Gabrielle Hunt of the Australian Catholic University led the new study, which has been published in the journal Child Abuse & Neglect. Photo: Supplied.
CONTENT WARNING: This article refers to child abuse.
There are still significant barriers when it comes to safeguarding children in religious organisations, a new study by the Australian Catholic University (ACU) says.
Lead author Gabrielle Hunt from the ACU’s Institute of Child Protection Studies said the study investigated safeguarding practices in religious settings in order to improve the protection of children.
She said they found there had been improvements since the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, but significant barriers for effective safeguarding practice remained.
“Cultural resistance to safeguarding initiatives at the local level, driven by deeply held theological or doctrinal beliefs, hierarchical leadership structures, and a perception of safeguarding as unnecessary external regulation, continues to impede change,” she said.
“Gendered power dynamics, a reliance on compliance-focused approaches, and limited resources and finances were also identified as factors which hinder meaningful progress for religious organisations.”
Twenty religious leaders, including priests and ministers, were interviewed for the study, covering Catholic, Anglican, Uniting Church, Baptist, Churches of Christ, Lutheran, Salvation Army and other non-denominational Christian ministries.
Ms Hunt said safeguarding efforts in religious organisations involved background checks or working with children checks, training for staff and volunteers, as well as reporting procedures.
“While these are important, the research highlighted a need to move beyond just compliance-based approaches and towards cultural change and holistic, context-specific strategies,” she said.
“This means recognising that organisations themselves are not neutral backdrops for ‘bad adults’ to harm children, the organisations themselves can actively shape conditions which enable abuse to occur.”
She said prevention efforts needed to consider the cultural, physical and relational environments. This involved reflecting on how power and authority are distributed, considering theological and religious teachings, fostering a culture of accountability and external oversight, resourcing those doing safeguarding work, involving those with lived experience in policy and practice, and changing the way physical spaces are used.
“Improving safeguarding requires cultural change in religious organisations,” Ms Hunt said.
“This requires positioning safeguarding not as burdensome or unnecessary external requirements, but as a core expression of their mission.”
The 11 women interviewed for the study discussed how they were the predominant drivers of safeguarding initiatives and had to focus on safeguarding as a way to protect the institution and its leaders, rather than the intrinsic value of protecting children.
They described leaders and volunteers as “resistant” to safeguarding initiatives or training.
Another barrier identified by the study was the assumption of innocence afforded to religious leaders, even if convicted, which could lead to disbelieving victims, reduced reporting and dismissing the need for safeguarding.
“These findings highlight opportunities for improving safeguarding efforts through stronger theological foundations for safeguarding principles, more rigorous and consistent training, and enhanced collaboration across jurisdictions and denominations,” Ms Hunt said.
“By framing safeguarding as central to their mission and role, religious organisations can cultivate a culture that prioritises safety and the needs of children, families and victim-survivors.”
Ms Hunt started her career working as a psychologist with survivors of child sexual abuse. She said it was clear to her that there was still much work to do to improve prevention efforts, including in religious organisations.
“Now in my research work, my focus is on understanding how to prevent child sexual abuse and other forms of gendered violence, particularly in contexts where trust and authority are deeply embedded, such as religious organisations,” she said.
“After the royal commission, there was clear momentum to improve safeguarding, but questions remained about how this momentum actually translated to policy and practice on the ground.
“This research was aimed at understanding how religious leaders see their role in safeguarding, what is working well, and what barriers hold good progress back.”
The study, co-authored with the ACU’s Professor Daryl Higgins and Associate Professor Megan Willis, was published in the journal Child Abuse & Neglect.
If this story has raised any concerns for you, 1800RESPECT, the national 24-hour sexual assault, family and domestic violence counselling line, can be contacted on 1800 737 732. Help and support are also available through the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre on 02 6247 2525, the Domestic Violence Crisis Service ACT 02 6280 0900, the Sexual Violence Legal Services on 6257 4377 and Lifeline on 13 11 14. In an emergency, call Triple Zero.
