Beyond reporting: safety-oriented responses to problematic and harmful sexual behaviour - toolkit
For people working with children and young people: practical ways to respond to problematic and harmful sexual behaviour, make everyday situations safer and keep supporting children after a report.
In this page
What is this toolkit?
A report of problematic or harmful sexual behaviour presented by a child can leave workers wondering what to do next. Children still need to get through the school day, go home and know which adults they can turn to. This toolkit helps you respond to problematic and harmful sexual behaviour, make immediate arrangements and stay involved while other services do their work.
Use this toolkit alongside your organisation’s procedures and specialist advice. ‘Beyond reporting’ means doing the work of safety and support as well as meeting reporting duties. It does not mean delaying or avoiding a report.
Key takeaways
Listen to children
Offer a private check-in and explain what you have changed in response to their concerns.
Put responsibility with adults
Allocate supervision to named adults. Do not rely on a child to avoid another child or stop the behaviour.
Support change
Combine clear limits with educative work, specialist help and safe access to valued activities and relationships.
Respect privacy
Share information only with those who need it for protection and support, following applicable requirements. Stop gossip and public labelling.
Keep support realistic
Ask carers what they can sustain. If they cannot carry out an arrangement, revise the plan and seek help rather than relying on a promise.
Understanding the issue
Children’s sexual behaviour needs to be understood in context. Consider their age and development, differences in power or ability, whether anyone was pressured or frightened and what harm occurred or could occur. Behaviour can be problematic without involving physical contact, including through messages or images. If you are unsure how to understand it, seek advice rather than dismissing it.
Why this matters
The response affects whether children feel heard, protected and able to seek help again. The child who has been harmed may need support even if the behaviour has stopped. The child who displayed the behaviour also needs help to understand boundaries and develop safer ways of behaving. Other children and family members may need support too.
Common challenges for workers
You may worry about getting the words wrong, upsetting a family or interfering with an investigation. You may feel pulled between the needs of different children. Consult with your supervisor or a specialist service about any of these tensions. While facts are being clarified, take concerns seriously, record what is known and act on immediate safety needs within your role.
Conversation starters and practical steps
To a child telling you about harm: ‘Thank you for telling me. You are not to blame. I will take this seriously. I need to talk to people who can help keep you safe and I will explain what happens next.’ Do not promise secrecy.
To interrupt behaviour you witness: ‘Stop. I am going to help everyone have some space. We will talk separately.’ Keep your tone calm and arrange adult support.
Ask the child harmed: 'What are you worried about next?' and ‘Which adult would you feel comfortable going to?’ Listen to their preferences without making them responsible for choosing or enforcing the safety arrangements.
Explain interim boundaries to the other child: ‘For now, this adult will stay nearby during breaks. We will explain the plan and help you follow it.’ Adapt your words to what is known.
With parents or carers, when it is safe to involve them: ‘We need a workable plan for today. What can you manage and where will you need help?’
Record the specific situations that need particular attention: for example, breaks, transport, changing areas, bedrooms or online contact. Specify what adults will do in each relevant setting. ‘Keep an eye on things’ is too vague. ‘Supervision at all times’ is often not feasible.
Name the responsible adult and a backup. Write down how concerns will be raised, who will respond if an arrangement breaks down and when the plan will be reviewed. Check that the adults can actually do what is being asked. Tailor proportionate restrictions to the situation and review them with appropriate professional advice.
Check separately with each child. Ask whether they feel safer, can access support and are still able to take part in everyday life. Watch for bullying, retaliation or isolation. Follow up referrals and agree who stays in touch while families wait. Review the plan whenever circumstances change, as well as on the agreed date.
Reflective prompts
Whose experience have I heard directly and whose am I assuming?
What will be different for the child’s safety today because of our response?
Have we placed the burden of change on the child who was harmed?
Who is checking that each child and family can access the support offered?
What would tell us that the plan needs to change?
Putting learning into practice
Case study
Situation
A 10-year-old tells their teacher that an 11-year-old in the class above has touched them sexually in a toilet during break. The child is worried about the next break but says they don’t want the older child to get into trouble.
Possible response
The teacher listens without asking the child to repeat a detailed account. They explain who needs to know and gives the child clear messages about who can help. The teacher consults with the principal and puts interim arrangements in place to prevent unsupervised contact, including at breaks and collection time.
The principal notifies the parents as per the department's policy and protocol. The parents are offered support alongside clear and specific information about privacy, how the school is responding to the incident, and what the school has put in place to prevent this from happening again. Parents are given the opportunity to ask questions, raise concerns, and work together with the school to make decisions about their children's safety and wellbeing. Staff supporting the older child explain the immediate boundaries calmly and arrange help. Relevant staff receive the information they need to carry out the plan. The younger child is asked individually whether the arrangements help and what still worries them.
Key elements of the response
Reporting and everyday support happen together.
Adults take responsibility for supervision.
The child who has been harmed is not moved away from friends or activities.
Both children receive support, without requiring them to meet or reconcile.
Common questions and misconceptions
No. Clarify your continuing role with the agencies involved. Keep checking wellbeing and practical arrangements. A referral is not a handover.
That does not establish that nothing happened or that support is unnecessary. Ask what the decision means, seek further advice if concerns remain and continue appropriate safety arrangements. Follow reporting procedures again if new information or concerns arise.
Support can help a child take responsibility. Be clear about the behaviour that must stop, teach boundaries and help them understand why the behaviour is not appropriate. Avoid humiliation or defining the child by the behaviour.
Do not arrange an apology, mediation or joint conversation as a routine first response. The child harmed must not be pressured to meet, forgive or reassure the other child. Any later consideration of contact or repair needs careful assessment and specialist guidance.
Recap: your next steps
Make the immediate situation safe
Calmly interrupt concerning behaviour and arrange appropriate adult support and supervision. If anyone is in immediate danger, call 000. Seek urgent medical help if needed.
Listen and reassure
Let the child speak in their own words. Tell them they were right to tell you and explain what you will do next. Avoid repeated questioning or trying to investigate.
Follow reporting procedures promptly
Check the duties that apply to your role and state or territory. Talk to your supervisor.
Make a plan for the next part of the day
Decide who will supervise, how risky situations or unwanted contact will be prevented and which trusted adult each child can approach.
Arrange a check-in
Name the person who will follow up with each child and family and when. Seek specialist advice and keep providing support while waiting.
Useful resources
Start with your organisation’s safeguarding procedures and the reporting guidance for your state or territory. Use these to identify reporting routes, responsibilities and urgent contacts.
For help with listening and responding, use the Australian Institute of Family Studies' guide on children’s disclosures. It is useful before a conversation and for reflecting on your response afterwards.
For safety planning, see the Daniel Morcombe Foundation's fillable safety planning tool.
For understanding different behaviours and the need for tailored responses, you can read a research summary produced by the Australian Institute of Family Studies, and the summary of the dedicated chapter on harmful sexual behaviours in the final report of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. These two resources provide background information; they are not a substitute for assessment.
Beyond reporting: safety-oriented responses to problematic and harmful sexual behaviour - toolkit resources
More toolkits
For people working with children: practical ways to respond to problematic and harmful sexual behaviour while keeping the child’s wider development, strengths and needs in view.
For anyone dealing directly with harmful sexual behaviour between siblings, cousins or other children in the family, or anyone wanting to learn more about how to respond.
Practical help for people working with children and families to prepare for difficult conversations about sexual behaviour, respond to parents’ reactions and work together to decide what happens next.
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