Litigation

For more than a decade, the enduring legacy of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has helped to reshape Australian law. 2025 in particular has ushered in a new phase of reform – one that shifts the focus away from symbolic acknowledgement and towards structural change.

From civil liability to regulatory enforcement to legislative change, governments have moved decisively to address systemic gaps and loopholes that continue to deny justice to survivors. While reform remains uneven, 2025 stands out as a year in which the law shifted decisively towards survivor-centred accountability.

With this in mind, it is pertinent to examine some of the more significant ways in which the law and regulatory frameworks changed throughout 2025, at both the state and national levels.

Broader Approach to Institutional Liability

One of the more consequential developments in 2025 was a renewed focus on institutional liability, particularly following court decisions that had narrowed survivors’ ability to hold organisations legally responsible for abuse, namely Bird v DP.

Historically, many civil claims failed not because abuse was unsubstantiated, but because institutions argued the perpetrator was not technically an “employee.” Volunteers, religious personnel, contractors, and others often fell outside traditional vicarious liability frameworks, leaving survivors without an effective defendant.

The passage of the Civil Law (Wrongs) Act 2002 (ACT) directly addressed this problem. It established that an institution may be vicariously liable for the actions of a person who performs functions on behalf or in connection with the institution and holds a position of authority, trust, or responsibility over a child, regardless of whether the person is technically an employee or agent.

In this sense, the bill reflects the realities of institutional power. It acknowledges that abusers often exploit power granted through informal hierarchies, symbolic roles, or religious status rather than contracts of service, and codifies the understanding that institutions should bear legal responsibility for the risks they create, regardless of contractual formalities.

While the legislation applies only to the ACT, it has spurred momentum for reform elsewhere. For example, the Victorian government has pledged to introduce similar retrospective legislation. Meanwhile, NSW has indicated its intention to review the issue following parliamentary inquiries earlier this year.

As we enter 2026, it is imperative that these efforts come to fruition, as without uniform reform, Australia risks a fragmented system in which survivors in one jurisdiction have rights that survivors in other jurisdictions lack. In fact, legal commentators have urged the Council of Attorneys-General to coordinate a harmonised national approach, consistent with the spirit of the Royal Commission’s recommendations.

Childcare and Early Education

Amid mounting concerns and a string of high-profile incidents, the NSW Government unveiled an ambitious, comprehensive reform package for Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). With their focus on transparency and accountability, the ‘nation-leading’ reforms seek to close existing loopholes within the industry and empower the NSW childcare regulatory authority to take effective action.

The reforms introduce a legal obligation for the sector and regulator to put the rights and best interests of children above all else, ensuring their safety, protection, and well-being are at the centre of every decision. It includes more than 30 proposed changes to the Children (Education and Care Services National Law Application) Act 2010 (National Law). These changes build on the recommendations committed to by the NSW Government following the Wheeler Review into early education, including the creation of an independent regulatory authority, $55 million to boost frontline staff, and increased publication of regulatory data.

The legislation also complements the government’s Working with Children Check (WWCC) reforms by clarifying that all persons working in the sector must hold a WWCC clearance and ensuring that decisions about persons who pose an unacceptable risk to the safety of children in early childhood education and care rest with the regulator.

According to Courtney Houssos, the acting minister for education, the legislation is the “most significant reform to the national law in 15 years.

Social Media Ban

Law-enforcement data reveals that grooming now begins in plain sight — within messaging features of Instagram, Snapchat, gaming apps, and livestreaming sites. Predators use algorithms designed for engagement to locate minors, establish contact, and lure them into private chats or image exchanges.

One of the more controversial moves taken by the government to combat this rise in online child exploitation was the introduction of a nationwide social media ban. In November 2024, Parliament passed the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024, amending the Online Safety Act 2021. The law requires platforms to take “reasonable steps” to stop anyone under 16 from using their services. Failure to comply can attract civil penalties of up to A$49.5 million or 10 per cent of annual turnover, whichever is greater.

Since the ban only came into effect a couple of weeks ago, it is hard to assess its effectiveness. However, the rationale is clear – to shield children from the avalanche of online harms that have come to define the digital age. Amongst these harms is online child sexual exploitation – a particularly prescient concern given the unprecedented rise of end-to-end encryption, artificial intelligence, and dark-web anonymity.

Daniel’s Law

In another unprecedented move, Queensland became the first Australian jurisdiction to pass legislation creating a publicly accessible register of convicted child sex offenders.

Dubbed “Daniel’s Law” after Daniel Morcombe, the Sunshine Coast teenager abducted and murdered in 2003, the law demarcates a significant shift in the way that Australia manages child sex offences.

Under the new framework, Queenslanders will be able to access information about child sex offenders in their communities through a three-tier public disclosure system. While the law has been welcomed by many families and child safety advocates a long-overdue measure, it also raises a complex web of legal and ethical concerns particularly around privacy, proportionality and rehabilitation.

Cultural Change 

Beyond individual statutes and state-based reform, 2025 signalled a bigger cultural change in how child and institutional abuse is understood legally.

Heightened awareness around the structural levers of abuse has led to a greater understanding that abuse is often facilitated by organisational structures, silence and delay are foreseeable institutional responses, and survivors should not bear the burden of justifying their silence.

Increasingly, courts, legislators, and regulators are treating child abuse as a systemic risk that necessitates systemic responsibility.

What Remains Unresolved 

Despite these advances, significant gaps remain. Reforms are not uniform across states, with the national framework still fragmented, particularly in the context of childcare and early education. In addition, digital platforms, which are now central to children’s lives, continue to resist being treated as institutions with corresponding duties of care. Perhaps most importantly, access to justice still depends heavily on resources, persistence and legal representation. While legal reform can help break down barriers, it cannot level the playing field on its own.