The Australian Centre for Child Protection (ACCP), Adelaide University, was commissioned by the National Office for Child Safety (NOCS), Australian Government Attorney-General’s Department, to develop the National Clinical and Therapeutic Framework for responding to children and young people who have displayed concerning or harmful sexual behaviour.

ACCP partnered with Professor Emeritus Simon Hackett from Durham University, United Kingdom, and Lumenia Consulting to develop the Framework, bringing together national and international clinical, research and cultural expertise.

The Framework is a key measure under the National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse 2021–2030. It provides a shared national foundation for clinical and therapeutic responses to children and young people who have displayed concerning or harmful sexual behaviour, particularly at the secondary and tertiary levels. It is designed for practitioners and services, as well as those responsible for service design, governance and policy.

The Framework recognises that service systems, legislation, workforce capacity, geography, culture and community contexts vary considerably across Australia. Rather than prescribing a single service model, it establishes a common foundation for safe, ethical, developmentally informed and proportionate practice, while allowing jurisdictions and services to apply this within their local context.

The Framework brings together guidance on understanding concerning and harmful sexual behaviour; principles for practice; core practice considerations; therapeutic assessment and case planning; therapeutic responses; and workforce capability.

Consultation and co-design

The ACCP, Durham University and Lumenia project team led an extensive, iterative national consultation and co-design process. More than 300 people across Australia contributed to the Framework’s development, including clinical practitioners, researchers, service providers, government representatives, policy leaders, subject matter experts, cultural advisors and sector stakeholders.

Consultation occurred across successive stages of Framework development and included online and in-person workshops, culturally specific yarning and discussion sessions, structured and implementation-readiness surveys, written submissions, targeted stakeholder meetings, and detailed reviews of successive drafts. The process also involved ongoing input from national expert and advisory groups and representatives from Australian states and territories.

This collaborative process was an important part of developing a Framework that could provide greater national consistency without requiring uniformity across diverse service systems. Consultation enabled the Framework to be progressively tested and refined across different clinical, cultural, geographic, policy and service contexts, while also building sector awareness and ownership during its development.

The Framework recognises that consultation did not always produce universal agreement and that local differences are important. Its shared foundations are therefore intended to support consistent, high-quality decision-making while enabling locally responsive implementation.

The National Clinical and Therapeutic Framework is currently being finalised by the Australian Government National Office for Child Safety and is expected to be released in late 2026 or early 2027.