Sexual Violence 
Media Guide
Edition 2

Acknowledgements and terminology
Warning
This guide contains reference to sexual violence and trauma and may be distressing to some readers. Support services can be found at page 33 of this guide.
First Nations acknowledgement
We proudly acknowledge Queensland’s First Nations communities and their ongoing strength in practising the world’s oldest living cultures. We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the lands and waters on which we live, work, learn and play, and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging. 
We acknowledge the ongoing leadership role of First Nations communities in addressing domestic, family and sexual violence. We join with First Nations people to eliminate violence from all communities.
Acknowledgement of victim-survivors of sexual violence
We acknowledge and pay our respects to those people who have been impacted by sexual violence and acknowledge their resilience and courage. They remain at the forefront of our work and reform efforts. 
Terminology
In this guide, the term ‘victim-survivor’ is used to describe a person who has been subjected to sexual violence. We acknowledge that victims and survivors have the right to define their identity and the recovery process can be a long journey.
The terms ‘complainant’ and ‘accused’ are used in this guide in relation to legal proceedings. This is based on the terms used in legislation and within the justice system, and the legal rights of all parties to proceedings, including for a fair trial. It is not a reflection on the experiences of victim-survivors of sexual violence.
Legal disclaimer
The information contained in this guide is a general overview of the current Queensland laws and legislative amendments that commence on 26 May 2025. Legal information in the guide is general information and should not be considered legal advice. Journalists should seek their own legal advice about media reports regarding sexual violence and not rely solely on this guide. It is current at the time of publication.
Other acknowledgements
We acknowledge the organisations and individuals who have helped inform the development of this media guide, in particular: Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS), Blue Knot Foundation, Chicago Taskforce on Violence against Girls and Young Women, DART Centre for Journalism and Trauma, femifesto, Jane Gilmore, Media Diversity Australia, Media Shift, Mindframe, National Office for Child Safety, Our Watch, Queensland Sexual Assault Network, Special Taskforce on Domestic and Family Violence in Queensland, Victorian Government, Queensland Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce and Zero Tolerance. 

Contents
Acknowledgment and terminology	ii
Introduction	1
Purpose of the media guide	1 
Sexual violence: what we know	3
Challenging the attitudes condoning sexual violence	5
Rape culture	5
Myths and misconceptions	7
Facts and figures	8
Queensland statistics	10
Experts and sources	10
Trauma	11
Trauma-informed reporting	12 
Trauma reporting and sexual violence	12
Vicarious trauma and self-care for media	13
Reporting on sexual violence: the legalities	14
When reporting on specific incidents	14
Court reporting	14
Queensland legislative restrictions	15
Other publication restrictions	19
Reporting on vulnerable and diverse communities	21
Trauma and its impacts	21
Visibility and telling diverse stories	21
Challenges for reporting 	22
Practical tips	23
Interviewing tips	23
Use of language	23
Headlines	23
Use of imagery	24
Dos and Don’ts	25
Further information, advice and assistance	26
Information for media	26
Awareness training for media	26
Statistics	27
Support services	29
Additional contacts	29
Quick reference template for support services and reporting sexual assault	29
Key terms and definitions	30

Introduction
Sexual violence is any unwanted sexual behaviour where consent is not obtained or freely given. It includes a range of offending behaviour involving forced sexual acts or sexual behaviours without consent such as sexual assault and rape. It includes behaviours that do not include acts of physical violence, such as non-consensual sharing of intimate images. It also includes sexual harassment. 
Sexual violence can happen in public, private, or institutional settings and can be carried out by people known to the victim (including family members, partners or former partners), or by strangers. Most sexual violence occurs by someone known to the person and in private settings. Sexual violence often has lifelong impacts on people who experience it.
Purpose of the media guide 
Journalists can inform, persuade and influence public opinion. They can help educate the public and promote a social culture that does not tolerate sexual violence, and that supports and protects victim-survivors of sexual violence, holds people who use violence to account and encourages others to seek help.
Media coverage of sexual violence, which is largely perpetrated against people who describe their gender as woman or female, has increased due to many public and high-profile cases and greater public focus on the issue, particularly with the advent of the #MeToo movement internationally and #LetHerSpeak campaign in Australia. While reporting has improved in recent years and some media organisations have developed editorial policies and guidelines to assist journalists, some reporting continues to reproduce harmful stereotypes and blame victim-survivors, which can have a negative effect on their wellbeing as well as efforts to combat sexual violence. 
‘The media can be an enormously powerful agent of change. It has the ability to quickly reach and influence hundreds of thousands, even millions of people at a time.’ 
This media guide is a resource to support journalists to report on sexual violence in a trauma-informed manner. It outlines the nature of sexual violence and its impacts, highlights common misconceptions that still exist and puts the issue into context by providing relevant statistics and research. 
Understanding trauma and its effects can help journalists to report more empathetically. This guide provides an overview of trauma, how it can impact victim-survivors and journalists themselves, and guidance on how media can report on the experiences of victim-survivors in a trauma-informed way. This is especially important when reporting about sexual violence involving people from diverse communities who may be more vulnerable to violence or face additional barriers to sharing their experiences. 
This guide outlines legal considerations for media organisations when reporting on sexual violence in specific contexts, such as court matters, and details current laws and legislative changes in Queensland which can impact on reporting. (Note: Legal information in the guide is general information and should not be considered legal advice. Journalists should seek independent legal advice before publication.)
Finally, it provides practical tips on interviewing, use of more considered language, headlines and imagery, contacts for sexual violence sector support services and details of where to source relevant statistics.

Sexual violence: what we know
‘Preventing sexual violence and violence against women across the broader Queensland community requires an approach that tackles community attitudes influencing violence against women and children, such as misogyny, disrespect and power imbalance.’ 
Sexual violence is a widespread issue that affects all Queensland communities and is a major health and welfare issue in Australia and worldwide. It is associated with poor mental and physical health outcomes for victim-survivors, with some experiencing fear, shame, anger and grief, having shortened lives or taking their own lives. 
Sexual violence can happen to anybody, regardless of age, gender, race, culture, socioeconomic status, ability, sexual orientation or location. However, it is important to recognise the gendered nature of sexual violence and that some population groups are disproportionately impacted. Sexual violence results from and reinforces the power imbalance between men and women and children. Women and girls comprised 85 per cent of victims of recorded sexual assaults in Queensland in 2023. 
Although sexual violence can overlap with, and be a feature of, domestic and family violence, the dynamics of sexual violence incidents can be very different and occur in the context of a wider range of relationships between victims and those committing violence, for example where they do not know one another.
Drivers of sexual violence
Drivers of sexual violence and sexual harassment, not addressed by broader domestic and family violence prevention strategies, include: 
•	sexist attitudes and misogyny
•	male sexual entitlement 
•	norms regarding consent and coercion
•	rape supportive peers, attitudes and norms
•	workplace culture of incivility, which tolerates sexual harassment or protects high value workers who display inappropriate behaviours
•	lack of awareness of the meaning of consent, or what constitutes sexual harassment or sexual violence.
	
Sexual assault remains one of the most under-reported crimes in Australia. The 2016 Australian Bureau of Statistics Personal Safety Survey estimated that 87 per cent of women who experienced sexual assault by a male since the age of 15 did not report their most recent incident to the police, and there are gaps in data collection regarding men and diverse population groups. For those sexual violence related complaints that are made, very few will progress through the criminal justice system and result in a conviction.
While research such as the National Community Attitudes Survey, run every four years, shows promising signs of improvement in Australians’ views towards violence against women and gender inequality, attitudes condoning this violence remain in the community and aspects of the criminal justice system.

23 per cent believe women find it flattering to be pursued persistently.
	42 per cent of people surveyed believe accusations of sex assault are used to get back at men.
	Up to 15 per cent believe a man is justified to force a woman to have sex if she kisses him first.

Many in the community do not understand sexual violence, sexual consent or the impact of pornography, and are accepting of stereotypes and ‘myths’ about sexual violence that blame those subjected to the violence for what has occurred.

The Queensland Government is working to prevent and respond to sexual violence in the community through its Prevent. Support. Believe. Queensland’s Framework to address Sexual Violence.

Challenging attitudes that condone sexual violence 
Journalists can help challenge misconceptions about sexual violence and harmful attitudes and cultural norms that condone such violence by increasing community understanding of the scale, impacts and drivers of the issue. 
To achieve this, media can:
•	reduce the stigma for victim-survivors of sexual violence by debunking harmful stereotypes
•	include social context in reporting through use of relevant data (where legally possible)
•	amplify the voices of people with lived experience of sexual violence so they can tell their stories when they choose to do so
•	seek ‘expert’ voices, rather than relying only on law enforcement sources.
How media frames its coverage of sexual violence impacts community understanding of the issue. ‘Episodic’ framing depicts an incident as an isolated occurrence and may focus on sensational or more graphic elements of what occurred. It does not provide context about the incident within a broader social context and may normalise myths or misconceptions that accept inequality and gender-based violence. 
‘Thematic’ framing of the same incident would use statistics, expert commentary, information from support services and other details to promote greater public awareness of the context of gender-based violence. It can help violence prevention by increasing understanding of its causes and focus on ways to change social acceptance of the problem. 
‘If not written accurately and contextualised, stories can cause additional harm to victims by bringing public shame and victimisation, disempower survivors and perpetuate negative gender stereotypes and social beliefs that further advance social acceptance of sexual violence/rape culture.’ 
Rape culture
Rape culture exists where a society’s common beliefs and attitudes normalise and justify sexual violence, encourage the association of sex with violence and minimise the seriousness of sexual violence. It is fuelled by continuing gender inequalities and attitudes about gender and sexuality. 
Rape and sexual assault are crimes of power and control that happen to involve sexual acts so media reporting should not represent them as crimes of sexual desire or passion. 
Media can help educate the community by reinforcing information about the true nature and extent of gendered violence and its drivers. Rape culture reinforces many common myths about sexual violence. These myths often result in victim-survivor blaming and ineffectual personal ‘safety’ tips being the focus of sexual violence prevention. 
Consent – an affirmative model
Queensland has an affirmative model of consent. This means that consent needs to be mutually agreed, freely and voluntarily. Consent can be withdrawn at any time and agreement to one sexual activity is not agreement to another sexual activity. Consent cannot be assumed to be given just because a person doesn’t resist physically or verbally.

The laws apply to young people as well as adults, recognising that all those engaging in sexual activity are required to be proactive and ensure their partner is consenting to a sexual activity. Under Queensland laws, children aged under 16 cannot legally consent.

The Queensland Criminal Code contains a non-exhaustive list of circumstances where there is no consent, including when the person:
•	does not say or do anything to communicate consent
•	does not have the cognitive capacity to consent
•	is so affected by alcohol or another drug as to be incapable of consenting, or incapable of withdrawing consent
•	is unconscious or asleep
•	participates in the act because of force, fear of force, harm of any type or a fear of harm of any type
•	participates in the act because they are overborne by the abuse of a relationship of authority, trust or dependence, and
•	is a sex worker and participates in the act because of a false or fraudulent representation that they will be paid or receive some reward for the act.
NOTE: The list in the Code does not intend to prescribe every specific circumstance in which there is no consent. For other circumstances, it will be a matter for the finder of fact (either a judge or a jury) to determine whether there was (or was not) free and voluntary consent which was mutually agreed.

The affirmative consent model also recognises the offence sometimes referred to as ‘stealthing’. This means that there is no consent where a person participates in a sexual activity on the basis that a condom will be used but the other person:
•	does not use a condom
•	tampers with the condom
•	removes the condom or 
•	continues with the act after becoming aware that the condom is ineffective. 

Where a person suffers grievous bodily harm due to violence during sexual activity, the law requires a court to presume that this indicates a lack of consent, until evidence proves otherwise.

Myths and misconceptions
‘Myth-busting’ is an important part of sexual violence prevention and media can play a key role in violence prevention by debunking some of these false beliefs. Many common misconceptions exist about sexual violence. Media reporting that perpetuates myths and assumptions can:
•	minimise or excuse the violent behaviour and actions of the person using violence
•	encourage victim blaming, and
•	add to victims’ trauma.
Truth: 	Most people who commit sexual assaults know their victims and in some cases are relations, friends or work colleagues. Sexual assault can be committed within any type of relationship, including marriage, dating relationships, or by friends, acquaintances, a person you have just met, co-workers or family members. Statistics show more women and men have experienced sexual assaults by someone they know than a stranger.
	
Truth: 	Sexual assault can happen anywhere and anytime. Most sexual assaults occur in private spaces such as homes of the victims or perpetrators. They are not more likely to occur in a public place.
	
Truth:	Most rapists plan carefully in advance and set up situations so the rape can take place. The violence rarely occurs on the ‘spur of the moment’. A rapist is capable of raping again and again.
	
Truth:	People of all ages, cultures and backgrounds are sexually assaulted. They are not responsible for the crimes committed against them, regardless of how they might dress or behave. 
	
Truth:	Alcohol and recreational drugs can reduce inhibitions but do not justify a victim being sexually assaulted. If a person is unable to give consent to a sexual activity because they are drunk, drugged, asleep or unconscious, it is an act of sexual violence. 
	
Truth:	Research suggests only a minority of disclosures of sexual assault are false. Women are more likely to deny or minimise sexual assault experiences than make them up. 
	
Truth: 	Rape is an act of violence that can happen at any time in a person’s life regardless of age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, ability or gender. Not only young women are raped. For older women, elder sexual abuse might be their first experience of sexual violence or a continuation of violence into later life.
	
Truth: 	Rape in marriage does occur and is a crime. Marriage does not give anyone the right to force their partner to have sex against their will. Just because two people are married, it does not mean consent can be implied or assumed.

Truth:	Sex workers can withdraw their consent to a sexual act at any time. A worker can choose not to agree with/consent to a client’s request AND withdraw their consent at any time. The idea that they cannot disempowers sex industry workers and excuses the actions of the person using violence, placing workers at increased risk of assault and harm. 
	
Truth: 	Men can experience sexual violence too. Any unwanted sexual contact against any person by any other person is a sexual assault. Inaccurate assumptions reinforcing homophobic prejudices can result in men not reporting sexual assaults or seeking help.
	
Truth: 	Victims of sexual violence are often afraid of being killed or seriously injured. A ‘survival instinct’, a physiological response to the danger, can kick in, resulting in various responses. An individual’s reaction may cause them to be in shock and they may freeze and become physically paralysed, or they may cooperate with the person using violence to save their own life. 
	
Truth: 	Some people who have been sexually assaulted delay in telling someone about it or reporting it. Some never disclose what happened to them. They may not report or tell someone about it because of shame, confusion, guilt, shock, fear of consequences, protecting an offender who they may know, fear they may not be believed or because they may blame themselves for what happened. 
	
Truth: 	People can react differently to a sexual assault. Many experience a form of shock that leaves them emotionally numb or flat – and apparently calm. This may even take the form of dissociation in order to protect themselves. While the public tend to assess a victim of sexual assault who is upset and emotional as being more credible, evidence shows credibility is not related to an emotional display.

Source: Queensland Sexual Assault Network: Myths & Facts; Queensland Police Service: Myths and facts about sexual violence.

Facts and figures
Including relevant statistics in media reporting helps better reflect the reality of experiences of sexual violence. 
Be aware that the recorded data does not reflect the true scale of the issue as many people do not report to police. Also be aware that an individual’s own biases can influence how they interpret data.
Almost 2.8 million Australians have experienced sexual violence since the age of 15.

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2023. Personal Safety 2021-22, Australia, Australian Government, Canberra.
	One in 5 Australian women experienced sexual violence since the age of 15 (22%).

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2023. Personal Safety, Australia 2022, Australian Government, Canberra.
	
One in 16 Australian men experienced sexual violence since the age of 15.

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2023. Personal Safety, Australia 2021-22, Australian Government, Canberra.
	1 in 5 women have experienced stalking since the age of 15 (20% or 1.6 million).

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2023. Personal Safety Australia 2021-22, Australian Government, Canberra.	
First Nations women are 3.5 times more likely to experience sexual violence than non-Indigenous women.

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2017. Personal Safety, Australia 2016, Australian Government, Canberra.
	In 2022, 32,146 people reported sexual assault to police, up 3% on the previous year. Of these, 84% were women (26,967). 

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2023. Recorded Crime – Victims, Australia, Australian Government, Canberra.	
One in 4 (25% or 748,000) women with disability have experienced sexual violence after the age of 15, compared with 15% (or 978,000) without disability.

Source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. 2022. People with disability in Australia, Australian Government, Canberra. 
	Women were more likely to experience sexual violence by an intimate partner (9.2%) or other people they know (10%) than by a stranger (4.6%).
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2023. Personal Safety, Australia 2021-22, Australian Government, Canberra. 	
One in 100 Australians aged 65 and older reported sexual abuse; 35% reported multiple types of sexual abuse.
Source: Australian Institute of Family Services. 2022. Elder abuse in Australia: sexual abuse, Australian Government, Canberra.	More than a third (36%) of all sexual assaults were domestic and family violence related (11,676 victims).
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2023. Recorded Crime – Victims, Australian Government, Canberra.

One in 2 LGBTQIA+ Australians reported experiencing sexual violence in childhood and adulthood.
Source: Salter, M. et al. 2024. National Survey of LGBTQIA+SB Experiences of Sexual Violence – Summary Report, University of New South Wales, Sydney..
	Lifetime prevalence data indicates that 51% of women in their twenties have experienced sexual violence.
Source: Townsend, N. et al. 2022. A life course approach to determining the prevalence and impact of sexual violence in Australia: Findings from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health, Research report 14/2022, ANROWS.
	
The cost of violence against women and their children in Australia is estimated at $26 billion a year. 
Source: Department of Social Services. 2022. The National Plan to End Violence against Women and their Children 2022-32, Australian Government, Canberra.
	Empty cell	

Agencies which publish relevant statistics include: 
•	Australian Bureau of Statistics
•	Australian Institute of Criminology
•	Australian Institute of Family Studies
•	Australian Institute for Health and Welfare
•	Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety
•	Queensland Courts
•	Queensland Government Statistician’s Office
•	Queensland Police Service.

Queensland statistics
479,900 women have experienced sexual violence since age 15. 

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2023. Personal Safety, Australia 2021-22, Australian Government, Canberra.
	7431 victims of sexual assault recorded in 2022 (up 8 per cent from the previous year): 86 per cent were female (6,415 victims) and 65 per cent knew the offender (4,804 victims). 

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2023. Personal Safety, Australia 2022, Australian Government, Canberra.
	
2 in 3 sexual assaults occurred at a residential location. 

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2023. Recorded Crime – Victims 2022, Australian Government, Canberra. 
	12.5 per cent of all reported victims of sexual assaults in Queensland in 2022 were First Nations people. 

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2023. Recorded Crime – Victims 2022, Australian Government, Canberra.
	
Queensland Police reported offences – 3991 rape and attempted rape charges in 2023-24. 

Source: Queensland Police Service. 2024. Maps and statistics, Queensland Government. Viewed on 16 January 2025, www.police.qld.gov.au/maps-and-statistics
	89 per cent of female prisoners in Queensland have experienced sexual violence. 

Source: Kilroy, D. 2016. ‘Women in Prison in Australia’, Current Issues in Sentencing Conference, National Judicial College of Australia and the ANU College of Law.

You can find further data at:
•	Department of Justice: https://www.justice.qld.gov.au/about-us/services/women-violence-prevention/violence-prevention/sexual-violence-prevention/sexual-violence-statistics
•	Police: www.police.qld.gov.au/maps-and-statistics
•	Queensland Government Statistician’s Office: https://www.qgso.qld.gov.au/statistics/theme/crime-justice/crime-justice-statistics
•	Australian Institute of Criminology: www.aic.gov.au/publications/sr
•	Queensland Sexual Assault Network: https://www.justice.qld.gov.au/about-us/services/women-violence-prevention/violence-prevention/sexual-violence-prevention/sexual-violence-statistics

Experts and sources
Choice of information sources can influence how a story is framed. Reports on sexual violence often focus on specific incidents and rely solely on law enforcement or court sources for contextual information.  Police are important sources, but not the only ones. They can describe incidents of crime but many sexual assaults are never reported. 
Individuals and organisations with expertise in sexual violence and its prevention can provide useful and diverse perspectives for journalists for context in media reports or as background information. Some support sector organisations have trained survivor advocates and may have further information about how to contact survivors for comment.
Experts can include:
•	national and state-based sexual violence organisations
•	individuals such as academics or community experts
•	organisations relevant to reporting on specific groups
•	survivor advocates.
Drawing on a range of experts helps better inform media reporting as no individual can speak for an entire community. Avoid using sources close to the person using the violence.
Contact details for Queensland support services and other organisations which may provide useful information can be found at page 33.

Trauma
Trauma results from an event, series of events, or set of circumstances experienced by an individual as physically or emotionally harmful, which has lasting adverse effects on their functioning and mental, physical, social, emotional, or spiritual wellbeing.
Individuals experience trauma in different ways at different times. People may feel or behave differently than their normal selves or even be unaware that they have been impacted. They are often unable to tell their stories immediately after an incident due to trauma which can affect memory, perception and judgment as their brain tries to make sense of what has occurred or due to physical trauma they may have suffered.
Trauma can affect the way people seek help and engage with services as they may feel unsafe, find it hard to trust other people or be fearful. The impacts of trauma depend on a range of factors including age, previous experience of trauma, how long the trauma lasts, how often it happens and how extreme it is. It can also depend on culture, background and the social context of a person’s life.
Trauma-informed approaches are considered best practice in dealing with people impacted by trauma. The core principles for trauma-informed practice are:
•	safety
•	trust
•	choice
•	collaboration, and
•	empowerment.
A trauma-informed approach is a victim-centric one that:
•	understands how trauma can affect the brain and body
•	recognises that behaviours may be coping mechanisms to keep safe
•	considers what has happened to the person, not what is ‘wrong’ with them
•	collaborates with victim-survivors
•	empowers victim-survivors by providing opportunities to rebuild a sense of control 
•	seeks to avoid re-traumatisation.
Reporting violence, tragedy or trauma requires extreme sensitivity and understanding trauma can help journalists to do their jobs better.
Trauma-informed reporting
Journalists can significantly influence public understanding of trauma through media reporting that humanises victim-survivors and doesn’t reduce them to their trauma. A trauma-informed approach should be used whether or not a victim-survivor chooses to speak to a journalist.
Trauma-informed reporting recognises what the person has experienced, how it might be continuing to affect them and how telling their story could cause them to re-experience the original trauma and further impact them.
Some people are not ready to process or discuss what has happened immediately. Their accounts may only make partial sense, their recall may be incomplete or even contradictory and they may block out an event entirely. They may be able to provide more accurate details when they have had some time to heal. 
Trauma and reporting on sexual violence
Sexual violence takes power away from people and can make them feel they lack control in their lives. Giving victim-survivors control over their stories helps empower them. It is vital that people understand the reporting process to be able to give informed consent about taking part. 
Journalists should clearly explain the type of questions they may ask, the broader story structure and why they are interested in the victim-survivor’s experience. Ask them what they want to achieve through telling their story and what they do and don’t want to talk about. They should also consider who is likely to see the story to make an informed decision about any potential impact on their safety.
Compassion and respect should underpin trauma-informed reporting and they help build trust. A female victim-survivor will often feel more comfortable with a female interviewer so ask whether she prefers a woman conduct the interview.
“Trauma-informed journalism means understanding trauma, understanding what a trauma survivor is experiencing before you show up at their door, and understanding how your actions [as a journalist] will impact them after you pack up and leave.” – Former crime reporter Tamara Cherry  

Exercise caution when reporting on specific incidents or accusations and consider whether including graphic details enhances the story or further traumatises the victim-survivor. Avoid saying you know what someone is going through. Filmed interviews should obscure characteristics of the victim-survivor such as their voice, physical features or features of their home to avoid any further risk to their safety. 
Never name a victim-survivor without their explicit and informed consent and take great care not to inadvertently identify them if they don’t want to be identified or can’t be by law. Details such as location, age or employment can often be sufficient to enable people to work out the identity, especially in smaller communities. 
After publication or broadcast, journalists should support their interviewee, which may require talking with them about the story or assisting them to contact support services.
See Reporting on vulnerable and diverse communities on page 24 for information about trauma-informed reporting about people from diverse communities. 
Vicarious trauma and self-care for media
Reporting on traumatic events can be overwhelming and trigger many emotions. Continued exposure to such experiences can cause vicarious trauma. This can cause physical impacts such as headaches and fatigue, psychological impacts like feeling numb, hopeless or guilty, disturbed sleep, and behavioural signs such as mood changes, withdrawal or reliance on unhealthy coping mechanisms.
Journalists should keep their own mental health in mind. Exercise, sleep and planned breaks away from social media and the internet can help, as can debriefing with an editor or trusted colleague. Seek support through inhouse employee assistance programs, private practitioners or other available resources which can help guide self-care, help seeking and management of vicarious trauma. 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) has trauma counsellors who can support professionals dealing with traumatic content and the service is free, confidential and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Reporting on sexual violence: the legalities
NOTE: For the avoidance of doubt, this is general information and should not be considered legal advice. Journalists should seek their own legal advice about media reports regarding sexual violence.	
When reporting on specific incidents
Just as every incidence of sexual violence is unique and complex, every report that seeks to tell the story is unique and nuanced by complex issues.
In many instances, a journalist’s proximity to the details of a story means they have the responsibility to navigate the intricacies of what should and shouldn’t be disclosed. It is always recommended that media be guided by independent legal advice and industry standards and codes of practice.
Including graphic details of an incident may not be appropriate as it may re-traumatise victim-survivors, and evidence shows that detailing offending behaviours can result in copy-cat behaviours or threats to carry out similar acts by other people using violence.  Include only enough detail as is necessary to show the gravity of the offence and not minimise its significance. Mindframe has excellent resources to support safe and accurate media reporting on matters involving mental health issues or suicide.
Ultimately, the decision to include specific information in a media report and the decision to publish that report always rests with the media outlet—as do the legal defences which may be available should a court or other party pursue a media outlet regarding a published report.
Court reporting 
Everyone charged with a criminal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty which restricts how media can report on individual court proceedings. The presumption of innocence is a fundamental right that, together with a number of other elements, restricts how media can report.
Journalists may have a defence to the publication of defamatory material if they can prove that the matter was, or was contained in, a fair report of any proceedings of public concern. Defamation can also be a criminal offence in some circumstances.
Refrain from using the terms ‘perpetrator’ and ‘victim-survivor’ in court reports so they do not compromise the legal process. Correct terminology in criminal proceedings includes ‘defendant’ or ‘accused’ and ‘complainant’. Until proven, offences are ‘allegations’ or ‘alleged’ to have occurred. Specific phrases that show the journalist is reporting on evidence that has been presented in court can include “Defence said/told the court” or “The prosecutor said”.
Use of terms such as ‘claims/claimed’ can carry a connotation of doubt, for example, “the victim claimed”, “the offender claimed”. The phrase “Defence said” is better to accurately report on any defence being presented to the court. 
The standard of proof in criminal matters is beyond reasonable doubt, while in civil cases, it is on the balance of probabilities.

Queensland legislative restrictions
Some restrictions journalists should consider when reporting on sexual violence are outlined in this section. These examples are by no means exhaustive and simply illustrate the potential breadth of issues to consider.
Limits on publishing information in relation to sexual offences
NOTE: The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 1978 is repealed as of 26 May 2025. Provisions previously contained in that Act regarding limits on publishing information in relation to sexual offences, particularly identifying matter in relation to complainants and defendants, will move to the Evidence Act 1977 as of that date.
What is identifying matter?
Identifying matter is:
•	the name, address, place of employment or other particulars about a complainant or a defendant or another person that it likely to lead to the identification of the complainant or defendant
•	a photograph, picture, videotape, digital image or other visual representation of the complainant or defendant or another person that it likely to lead to the identification of the complainant or defendant.
Publishing identifying matter in relation to complainants for sexual offences
New provisions in the Evidence Act 1977 regarding identification of sexual offence complainants take effect on 26 May 2025. Publication of information likely to lead to the identification of a complainant in a sexual offence proceeding will remain prohibited, except when legally permitted (see Evidence Act, Part 6C, Division 2). 
This provision provides a fundamental protection for sexual offence complainants and applies to any sexual offence. It is important that media carefully assess any information being considered for publication, and exclude information that may lead to the identification of the complainant, including the complainant’s name, address, school or place of employment.
To empower victim-survivors of sexual violence who wish to share their story publicly, the Evidence Act will provide an exception to the publication offence where an adult or child complainant publishes identifying information about themselves.
The Act also provides it is a defence to the publication offence where:
•	an adult has given written consent, or 
•	a child has given written consent and there is a supporting statement from a relevant person (such as a medical practitioner or psychologist) verifying the child has capacity to consent and understands what it means to be identified as a victim of a sexual offence and the consequences of losing their anonymity.
In each case, the publication must not identify or be likely to lead to the identification of another sexual offence complainant or a child who is a complainant, defendant or witness in a criminal proceeding about the sexual offence. Where a complainant consents to another to publish, such as a media organisation, that publication must comply with any limits the complainant sets.

Complainant privacy orders
The prohibition on identifying a sexual offence complainant does not apply where that person has died, however from 26 May 2025, an application can be made to protect the deceased’s identity through a complainant privacy order (CPO). 
An application for a CPO can only be made where a person has been charged with a sexual offence against the deceased complainant. Only a person with sufficient interest can seek a CPO and an application cannot be made by or on behalf of the offender/defendant. To determine if an applicant has sufficient interest, the court must consider numerous factors, which are set out in the Evidence Act 1977.
The application must set out reasons why it is necessary to prohibit or restrict publication of the identifying matter and why the publication would cause undue distress to the applicant.
In deciding whether to make a CPO, the court must consider:
•	public interests, including the principles of open justice and freedom of expression
•	the nature and circumstances of the offending/alleged offending in considering any undue distress to the applicant
•	any views the complainant expressed while alive about being publicly identified after their death as a victim of a sexual offence/alleged sexual offence
•	any risk the CPO application process may be used to perpetrate domestic violence or is vexatious
•	any cultural considerations relevant to the complainant or applicant.
It cannot take the views of the offender/defendant into account.
A court may make a CPO if it is satisfied that it is necessary to avoid causing the applicant undue distress and if the particular circumstances make it necessary to displace public interests. 
An interim order may be made prohibiting publication of the identifying matter until:
•	the court revokes it, or 
•	the court decides the substantive CPO application.
If the court makes a CPO, it must state:
•	who the order applies to, including specific people or bodies, or the general public
•	the identifying matter covered by the order
•	duration of the order.
If a CPO or an interim order is made, the publication of certain identifying information about a complainant is prohibited. The CPO must not prevent publication of details of a sexual offence or alleged sexual offence or the identification of an offender or defendant so long as any publication is not likely to lead to the identification of the complainant as the victim. Publication of prohibited information constitutes an offence and can result in a maximum penalty of 100 penalty units or two years’ imprisonment for an individual and 1000 penalty units for a corporation. 
A CPO can operate for a stipulated period of time, but must not exceed five years, except where a court extends the duration following application to do so. Extension applications can be made more than once. Each extension must not exceed five years. 
Publishing identifying material in relation to defendants accused of sexual offending 
Publication of identifying matter about an adult defendant charged with a prescribed sexual offence in Queensland is permitted, except where legal restrictions prohibit it. The defendant’s identity cannot be published where it would identify or is likely to lead to the identification of the complainant. 
However, an eligible person – the defendant, the complainant or the prosecution – can apply to a Magistrates Court for a non-publication order (NPO) prohibiting publication of identifying matter which may identify the defendant.
Applicants for a NPO must give three business days’ notice of their intention to apply to the court and to the other eligible persons. Notice to a complainant of a defendant’s application must be given by the prosecution. When the court registry receives a notice of intention to make an application, it will take reasonable steps to notify accredited media entities when notice of intention to make an application is received. However, even if the person applying fails to give the required notice, the court can still hear the application where good reason has been given for the lack of notice, or it is considered in the interests of justice that it be heard. 
A court must take various considerations into account, including the complainant’s views or any submissions made on their behalf when deciding whether to order that the defendant’s identifying matter should not be published (pursuant to the NPO).
The court may order that the application for the NPO be made in a closed court.
An interim order may be made prohibiting publication of the identifying matter until:
•	the court revokes it, or 
•	the court finally decides the substantive application.
If the court makes an NPO, it must state:
•	the grounds on which the order is made
•	what matter is not covered by the order
•	the extent to which publication of the identifying matter is prohibited, and
•	that the order ceases when the defendant is committed for trial or sentence, is sentenced or the charge is withdrawn, whichever happens first.
If an NPO or interim order is made, the publication of identifying matter is prohibited. Publication of prohibited information constitutes an offence and can result in a maximum penalty of 100 penalty units or two years’ imprisonment for an individual and 1000 penalty units for a corporation. 
What is a prescribed sexual offence?
Under the Evidence Act 1977, a prescribed sexual offence is:
(a)	rape; 
(b)	attempt to commit rape; 
(c)	assault with intent to commit rape; 
(d)	an offence against Section 352 of the Criminal Code.

The role of accredited media entities in CPO and NPO application processes
Accredited media entities are listed in the Supreme Court Media Accreditation Policy (included in Amended Practice Direction 8 of 2014 – Photography and electronic devices in court buildings; see www.courts.qld.gov.au).
The court must take reasonable steps to notify each accredited media entity when it receives either:
•	application for a CPO under section 103ZZZE of the Evidence Act
•	application to extend a CPO under section 103ZZZI of the Evidence Act, or
•	application for review or own-motion review of a CPO under section 103ZZZP of the Evidence Act, or
•	notification that an application for an NPO under section 103ZZW of the Evidence Act is going to be made. 
Accredited media entities can make submissions about the application at the court hearing. They may also apply to the court to review an order that has already been made. 
The court registry will notify accredited media entities of an application for a CPO, applications to extend or review a CPO and a notice of application for an NPO. The notice will include relevant information about the time and place for the court hearing of the application.
Each accredited media entity may nominate a single email address for the purpose of receiving such notifications from the court.
It is important for each accredited media entity to ensure its nominated email address is appropriately monitored and that court emails are handled in compliance with privacy obligations under law.
Any accredited media entity seeking to update its email address should contact the Principal Information Officer, Supreme and District Courts at MediaSDC@justice.qld.gov.au for further information.
How can I check if a CPO or NPO has been made?
Journalists can find out if a court has made a non-publication order by emailing: 
Magistrates Court
Contact the relevant registry 
www.courts.qld.gov.au/contacts/courthouses	
Supreme and District Courts
(including Planning & Environment) and Land Court
Principal Information Officer 
MediaSDC@justice.qld.gov.au	

Other publication restrictions
Other restrictions may impact on a journalist’s ability to report on a sexual violence incident even if a NPO or CPO has not been made under the Evidence Act 1977. 
•	Under the Evidence Act 1977, media can be excluded from the court while the complainant gives evidence unless an application to be present is made, and the court determines the applicant’s presence would not be prejudicial to the complainant’s interests and would serve a proper interest of the applicant.
•	The court may have made an order in related proceedings prohibiting publication or disclosure of information.
•	The Criminal Law (Rehabilitation of Offenders) Act 1986 may prevent publication of previous criminal convictions of individuals. The rehabilitation period for an offender sentenced in the Supreme or District Courts of Queensland is ten years, and five years for all other convictions in Queensland. 
•	Other legislation may restrict publication of information:
-	identifying a child
- 	identifying certain people in relation to child protection proceedings
- 	identifying the parties to domestic and family violence proceedings
-	identifying a person whose ‘identifying matter’ is subject of a non-publication order
-	identifying a person as a party to mental health proceedings
-	identifying a person who is being retried or who has applied to be retried
-	provided in closed court
-	the subject of a coronial inquest
-	subject to proceedings under the Mental Health Act 2016.
•	Restrictions may also apply under Commonwealth legislation, for example, a court may suppress publication of evidence related to witness protection under the Witness Protection Act 1994 (Cth).
•	There are a number of court orders that may also restrict the publication of certain information such as suppression orders, non-publication orders and complainant privacy orders. Journalists should take care to ensure that when reporting on sexual violence that also includes allegations of DFV or other criminal offending, that the reporting does not breach any relevant order.
Contempt of court
• 	You may be charged with contempt of court if you publish material that has a real tendency to prejudice or interfere with a particular proceeding or the administration of justice. These rules apply equally whether the prejudice would be to the prosecution or the defence.
• 	Generally, publication of material which is only a fair summary of court proceedings conducted in open court may not constitute contempt. However, publication of such material may still breach legislative restrictions on publication.
• 	Failure to comply with a court order restraining publication would likely constitute contempt.
Defamation
• 	Journalists who publish defamatory material may be sued for defamation.
•	Defences to defamation include where the journalist proves that the defamatory imputations are substantially true or that the defamatory material was, or was contained in, in a fair report of court proceedings of public concern.

Breach of confidentiality and negligence
•	Journalists who receive confidential information or improperly or surreptitiously obtain information may be subject to a duty of confidentiality. Journalists who misuse this information may be sued for breach of confidentiality.
•	Journalists may be liable for negligence if they owed a duty of care and caused loss by breaching that duty.
Changes to language in sexual offences 
Legislative language used in sexual offences in Queensland has been updated to better reflect contemporary terminology:
•	the offence title ‘repeated sexual conduct with a child’ has replaced ‘maintaining a sexual relationship with a child’
•	the term ‘penile intercourse’ has replaced ‘carnal knowledge’ across a range of offences.

Reporting on vulnerable and diverse communities
Some people are at a higher risk of experiencing sexual violence in their lifetimes.
•	Women and girls
•	Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
•	People with disability	•	People from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds 
•	People in the custodial system	
•	LGBTQIA+ people	•	People experiencing homelessness	
•	Sex workers
•	Children and young people	•	Older people    	
		
Trauma and its impacts
Aspects of an individual’s identity may intersect, for example, a person who has experienced trauma may be an LGBTQIA+ refugee, and this can further increase their risk of sexual violence and compound their trauma.
As well as sexual violence-related trauma, victim-survivors may have been exposed to additional trauma through their experiences of social marginalisation, discrimination, economic deprivation, dispossession, displacement, incarceration or racism. 
Empowering victim-survivors who want to share their stories can be an important part of their healing process and can help them be part of positive social change to address and prevent sexual violence.
Visibility and telling diverse stories
By telling the stories of people from diverse communities with lived experience of sexual violence, media can increase the visibility of the issue in the community, its impacts and the victim-survivors. 
A lack of visibility or balanced reporting can lead to them not being viewed as the ‘ideal victim’. An individual’s age, race, religion, sexual preference, gender, employment, physical or mental ability should not determine the worth of telling their story.
Media reporting should focus on the actions of the person using violence, not the behaviour of the victim or their community. This helps minimise the perpetuation of stereotypes or myths about the prevalence or acceptability of sexual violence in certain groups or communities or inadvertently contributing to victim-blaming. Consider whether identifying a person’s race, culture, ethnicity or other status is pertinent to the story as it can also reinforce myths and stereotypes. 
Reporting which continues to reproduce harmful stereotypes and blame victims can result in a broader lack of trust and confidence in the media. 
Journalists can help frame the conversation in society that sexual violence will not be tolerated in any communities, not just in those sectors where certain stories have gained more media attention. Their coverage can highlight community-driven initiatives and leadership addressing SV and promote narratives of resilience and strength.
Challenges for reporting
There are many issues to consider when seeking to report on the experience of victim-survivors from diverse communities. For many victim-survivors, there is a real fear that disclosing the violence by telling their story could result in further harm, identify the victim’s whereabouts, or result in them not being believed or being blamed for their own abuse. Reprisals against family or others supporting them may also be a potential threat.
They may hold religious or cultural beliefs about gender roles and behaviours, particularly within marriage, that are inconsistent with speaking out about violence perpetrated against them and their children or with seeking legal redress. Taboos and barriers around speaking about sex and the body can also inhibit open discussion about sexual violence and sexual harassment.
Communication may be a barrier, particularly for those who might have a disability or lower levels of English fluency. Some may not understand that what they have experienced is sexual violence, that it is not acceptable or that they are likely victims of crime. Where people are not proficient English speakers, journalists should seek to access qualified interpreters to assist their reporting. Even where people may be proficient in English, talking about traumatic experiences may still warrant use of an interpreter. It is important to provide safe spaces for victim-survivors to share their stories, such as conducting interviews with First Nations peoples 'On Country’ if requested.
A lack of confidence in dealing with cross-cultural issues and sensitivities may deter journalists from reporting on sexual violence in First Nations communities and culturally and linguistically diverse groups.
Media should consider who is the most appropriate person to report on a matter. In some cultures a male reporter meeting a woman alone might cause further social stigma.
Reporting should not stigmatise any particular cultural or religious group. Liaison with support services such as First Nations or migrant women’s services may assist journalists to prepare and report in a culturally safe and sensitive way, and provide relevant background and context around issues and stereotypes.
Media should consult with local community leaders or Elders for advice on cultural protocols or to seek permission to use sensitive information or sacred symbols. 
Children and young people may want to speak about their experiences of SV. As with adult interviewees, avoiding harm and ensuring the child’s wellbeing are key. Protecting privacy is even more critical for children, especially when reporting about distress or abuse. 
Care should be taken to ensure that any person nominated to speak on behalf of a particular community does not condone abusive behaviour or blame victims.
In First Nations communities, additional cultural considerations for victim-survivors include:
•	community members using violence may be in positions of power such as Elders, mayor/councillors or may hold ‘cultural authority’, etc
•	concern about payback from family members or community
•	shame of being a victim and bringing shame on family
•	consequences of reporting against a person who uses violence or family member who is the sole financial contributor and what impact it will have if they are incarcerated. 
‘In some societies, just being suspected of having been raped can lead to humiliation, being ostracised, and even to further violence.’ 

More information on reporting on vulnerable and diverse communities:
Reporting on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and Issues, Media Diversity Australia. 2020. https://www.mediadiversityaustralia.org/resources/

Tips for reporting on violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, Our Watch. https://www.ourwatch.org.au/media-reporting/resources/reporting-on-violence-against-aboriginal-torres-strait-islander-women

Race Reporting Handbook, Australian Human Rights Commission and Media Diversity Australia. 2024. https://www.mediadiversityaustralia.org/race-reporting-handbook/

Disability Reporting Handbook, Media Diversity Australia. 2012. https://www.mediadiversityaustralia.org/disability-reporting-handbook/

MEAA Guidelines for Reporting on LGBTQIA+ Issues, Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance. 2021. www.meaa.org/download/meaa-guidelines-for-reporting-on-lgbtqia-issues/

Media reporting guidelines, Older Persons Advocacy Network. 2023. 
www.opan.org.au/about-us/media-centre/media-reporting-guidelines

Valuing diversity in news and newsrooms, News and Research Centre, University of Canberra. 2023. www.apo.org.au/sites/default/files/resource-files/2023-03

Guidelines for journalists reporting on children, UNICEF. https://www.unicef.org/eca/media/ethical-guidelines

Media guide: Treating every child and young person fairly, National Association for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (NAPCAN). 2024. https://www.napcan.org.au/media-guide/
Practical tips
Interviewing tips
•	Approach an individual with sensitivity and respect and explain the purpose of your story.
•	Obtain informed consent to ensure the interviewee is clear about what you will discuss and how that information might be used, including in criminal or other legal proceedings.
•	Consider the timing of interviewing people, including victim-survivors, involved in matters actively being progressed in the criminal justice system. Before interview, check if a victim-survivor of sexual assault has been notified that an application under the Evidence Act 1977 has been filed or made. Check if an interim order regarding publication relating to the potential interviewee has been made. 
•	Seek advice and follow appropriate cultural protocols before and when going to a First Nations community to interview someone. 
•	Allow victim-survivors choice as to the timing, location and duration of the interview.
•	Provide choice as to the gender of the interviewer.
•	Ask what they would like to achieve from telling their story.
•	Provide questions beforehand if asked and discuss any aspects they do not want to talk about.
•	Ask if they’d like you to prepare by pre-reading certain material and provide them choice about what they share.
•	Always ask permission before using a recording device.
•	Consider personal space, especially if working with someone who’s been sexually assaulted. 
•	Try to limit the number of people present at the interview.
•	If using microphones, the person may want to fit it themself. 
•	Ask whether they want to be identified, use a pseudonym or remain anonymous.
•	Check if they would like a support person present. Interviewing a child or young person should be done in the presence (or at least with consent of) a parent or trusted adult.
•	Asking someone to repeatedly retell their story may retraumatise them.
•	Allow the interviewee to take a break when needed or to end the interview at any point.
•	Have a list of support services on hand. Stop the interview if they are visibly distressed.
•	Never say you know how they feel or physically comfort someone without asking. 
•	Assist victim-survivors in preparing for media attention, including by providing advice on protecting social media profiles.
•	Turn off comments on the published piece or warn the victim-survivor if this is not possible.

Use of language
•	Rape or sexual assault is violence, not ‘sex’ and is not associated with normal or acceptable sexual activity. A pattern of abuse is not an ‘affair’.
•	People who have suffered sexual violence may not wish to be described as victims and prefer to be described as survivors, victim-survivors or some other term.
•	Avoid language that blames the victim or makes excuses for the actions of the person using violence.
•	Focus on the harm done to the victim-survivor. 
•	Consider the level of graphic detail needed for the story; include only as much as it necessary.
•	Query the relevance of including a person’s previous sexual history, for example, including sex work.
•	Don’t sensationalise the victim-survivor’s gender identity.
•	Avoid sympathy for the person using violence. Include details about them if the interviewee is comfortable and there are no legal restrictions, such as court proceedings.
Headlines
•	Avoid headlines that sensationalise stories or undermine the seriousness of the violence. 
•	Consider the impact: while headlines aim to attract attention, they should be accurate and not reinforce myths and misconceptions about sexual violence. 
•	Don’t minimise the violence, give excuses for the person using violence or blame the victim. 
•	Use active language to focus on the actions of the person using violence actions to keep them in focus, for example, ‘Man rapes woman’ rather than ‘Woman raped’.
Use of imagery
•	Don’t use graphic images or stock imagery that stereotype victims. 
•	Photos relating to or depicting an incident may be distressing and offensive to the interviewee or others impacted by it.
•	Don’t take photos of victim-survivors that make them appear small, look sad or helpless or use inappropriate social media images, for example, swimwear or revealing clothing should not be used. What does the chosen imagery say about the victim-survivor?
•	Ensure images do not identify a victim-survivor if you don’t have permission or if there are legal reasons why you cannot. Film your interviewee from behind against a strong light, or in shadows, or consider using digital blurring or mosaic techniques.
•	Re-enactments can be traumatising for victim-survivors so obtain their consent before use. 
•	Use images that represent survivors from diverse communities when possible.
•	Follow cultural protocols regarding using the name or image of a deceased Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person. (See page 24 for more information on reporting about reporting on people from vulnerable and diverse communities.)
•	Ensure proper consideration if using stock images or images of First Nations actors in association with sexual violence. Using someone’s face or image for this type of reporting can have harmful impacts on them and their community.
While editors may have the final say over the use of content, headings and images used to accompany a story, journalists should liaise between the interviewee and their editors or supervisors about the use and appropriateness of material.

Dos and Don’ts
DO When legally possible, name the violence to help the audience understand that violence against women and their children is widespread rather than as ‘random acts of violence’.	DON’T Use terms that minimise or trivialise violence, for example, calling it sexual intercourse or a sexual relationship.
	
DO Ensure you report in a way that doesn’t compromise the victim-survivor’s safety and the safety of family or others supporting them.	DON’T Name a victim-survivor without their explicit and informed consent or include specific details which might risk identifying victim-survivors if they don’t want to be identified or can’t be by law. In First Nations or migrant communities or rural and regional areas, it may be easy to identify a person even when measures are taken to de-identify them.	
DO Use language that helps the audience understand the evidence that, globally, most violence against women and children is driven by gender inequality.	DON’T Sensationalise or trivialise violence, including through use of overly dramatic language, unnecessary details, gratuitous or disempowering images, or inappropriate references or puns.	
DO Depict sexual assault as a serious crime.	DON’T Imply responsibility for the sexual violence lies with the victim-survivor. Don’t focus on the survivor’s clothing, employment, marital status, sexuality, past relationships or substance use.	
DO Use active language to emphasise that someone perpetrated the violence against a victim. Name the current or previous relationships between the victim-survivor and person using violence if legally possible to remind the audience that most sexual violence is perpetrated by someone known to them.	DON’T Describe the drivers of violence as being alcohol/drugs, mental health, stress, finances, culture, the ‘burden’ of caring for someone with a disability or a person using violence ‘just snapping’. These issues may exacerbate violence but evidence shows the main driver is gender inequality. 	
DO Ensure that people with lived experience, advocates from the sexual violence sector, academics and those from more diverse communities are given opportunity to speak about the issue to help improve understanding of the issue and its impacts.	DON’T Focus solely on voices of law enforcement, legal and people using violence when reporting on sexual violence.	
DO Ensure any court report is a fair and accurate report of the proceedings and circumstances of the case. Contempt laws can limit inclusion of broader contextual information about violence against women and statistics which could imply guilt and prejudice a trial.	DON’T Reinforce the idea that women should modify their own behaviour in order to avoid men’s violence. Accountability for violence should always sit with the person who has perpetrated it.	
DO Use the opportunity to help men, women and children who may be looking for help. Include information about support options for people who have experienced sexual violence, as well as people who use violence.	DON’T Just provide information about suicide or mental health services. Advise those experiencing sexual violence about where they can go to seek specialist help.
	
Sources: Our Watch. 2019. How to report on violence against women and their children, Our Watch Limited; Blatchford. A. Tips for media reporting on violence against women where there are legal restrictions, Our Watch Limited.

Further information, advice and assistance
Information for media
Australian Government – National Office for Child Safety	Reporting on child sexual abuse: Guidance for media
https://www.childsafety.gov.au/resources/reporting-child-sexual-abuse-guidance-media
National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse 2021-2030
https://www.childsafety.gov.au/resources/national-strategy-prevent-and-respond-child-sexual-abuse-2021-2030	
Australian Press Council	Family and domestic violence reporting advisory guideline
www.presscouncil.org.au/document/family-and-domestic-violence-reporting-advisory-guideline	
Blue Knot Foundation	www.blueknot.org.au/resources	
DART Centre for Journalism and Trauma
	Trauma and Journalism: A Guide For Journalists, Editors and Managers
www.dartcenter.org/content/trauma-journalism-handbook
Reporting on sexual violence
www.dartcenter.org/content/reporting-on-sexual-violence
Self Care Tips for News Media 
www.dartcenter.org/content/self-care-tips-for-news-media-personnel-exposed-to-traumatic-events	
Department of Justice	Media enquiries
media.relations@justice.qld.gov.au
P: 07 3738 9295	
Jane Gilmore	Fixed It: Headlines
www.janegilmore.com/fixedit-headlines	
Media Diversity Australia 
	Reporting on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and Issues
https://www.mediadiversityaustralia.org/resources/
Disability Reporting Handbook 
https://www.mediadiversityaustralia.org/disability-reporting-handbook/	
Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance	MEAA Guidelines for Reporting on LGBTQIA+ Issues 
www.meaa.org/download/meaa-guidelines-for-reporting-on-lgbtqia-issues/	
Mindframe	Reporting suicide and mental ill-health: A Mindframe resource for media professionals
www.mindframe.org.au/guidelines	
Office of the Victims’ Commissioner	Charter of Victims’ Rights 
www.victimscommissioner.qld.gov.au/Charter-of-Victims-Rights	
Older Persons Advocacy Network	Media reporting guidelines
www.opan.org.au/about-us/media-centre/media-reporting-guidelines

Our Watch
	Media comment
media@ourwatch.org.au; 0448 844 930
Guidelines for reporting
https://www.ourwatch.org.au/media-reporting/resources/guidelines-for-reporting
Tips for media reporting on violence against women when there are legal restrictions
https://media.ourwatch.org.au/reporting-violence-against-women/tips-for-media-reporting-on-violence-against-women-when-there-are-legal-restrictions/
Tips for media reporting on violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women
https://www.ourwatch.org.au/media-reporting/resources/reporting-on-violence-against-aboriginal-torres-strait-islander-women	
People with Disability Australia	PWDA Language Guide: A guide to language about disability
https://pwd.org.au/resources/language-guide/	
Queensland Courts	Supreme and District Court media enquiries
MediaSDC@justice.qld.gov.au
Magistrates Court media enquiries
MediaMC@justice.qld.gov.au	
Queensland Government	Need to Know
www.qld.gov.au/needtoknow
Domestic and Family Violence Media Guide 
www.qld.gov.au/dfvmediaguide
Sexual Violence Media Guide
www.qld.gov.au/svmediaguide 
Prevent. Support. Believe. Queensland’s framework to address sexual violence
https://www.families.qld.gov.au/our-work/domestic-family-sexual-violence/sexual-violence-prevention/framework	
Awareness training for media
Our Watch	Training for Journalists
https://www.ourwatch.org.au/media-reporting/resources/professional-development#training-for-journalists	
DART Centre for Journalism 	Ethical reporting on traumatised people
www.dartcenter.org/content/dvd-launched-ethical-reporting-people-affected-by-trauma	
Walkley Foundation	Scanlon Foundation Media Training
www.walkleys.com/professional-development/training/scanlon-foundation-media-training/	
Statistics
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)
	Personal Safety, Australia
www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/crime-and-justice/personal-safety-australia
Recorded Crime - Victims
www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/crime-and-justice/recorded-crime-victims/latest-release
Sexual Violence - Victimisation
www.abs.gov.au/articles/sexual-violence-victimisation	
Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS)	The nature and extent of sexual assault and abuse in Australia
www.aifs.gov.au/resources/practice-guides/nature-and-extent-sexual-assault-and-abuse-australia	
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW)
	Family, domestic and sexual violence in Australia: continuing the national story 2019
www.aihw.gov.au/reports/domestic-violence/family-domestic-sexual-violence-australia-2019/contents/summary
Sexual assault in Australia
www.aihw.gov.au/reports/domestic-violence/sexual-assault-in-australia/contents/summary	
Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS) 
	The 2021 National Community Attitudes Towards Violence Against Women Survey (NCAS)
https://www.ncas.au/
Violence Against Women: Accurate use of key statistics
https://www.anrows.org.au/resources/fact-sheet-violence-against-women-accurate-use-of-key-statistics/
Media representations of violence against women and children 
https://www.anrows.org.au/publication/media-representations-of-violence-against-women-and-their-children-final-report/	
Department of Justice and Attorney-General (Qld)	Sexual violence statistics
www.justice.qld.gov.au/about-us/services/women-violence-prevention/violence-prevention/sexual-violence-prevention/sexual-violence-statistics	
Our Watch	Quick facts
www.ourwatch.org.au/quick-facts	
Queensland Police Service	Maps and statistics
www.police.qld.gov.au/maps-and-statistics	
Queensland Sexual Assault Network (QSAN)	Sexual Violence in Queensland – Key Facts
www.qsan.org.au/key-facts	
Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council (QSAC)	www.sentencingcouncil.qld.gov.au/statistics	
Queensland Government Statistician’s Office, Queensland Treasury 	Crime and justice statistics, Reported crime
www.qgso.qld.gov.au/statistics/theme/crime-justice/crime-justice-statistics/reported-crime

