Patterns arose when combining recent and past reports

Over a five-year period from 1 July to 30 June 2013, approximately 63,000 total allegations of CSA were made to Police across all jurisdictions, of which 82 per cent related to allegations that were within five years of the abuse commencing. The Administrative Data Report referred to allegations or reports made within 5 years of the abuse occurring as a ‘recent allegation’.  An overwhelming majority of allegations reported within five years, and majority of those were reported within six months of the abuse occurring.

Data from specific institutional contexts: Schools

Police data revealed that most abuse in an institutional setting occurred at a school. There was a correlation between Police data and education and safety data; females accounted for a high proportion of victims, a vast majority of perpetrators were male and minors were alleged to be responsible for the majority of recent reports of CSA within institutions.

The Reliability of Police Data Report

The Reliability of Police Data Report was authored by Samantha Parkinson, Kerry Lewig, Catia Malvaso, Fiona Arney, Ilan Katz and BJ Newton to determine the:

• accuracy and reliability of the data and indicators used to categorise reports as ICSA or NICSA in the Administrative Data Report;
• nature of, and circumstances surrounding, reports to Police concerning ICSA compared to NICSA; and
• factors that drive different reporting rates for CSA in Australian jurisdictions.

The key purpose of the Reliability of Police Data Report was to determine and verify the reliability of the data and indicators used to categorise reports to Police as institutional or non-institutional.

Are the data and indicators used in the Administrative data report reliable and accurate?

When comparing the data analysed in the case file review, the majority of allegations were accurately reported.  However, there were some errors identified where some instances of abuse were not accurately identified as ICSA or NICSA. Due to constraints in some datasets, location of the abuse was the best indicator to determine if an incident was ICSA or NICSA.

Factors driving different reporting rates

The Reliability of Police Data Report identified a variety of factors that could influence rates of CSA reporting, such as:

• legislation and legal reform (for example, child protection inquiries and reforms, and differing legislation or legal definitions);
• Police recording processes; and
• the extent of unreported crime, which could be influenced by the relationship between Police and the communities they serve as well as by how effectively Police manage allegations of sexual abuse.

There was no evidence identified on whether differing mandatory reporting requirements influenced reporting rates. The Reliability of Police Data Report noted that further research is required in this area.

There were no supporting grounds to show that Police recording processes during Police consultations influenced the reporting rates of ICSA and NICSA. Research revealed there were few differences between jurisdictional Police recording practices and it was unlikely to influence reporting rates.

The Reliability of Police Data Report found a higher rate of CSA reporting in NSW than any other state or territory in Australia. It could be due to community engagement, but authors of the Reliability of Police Data Report, believe that this is due to the “systemic reporting structures” such as the reportable conduct scheme, NSW Joint Investigation Response Teams (JIRT), and 24-hour support hotlines for schools.

Lessons to learn

Both reports not only worryingly identified that females were more likely to be the victims of child abuse, they identified that males aged between 10 to 17 years of age were more likely to be perpetrators of child sexual abuse. Additionally, a substantial portion of perpetrators reported of CSA attended the same school as the victim. This is concerning as it adds an extra level of complexity for schools and an extra requirement of vigilance  in order to keep pupils safe.

One of the major priorities that has been identified in the Reports, as well as many other reports and findings by the Royal Commission, is the priority that children need to be protected due to their vulnerability. Having sufficient child protection policies and procedures in place which address various aspects of vulnerability, e.g. age and gender, will help schools to protect students.