AIFS Practitioner resource, March 2015

This paper is a guide to responding to children and young people's disclosures of abuse. It outlines what we know about how, why, and when children and young people are likely to disclose and suggests actions to take at the time of disclosure and in the longer term. Most research into children and young people's disclosures has focused on disclosures of child sexual abuse; however, many of the issues canvassed are also likely to be relevant to disclosures of other types of abuse (i.e., physical, psychological and emotional abuse). The information in this paper is drawn from a range of sources developed through both research and practice. (from the website). This resource, written for Australian practitioners, provides useful references to the research literature. A one-page infographic focuses on the key actions: listen, reassure and respect. People working with children and young people in New Zealand are also referred to :"Safer organisations, safer children: guidelines for child protection policies to build safer organisations" (#4650), recently published by the Children's Action Plan team. Record #4672