This report is the result of a major inquiry held over 18 months, involving 99 consultations, and attracting 71 submissions. The report contains 91 recommendations to improve the way the justice system in Victoria responds to sexual offences.

Technologically-enabled crime has proliferated in recent years. One such crime type is the live streaming of child sexual abuse (CSA). This study employs a machine learning approach to better understand the characteristics of Australians who engaged with known facilitators of CSA live streaming in the...

This report presents a rapid evidence assessment which provides an updated review of reoffending research on child sexual offenders from January 2010 to March 2020. Thirty-three studies examining 55 independent samples of adult and juvenile child sexual offenders were reviewed.

This study examines reoffending among 1,092 male offenders proceeded against for a child sexual offence in New South Wales between 2004 and 2013.

This report presents the first empirical analysis of 'threat offences' recorded and sentenced in Victoria, along with an analysis of the offending trajectories of sentenced threat offenders.

This report examines sentencing outcomes for six contact sex offence types sentenced in Victoria between 2010 and 2019. It considers whether sentencing practices changed for those six offences in the 10-year period and if so, whether legislative and judicial reforms influenced the changes.

In the last few years, a number of high-profile cases of sexual and violent offending have been committed after the offender and victim met through a mobile dating application. The research outlines in this report suggest that dating app users are at greater risk of...

The purpose of this study is to synthesise over 40 years of research evidence to present an accurate and updated picture of sexual offending. This paper addresses some of the most significant myths and misconceptions about adult rape and sexual assault.

This paper describes the development of the CEM-COPE (Coping with Child Exploitation Material Use) Program.

Sexual assault is a major health and welfare issue in Australia. This report draws together a range of available data sources to provide a national summary of the extent, nature and impact of sexual assault. Data are presented separately for Australians aged 15 and over...

The data in relation to the Archdiocese was presented in the form of a data analysis report prepared by the Royal Commission from the data produced by the Catholic Church authorities. The report was tendered in the public hearing and aspects of the report are...

This research aims to contribute towards building an evidence base about community-based reintegration programs in order to inform the development and operation of community-based reintegration programs for sexual offenders, and thus to enhance community safety.

This evaluation of New Zealand’s first sexual violence court has confirmed that the approach taken in the judge-led pilot considerably reduces the time that cases take to reach trial. The evaluation also finds that most complainants feel the pilot’s trials are managed in a way...

This paper reviews the literature to explore the risks of sexual exploitation faced by children living in orphanages in South-East Asia, as well as the links between orphanages and child trafficking, illicit adoption, and orphanage scams.

Image-based sexual abuse (IBSA) refers to the non-consensual creation, distribution or threatened distribution of nude or sexual images. This research examines the prevalence, nature and impacts of IBSA victimisation and perpetration in Australia.

This report details the experience of victims as they progress through the justice system and identifies the opportunities to significantly improve the information and support provided to people as their cases proceed.

This paper looks at what is currently known about intimate partner violence in Australian refugee communities, and what service providers can do to ensure appropriate support is available to this client group.

This paper examines sentencing and treatment practices for juvenile sex offenders in Australia and the challenges of reconciling the imperatives of rehabilitation, accountability and community protection.

The Serious Offenders Bill 2018 was introduced to the Victorian Legislative Assembly on 8 May 2018. It seeks to establish a civil, protective scheme under which offenders who have served custodial sentences for certain serious sexual and/or violent offences, and who present an unacceptable risk...

This paper reviews the latest empirical evidence from Australia and overseas regarding the effectiveness of public and non-public sex offender registries. Results show that while public sex offender registries may have a small general deterrent effect on first time offenders, they do not reduce recidivism.