Support services
Media stories will reach people who have experienced or are experiencing sexual violence so it can be helpful to provide information on sources of support.
Queensland Sexual Assault Network		www.qsan.org.au	
State Sexual Assault Helpline
7.30am-11.30pm, 7 days a week	1800 010 120	www.dvconnect.org/sexual-assault-helpline	
1800 RESPECT	1800 737 732	www.1800respect.org.au	
Kids Helpline
24 hours, 7 days a week	1800 55 1800	www.kidshelpline.com.au	
Lifeline
24-hour crisis counselling line	13 11 14	www.lifeline.org.au	
Mensline Australia	1300 78 99 78	www.mensline.org.au	
Bravehearts	1800 272 831	www.bravehearts.org.au		
Additional contacts
13 YARN 
for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples	13 92 76	www.13yarn.org.au	
Blue Knot Foundation	1300 657 380	www.blueknot.org.au	
LGBTI Legal Service	(07) 3124 7164	www.lgbtilegalservice.org.au	
Office of the Victims’ Commissioner		www.victimscommissioner.qld.gov.au	
Queensland Council of Social Services	07 3004 6900	www.qcoss.org.au
	
Queensland Elder Abuse Helpline	1300 651 192	www.eapu.com.au/elder-abuse-helpline/	
Queensland Indigenous Family Violence Legal Service	1800 887 700	www.qifvls.com.au	
Victim Assist Queensland	1300 546 587	www.qld.gov.au/victims	
Women’s Legal Service Queensland	1800 957 957	www.wlsq.org.au	
WWILD 
for people with an intellectual disability	(07) 3262 9877	www.wwild.org.au	

Quick reference template for support services and reporting sexual assault
Report a sexual assault 
If you are in immediate danger call 000. To report a crime, contact Policelink on 131 444, go to your local police station or call Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000. Go to your local hospital or emergency department for medical advice.

To report a sexual assault online, use the Report feature on the Queensland Police Service homepage at www.police.qld.gov.au.

Support services
State Sexual Assault Helpline on 1800 010 120
1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732
13 YARN on 13 92 76
Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380	

Key terms and definitions
The following are some common terms associated with sexual violence. Some words can have a general meaning and a legal meaning.
Commercial sexual exploitation
Commercial sexual exploitation (CSE), a phrase similar to sex trafficking, is a term used globally to describe trafficking crimes where the primary form of forced labour is in sexual services.
Consent (Affirmative consent)
Consent is a free and voluntary agreement between participants to engage in sexual activity. It should be clearly communicated. Consent to one activity, one time, does not mean someone gives consent for other activities or for the same activity on other occasions. A person can withdraw consent at any point if they feel uncomfortable.
Legal definitions of consent may vary. Under current Queensland law, consent is based on an affirmative consent model, which means that consent needs to be freely and voluntarily agreed by a person with the cognitive capacity to do so. Circumstances where consent would not be considered to be freely and voluntarily include if it is obtained by force, threat or intimidation, fear of bodily harm, exercise of authority, false and fraudulent representations about the nature or purpose of the act or by mistaken belief induced by the accused person that they were the person’s sexual partner. A non-exhaustive list of circumstances where there is no consent can be found in the Criminal Code (s348AA). 
Just because a person does not offer verbal resistance to a particular act, does not mean that they can be taken to have consented. Where they do not say or do anything to communicate consent, they have not consented.
Image-based abuse
The taking or sharing of a nude or sexual image of another person without their consent or permission and includes threatening to share images with other people, such as friends, family, workplaces, or on social media. Sometimes called ‘revenge porn’.
Intersectionality
The complex, cumulative way in which multiple forms of discrimination and disadvantage combine, overlap or intersect, especially in the experiences of marginalised individuals or groups. Multiple and intersecting factors can contribute to the prevalence and impact of violence, including racism, discrimination against people who are not able-bodied, heterosexual people or belonging to a particular social class, and the ongoing impact of colonisation.
Intimate partner sexual violence
Sexual acts perpetrated without consent by an intimate partner or ex-partner. It may involve physical force and psychological/emotional coercion, unwanted sexual acts or tactics used to control decisions around reproduction. Often occurs alongside other forms of domestic and family violence and puts a victim at much higher risk of being killed.
Lived experience
An individual who has experienced sexual violence. 

Perpetrator (also referred to as ‘Person using violence’)
Refers to a person who is being violent, abusive, and/or controlling towards the victim-survivor. It acknowledges that many persons who use violence (particularly children and young people who use violence) have been victims of violence themselves.
Rape culture
The social environment that allows sexual violence to be normalised and justified, fuelled by the persistent gender inequalities and attitudes about gender and sexuality.
Rape culture exists in a society or environment in which common social beliefs, attitudes and morals normalise sexual violence, encourage people to associate sex with violence, and minimise the seriousness of sexual violence.
Sex trafficking
The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons by means of threat of or use of force, deception, coercion, abuse of power or position of vulnerability for sexual exploitation.

Sexual assault
Refers to any unwanted sexual act that is forced on a person without their consent – including where intimidation, physical force or coercion are involved.  Can include unwanted sexual touching or groping, or being forced to perform a sexual act on another person. Rape is a term used when sexual penetration is involved. 
Sexual harassment
Any unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that it carried out either to offend, humiliate or intimidate another person, or where it is reasonable to expect the person might feel that way. It includes physical intimacy such as touching in a sexual way, uninvited sexual propositions and remarks with sexual connotations.
Sexual violence
Any unwanted sexual behaviour towards another person. It can happen in public, private, or institutional settings and can be carried out by people known to the victim (including family members, partners or former partners), or by strangers. Sexual violence often has lifelong impacts on people who experience it.
Stalking
Stalking is conduct which is intentionally directed at another person and occurring on more than one occasion. The definition of stalking is broad and includes following, loitering, watching, contacting, monitoring, tracking or other conduct causing the victim fear or apprehension.
Stealthing
The deliberate removal, tampering with or failure to use a condom before or during sexual intercourse without the consent or knowledge of the other person.
Technology-facilitated sexual violence
A range of behaviours where digital technologies are used to facilitate both virtual and face-to-face sexually based harms. This can include unwanted sexting, cyberstalking using mobile phones and social media technology, harassing and repetitive text messages or phone calls of a sexual nature, using technology to record sexual activity without consent, creating fake sexual images or videos, and sharing sexual images or video without consent of those involved, often called image-based abuse.

Vicarious trauma
A person’s negative trauma reactions resulting from exposure to the trauma of others. Also known as secondary trauma. Can result from the cumulative effect of working with people who have experienced traumatic events. 
Victim-survivor
A person who has direct experience of sexual violence. The term recognises the ongoing effects and harm caused by the violence and acknowledges that victims can survive and thrive after experiencing violence and trauma.