The current focus on institutional child sexual abuse could cause organisations to become defensive and introduce rules that damage children, according to a report.
The research study by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, titled Hear no Evil, See no Evil, was published on Wednesday.
It identifies the challenges of creating and maintaining a safe organisation where staff are quick to recognise and report abuse or grooming behaviour.
The research says while the current social concern about institutional sexual abuse is beneficial "it does carry the danger of creating an atmosphere of public vilification for past mistakes that leads to defensive practices in organisations".
It warns organisations might retreat to the safety of fixed rules such as banning all physical contact between an adult and a child.
"This protects adults from false accusations of grooming or abuse but at the cost of depriving children of appropriate and nurturing human contact," it says.
The report says workers may interpret principles as rules because they are scared of getting into trouble if their judgments turn out to be wrong.
"To counter this, a 'fair' culture is needed where workers are confident that they will receive a just hearing and only be punished if they acted carelessly or with malice."
Professor Eileen Munro from the London School of Economics and Political Sciences and Dr Sheila Fish from the Social Care Institute for Excellence drew on two royal commission cases for their study - that of former Scout leader Steve Larkin and YMCA worker Jonathan Lord.
Both men abused children in their care and Lord, who is still in jail, was found to have groomed co-workers at a YMCA childcare centre at Caringbah in Sydney's South.
"The case studies are examples of failure but the analyses of how the abuse was not prevented or identified reveals the challenges inherent in these tasks," the researchers say.
The report identifies challenges organisations face - perpetrators conceal their activities; children are unable or slow to seek help; and much grooming behaviour is ambiguous.
Prof Munro, who led the independent review of child protection in England, and Dr Fish found organisations with a very good safety level encouraged "an open culture where people can discuss difficult judgments and report mistakes".
"If it is acknowledged that it is difficult to detect and respond effectively to abuse it can keep the issue high on the agenda," they say.
They also conclude that organisations need to have ways for staff to talk through their judgments so that errors in reasoning and bias can be eliminated.
Royal commission CEO Philip Reed said in a statement the report contained useful examples of what organisations could do to make themselves safer places for children.
It would help the commission understand how child sexual abuse can be better identified and prevented in the future, he said.
