Teachers have an important role to play in identifying and reporting child sexual abuse, a Queensland University of Technology research team said.
The team, including staff from the QUT faculties of education and law, said teachers were in a unique position to assist children suffering abuse, but they were sometimes unsure of the action they could take.
Team member Dr Kerryann Walsh, from the Faculty of Education, said in the first semester of 2008, the team would ask teachers from randomly selected government and independent schools across three states to share their knowledge, practices and opinions on reporting child abuse through a confidential survey.
She said teachers were governed by differing legislation in different states, with key differences evident in the legislation of Queensland, Western Australia and New South Wales.
"We want to find out which state offers the optimal model, or which aspects in each state's legislation are the best," Dr Walsh said.
"Most teachers have a natural response of wanting to help their students, but may not know how to go about it. It is a sensitive topic; situations of abuse can be emotional and difficult."
Dr Walsh, who spent most of her career as a teacher working with abused and neglected children in Queensland, said teachers had a valued role to play to help protect children against all forms of abuse and neglect.
"Their valuable and unique knowledge will potentially help policy changes, law reform and teacher training for the future," she said.
Results from the surveys were expected to be released late this year when findings would be presented to participating schools, government and non-government school systems and legislatures.
The project is undertaken with the assistance of an Australian Research Council grant.
The research team comprises of Professor Des Butler (Faculty of Law), Dr Ben Mathews (Faculty of Law), Professor Ann Farrell (Faculty of Education) and Dr Kerryann Walsh (Faculty of Education).
Media contact: Rachael Wilson, QUT media officer, 07 3138 1150 or rachael.wilson@qut.edu.au
