Australians worried about sexual thoughts or behaviours involving children will be able to contact a new helpline and receive confidential support from late August.
Jesuit Social Services (JSS) will run a one-year pilot called Stop It Now! Australia, with the confidential phone, email or online chat service focused on preventing child sexual abuse.
It is modelled on helplines operating overseas and expects to receive over 5,000 calls each year in Australia.
Executive Director of The Men's Project at JSS Matt Tyler said international evidence showed an anonymous helpline was the most effective way to engage potential perpetrators before abuse occurred.
"This was acknowledged in the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse, that in Australia at the moment we're missing a really critical prevention window," he told ABC Radio Melbourne.
"On average there's a 10-year window between someone first becoming aware that they've got these concerning thoughts and behaviours, and then that person coming to the attention of police.
Years of preparation before launch
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse found that "in Australia, support programs are only available to sex offenders who have been convicted".
"The idea of providing support to adults who could become perpetrators may be confronting for many people," the final report said.
"We caution not to place the entire responsibility for preventing child sexual abuse on potential victims and indeed everyone else other than potential or actual perpetrators.
"Society should facilitate access to treatment for those who self-identify as being at risk of perpetrating child sexual abuse and are willing to undertake treatment."
Following the Royal Commission's recommendations JSS, in collaboration with The University of Melbourne, undertook a detailed scoping study looking into models for early intervention.
The study concluded that "Stop it Now! has proved itself successful in other jurisdictions and offers a significant opportunity to counter child sexual exploitation in Australia".
The University of Melbourne continues to be involved in setting up Stop It Now! Australia, and will evaluate the program.
The pilot is initially being sponsored by a major bank. If successful, JSS hoped the program would receive government funding to continue.
Victoria Police and Queensland Police confirmed they were supportive of the pilot. The ABC understands police in other jurisdictions have also been consulted and are also involved in the program.
Helpline 'a long time coming'
Carolyn Worth spent almost 30 years working with victim-survivors at the Centre Against Sexual Assault (CASA) in Victoria and said the helpline was "an absolutely terrific idea" that had been a long time coming.
"It was a huge gap in services," she said.
During her time at CASA, Ms Worth said staff received a considerable number of calls from people asking for help to deal with their sexualised thoughts about children.
"We couldn't help them and it was hard to know where to refer them," she said.
"I always thought the government should set up a helpline."
Child protection group Bravehearts is part of the advisory committee meeting regularly to get Stop It Now! Australia off the ground.
CEO Alison Geale said as an advocate and survivor group, they were proud to support a program aimed at preventing child sexual abuse.
"It isn't about Bravehearts being pro-perpetrator, it's about us being pro-prevention," she said.
"We can't keep doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome.
"We have to be able to provide services for people who come forward, and haven't offended, and say 'I have sexualised thoughts about children.'"
Mandatory reporting followed
Mr Tyler said they were working closely with police and would comply with mandatory reporting legislation in all states and territories.
"At the outset of each call, the person calling will receive a script from our helpline operators which essentially steps them through the limitations, with regards to the anonymous and confidential nature of the service," Mr Tyler said.
While no phone numbers are collected, Mr Tyler said if a person disclosed their name, historic crimes, or specific intentions to abuse a child, Stop It Now! would report that information to authorities.
"This is a difficult conversation to have but we know ... [police] can't arrest their way out of this," Mr Tyler said.
"The sheer volume of online offending is just huge, so we've got to do more than a justice system response alone."
Focus on prevention
Stop It Now! was founded in the US in 1992 by a survivor of child sexual abuse who wanted to find a way to prevent other children from being harmed.
Georgia Naldrett worked on the Stop It Now! UK helpline and came to Victoria to manage the launch of the Australian service.
She said the victim-survivor voice was at the centre of every Stop It Now! service.
"It's uncomfortable work, but it's work that needs to be done," she said.
"Knowing with each call you could be protecting just one child makes it worth it."
Ms Naldrett said in recent years Australia had seen the benefit of working with people who were at risk of engaging in other forms of abuse, including family violence.
"We want to use that approach to prevent child sexual abuse by working with those at risk of perpetrating," she said.
"A lot of the work [through other programs] is done after the behaviour.
"The benefit of this program is for individuals to seek help before they engage in this type of behaviour and before a child is harmed."
Mr Tyler said evidence from the UK suggested people who called the helpline were better able to recognise their behaviour as problematic and to realise it could be changed.
"They also had concrete actions that they could use to manage their behaviour," he said.
"That's really the focus of the helpline, is leaving the person who calls with a set of actions that decreases risk factors and increases protective factors."
A US study also supported the use of prevention helplines, finding secrecy around the thoughts and behaviours could create "conditions which make children more vulnerable to abuse".
"Findings provide insights into this hidden population of individuals at risk to abuse, those who have abused, as well as their friends and families who are seeking support," the study said.
