Disrupting Child Sexual Exploitation in New South Wales: A Mixed‐Method Survey Exploring Workforce Capacities

ABSTRACT Child sexual exploitation (CSE) is an insidious form of child sexual abuse (CSA) that impacts Australia's most vulnerable children and young people. Reports of CSE abuses experienced by children and young people living in out‐of‐home care (OOHC) have spurred urgent calls for improving responses to CSE in Australia. However, limited empirical research exists to inform policy and practice. This article presents findings from a pre‐training survey conducted in New South Wales, Australia, with child protection and law enforcement professionals. The mixed‐method survey sought to explore workforce understanding, practices, and confidence (‘capacities’) with recognising and responding to CSE. A total of 77 professionals working in OOHC services for the statutory child protection agency ( n = 33), non‐government organisations providing residential care ( n = 25), and police ( n = 19) participated in the survey. Findings point to the need for upskilling frontline professionals about the distinctiveness of CSE and practices they can engage in to both disrupt CSE and respond sensitively to victim‐survivors. Gaps in organisational capacity to disrupt CSE and enable multi‐agency working were also evident. The results reinforce calls for embedding a systemic framework for disrupting CSE across key areas: (1) legislation reform, (2) strengthening organisational policy and (3) workforce upskilling in proactive disruptive practices.