Abstract:

The DICE project builds upon the work of Power to Kids as well as other multiagency initiatives such as the work of the Victorian Office of Professional Practice (Enhanced Response Model and Sexual Exploitation Protocol), to address the need for further development of a collaborative prevention and disruption approach to child sexual exploitation.

The project aims to explore implementation of three primary elements of an enhanced CSE response – trauma-informed disruptive policing; multiagency working; and attention to children and young people going missing from residential and home-based statutory care as a consequence of CSE – across sites in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland and with support from Department of Social Services (DSS), the Australian Federal Police, and the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE).

DICE includes the following PhD projects:

• Genevieve Bloxsom – DICE ‘ROLE’: Disrupting Child Sexual Exploitation – Researching Onset of Young People’s Lived Experience with Coerced ‘Self-produced’ Material

Researchers:

Prof Cathy Humphreys, Dr Gemma McKibbin, Prof Stuart Ross, Julie Green (all University of Melbourne), Prof Ben Mathews, (QUT) Assoc. Prof Susan Heward-Belle (University of Sydney), Assoc. Prof Lisa Gold (Deakin University)

Funders/Partner organisation:

Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage grant with 11 partners:

• Allambi Care – allambicare.org.au
• MacKillop Family Services – mackillop.org.au
• Uniting Care – unitingcare.org.au
• Integrated Family and Youth Services (IFYS) – ifys.com.au
• Victoria Police – police.vic.gov.au
• NSW Police – police.nsw.gov.au
• Department of Families, Fairness, and Housing (DFFH) – dffh.vic.gov.au
• Department of Social Services (DSS) – dss.gov.au
• Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) – dcj.nsw.gov.au
• Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE)/Australian Federal Police – accce.gov.au
• Bravehearts Foundation – bravehearts.org.au

Project Dates: Feb 2022 – Feb 2025

Contact: Dr Gemma McKibbin
T: 0437 281 543
E: gemma.mckibbin@unimelb.edu.au