Purpose of the Tell Someone initiative

Child sexual abuse continues to be a serious issue in Tasmania. Research shows that one in four girls and one in five boys in Australia will experience some form of sexual abuse before the age of 18 (Australian Childhood Maltreatment Study).

There are also concerning attitudes in Australia that make it harder for children and young people to be believed or supported. National research (Australian Child Sexual Abuse Attitudes, Knowledge and Response Study) found “troubling attitudes” and harmful social norms, including:

  • attitudes that shift responsibility onto children, especially older girls
  • attitudes that minimise adult responsibility
  • beliefs that can lead to blaming children for abuse
  • norms that contribute to silence, under‑reporting and a lack of protective action.

Tell Someone is a Tasmanian Government initiative that aims to help break this silence. It encourages children and young people to tell someone if they feel unsafe or have concerns. It also encourages adults to Listen. Believe. Act. and to notice when something may be wrong with a child, even if the child has not spoken up.

Why we started the Tell Someone initiative

Tell Someone was created to help keep children and young people safe.

Tell Someone was originally developed in 2023 and created in response to national and state inquiries into child sexual abuse, including:

These inquiries highlighted the need for better protection, support, and prevention. They found that children were often not listened to or supported when they disclosed abuse.

Tell Someone was designed to provide children and young people with a trusted, age-appropriate online source of information about child sexual abuse. It also aimed to encourage conversations within families and the wider community through short, clear messages about a topic that is often not discussed but affects many children.

In 2024, the Change for Children Strategy (recommendation 19.1) recognising that child sexual abuse does not only occur in institutions but can also happen in homes and communities. It emphasised the need to address broader attitudes and beliefs about children’s rights across Tasmania. As a result, Tell Someone was further developed.

From 2026, the Tell Someone initiative will target adults, children and young people, and also perpetrators. It will ask organisations across Tasmania to get involved and support the initiative by sharing information with their communities at the grassroots level. This is a whole-of-community effort, where everyone must take responsibility and act so that everyone knows what to do to protect children and young people and keep them safe.

The Change for Children Strategy and Tell Someone are grounded in the principles of prevention, protection, support and justice

Tell Someone aims not only to prevent abuse, but also to support victim-survivors and ensure that perpetrators are held accountable and seek help.

How the 2026 Tell Someone Multimedia Campaign was developed

The 2026 multimedia campaign (see video below) was shaped with input from people with lived experience of child sexual abuse. Their insights guided the tone, language and design. This included decisions about wording, imagery and how people are shown in the materials.

The campaign was also developed in consultation with: