Leanne Beagley | Fives years on from national apology to child sex abuse survivors, we ask what has changed?

The apology - a recommendation of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse - was a landmark moment.

For the hundreds of thousands of survivors whose lives have been devastated by institutional childhood sexual abuse, this was the first-time experiences had been publicly acknowledged, and others were held accountable.

Hearing the word "sorry" can have a profound effect upon victims and survivors - it has the potential to free them from the shame they are forced carry, but which is not theirs to bear.

There is also the danger that "sorry" can end up feeling like lip service if not followed up with action and a commitment to change. This is the point we're at now, five years on from the national apology: can we promise today's children, that we - the adults of Australia - will protect them all? That they can and will live a life free from this horrific form of abuse?

Tragically, this is not a promise we can currently, genuinely make.

The stories which emerged from the royal commission were historical and institutional, which may lead to the assumption that these issues are largely in the past.

However, this year's watershed Australian Childhood Maltreatment Study (ACMS) - the largest of its kind - suggests otherwise.

We now know that one in three women and one in five men in Australia have suffered childhood sexual abuse and it takes up to 23.7 years for survivors to disclose.

Further, the rates among young adults are no different to older Australians, meaning rates are not declining, despite the ongoing efforts of specialised taskforces, tighter prevention approaches, dedicated police units, and child protection agencies.

And while incidences of institutional based sexual abuse may have gone down in recent years (perhaps in part due the royal commission recommendations), rates of abuse in non-institutional settings appear to have increased. These are shocking findings that should disturb every Australian.

Nearly every week in the news, there is another story of child sexual abuse. However, these are just the extreme, high-profile and questionably, "media-worthy" cases. The reality is that thousands of other cases are being investigated at any one time, while many are never reported or discovered.

This was profoundly illustrated by the fact that many people who told their stories at the royal commission were disclosing their childhood experiences for the very first time.

The National Centre for Action on Child Sexual Abuse was set up in 2021 as recommendation of the royal commission and we are committed to the once-in a-generation opportunity to drive real change.

But it will require an all-of-society approach, not just the work of police and child protection organisations, who only become involved when abuse has already occurred.

Perpetrators of this form of abuse are often "friendly" and "great with kids"; they can be very patient and strategic, gravitating to wherever they notice child supervision is low, or where they believe children won't report or adults won't notice or believe children.

These are the reasons why we cannot leave preventing and policing this crime to agencies and organisations alone. They simply cannot be monitoring every neighbourhood, every online chat group, every sporting club.

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It is up to all Australian adults to ensure that the children within their communities are being adequately cared for, to educate themselves on the signs of grooming and abuse, to address any suspicious behaviour, to know what to do if a child indicates that they have experienced sexual abuse, and to make sure that child sexual abuse is never a taboo topic.

Chances are that with one in three girls and one in five boys having experienced child sexual abuse you know someone who lives with this experience.

All Australians must also be vocal in their support of the brave victims and survivors who do report or speak out publicly. There are victims and survivors in every community - children and adults - and most will only come forward if they feel it is safe to do so; when they can be confident, they'll be believed and supported.

This week, as we reflect on the national apology, we call on all Australian adults to act to protect children. The current rates of child sexual abuse constitute a national emergency and every one of us must be a part of the solution.

We must keep the hard conversations going - with our children, our friends, our family, our neighbours, our colleagues. And every one of us must make that promise to support the millions of victims and survivors in our communities to heal and recover, free from stigma and shame.