GENEVA (10 November 2023) – Commending Australia’s efforts to combat the sale, sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children, a UN expert today urged the Government to bridge remaining gaps. In a statement delivered at the end of a 12-day visit to the country, Mama Fatima Singhateh, UN Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children lauded Australia’s National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse 2021-2030, National Principles for Child Safe Organisations, institutional structures such as National Office for Child Safety and the Children’s Commissioners and Guardians, and reforms already made in child protective legislation and implementation measures across the States and Territories. Singhateh urged the Government and other stakeholders to accelerate efforts to combat sexual abuse of children within circles of trust, trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation, online exploitation and abuse, and other manifestations – including forced child marriage – under the country’s modern slavery law. “I am encouraged by good practices such as Australian Federal Police led Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation which promotes domestic and international collaboration to counter child sexual abuse using the expertise of federal, state and territory, non-government agencies and private industry. Also noteworthy are innovative efforts by child service delivery sectors that take integrated approaches of co-design out-of-home care facilities informed by lived experiences,” Singhateh said. “Australia must, however, undertake systemic reforms to address the root causes of vulnerabilities impacting children of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and families, who are disproportionately over-represented in out-of-home care and detention facilities,” she said. “The heightened risks of exploitation and abuse must be curbed and their safe transitioning to adulthood must be ensured through better access to education, access to livelihood skills, empowerment, justice and services that reach the remote regions of the country,” the expert said. She urged authorities to take comprehensive and stronger preventive, protective and rehabilitative measures against the sale and sexual exploitation to safeguard children in detention, migrant, refugee, asylum-seeking and minority children, and children with disabilities. Singhateh said it was important to develop robust, evidence-based frameworks with greater investments in data collection systems, more awareness raising activities, education and capacity building that is child-centred, trauma-informed, age and gender-sensitive to mitigate the risks upon children. The UN expert met with government representatives from the Commonwealth and states and territories, non-government and civil society and community organisations, academia, child protection service providers, and UN agencies. She travelled to Canberra, Sydney, Alice Springs, Brisbane, Perth and Melbourne during her visit. Singhateh will present a comprehensive report of her findings and recommendations to the Human Rights Council in March 2025. Ms. Mama Fatima Singhateh (The Gambia) was appointed as the UN Special Rapporteur on sale and sexual exploitation of children by the UN Human Rights Council in March 2020. She is a trained lawyer with over 20 years of experience. Ms Singhateh has held a number of high-level positions in public service in the Gambia. She holds a master’s degree in International Business Law from the University of Hull and has undergone numerous trainings in child rights programming, arbitration and mediation, and legislative drafting. She has drafted laws, organized and conducted numerous training sessions, delivered presentations at both national and international fora and written articles and reports on issues relating to the promotion and protection of the rights of the child. The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council"s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organisation and serve in their individual capacity. UN Human Rights, country page – Australia For more information and media requests, please contact Ms. Antara Singh (+41 79 444 4917/ antara.singh@un.org) or write to hrc-sr-saleofchildren@un.org. For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts please contact Maya Derouaz (maya.derouaz@un.org) or Dharisha Indraguptha (dharisha.indraguptha@un.org). 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