A retired Salvation Army officer of 30 years says the orgnisation needs to listen to young people and address the issues of gay and gender diverse youth.
David Eldridge, who was made a member of the Order of Australia for his work for young and homeless people, told a royal commission there was a battle with organisation conservatives about what some judged as "deviant behaviour in young people."
Mr Eldridge said all churches need to face up to "young people coming out as gay" and "young people who are expressing some type of gender struggle".
"And we're going to judge them on that rather than set up systems and processes that deal with them effectively, both within children's organisations and in the broader community," he said at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse on Wednesday.
"Again, I think that goes back to that issue of not listening to young people."
The Salvation Army's Victorian council last month reportedly supported the Safe School's program in its state.
But a national response issued on November 30 said the organisation "cannot unconditionally support the Safe Schools programs in Australia in their current form".
"We believe there needs to be consideration and refinement to the scope and form of implementation," the statement said.
Mr Eldridge was asked to give evidence about why he thought institutionalised child sexual abuse had been a problem in children's homes run by The Salvation Army.
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