Breaking silences: Media and the Child Abuse Royal Commission

This project will analyse the role of media, journalism and social media activism in relation to the ground-breaking Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (2013-17) (RCIRCSA). It is the first major Australian research to explore the media-related dimensions of commissions of inquiry in the digital era. The project will document and analyse changing media practices and impacts of such critical national conversations by examining public discussion of the child abuse royal commission over a 10-year period from 2010-2020. A case study approach is used to assess the role of a transitioning local, national and social media in triggering, reporting on and keeping alive the findings of the royal commission, ensuring victims of child sexual abuse are heard, and justice is upheld.