Education Minister Jason Clare and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Lukas Coch/AAP Recent cases of prolific alleged child sexual abuse in Melbourne and other Australian early childhood education and care settings have shocked even experienced people who work to prevent child sexual abuse. Parents are right to be outraged,…
Ben Mathews appointed as Distinguished Professor
Professor Ben Mathews has been appointed by QUT as a Distinguished Professor in recognition of his research, impact and eminence within the field of child maltreatment and leadership contribution to QUT. This is the first appointment of a Distinguished Professor in the history of QUT’s Faculty of Law.…
Improving Health to Reduce Risk of Youth Reoffending
ACHLR members Dr Sam Boyle and Professor Ben Mathews have published a paper in the International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy which assesses a program for young people involved in the youth justice system in Queensland. Sam and Ben worked with former ACHLR PhD student Dr…
Recognition for Professor Ben Mathews
The Australian has recently unveiled its list of the Top 250 Researchers for 2025, showcasing leaders across 250 diverse fields of study—those whose work has made a profound impact on their disciplines. Congratulations to Professor Ben Mathews, who has been recognised as the leading Australian researcher in the…
Some gains but fresh difficulties in combating child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse is common in Australia. The best evidence of this comes from the 2023 Australian Child Maltreatment Study (ACMS), which surveyed 8,500 Australians aged 16 and over. The ACMS found 28.5% of the national population has experienced sexual abuse before age 18 by any person (adult…
Disturbing prevalence of child maltreatment: landmark Australian research
The findings of landmark research from the Australian Child Maltreatment Study (ACMS) have been publicly launched on the 4th April 2023. The launch coincided with the release of a special supplement about the Australian Child Maltreatment Study in the Medical Journal of Australia, and was attended by senior…
ARC Linkage funding for the Disrupting Child Sexual Exploitation project
The Disrupting Child Sexual Exploitation project, led by Professor Cathy Humphreys from the University of Melbourne, has been announced as an Australian Research Council Linkage project. Professor Ben Mathews (pictured) from the Australian Centre for Health Law Research (ACHLR) is a Chief Investigator for the project. Child sexual…
Landmark Survey commences to find prevalence of child abuse and health outcomes
The Australian Child Maltreatment Study (ACMS), led by Professor Ben Mathews in collaboration with a team of international researchers, is undertaking a nationwide survey to identify the prevalence of child abuse and its health impacts. The $2.8 million study, funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council,…