Up to one in seven Australian children with disabilities are likely to experience sexual abuse, a new report suggests.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse report, released on Monday, found that between nine and 14 in every 100 children with disabilities would probably experience sexual abuse.
The findings were drawn from reliable international data by researchers from the Centre for Disability Research and Policy at the University of Sydney, the royal commission said.
Researchers found the high rate of vulnerability in disabled children was due to the amount of unsupervised, one-on-one time spent with adults, the need for daily help with personal hygiene and a general assumption disabled children are "less likely to 'tell'".
"This research will contribute to the discussion of the historical factors that have heightened risk of vulnerability for children with a disability and introduces new material on the extent of sexual violence," Royal Commission chief executive Philip Reed said.
"The research also provides an insight into how our understanding of disability in Australia has changed over time and how that has influenced current practices within the disability service system," said Mr Reed.
The report states the actual extent of sexual abuse of children with disabilities in Australia was not known and noted gaps in child protection policy documents that needed to be addressed.
Researchers recommended prevention strategies which focus on respite care, school transport and other high-risk settings.
