Sonia Orchard – Before the Harm

Stories of child sexual abuse appear in the media weekly, often framed as isolated incidents. But child sexual abuse and exploitation is one of Australia’s most pervasive human rights challenges, affecting over a quarter of children. The ripple effect – the burden on mental health, drug and alcohol services – means all Australians pay for the damage wrought by these crimes. Yet we continue to see a crisis to respond to rather than a harm that could be prevented.

In Before the Harm, Sonia Orchard challenges this reactive model. Drawing on interviews with leading voices including Jess Hill, Grace Tame and Professors Ben Mathews, Michael Salter and Daryl Higgins, alongside research and accounts from survivors and offenders, she shows that abuse is neither random nor unknowable. It often follows recognisable pathways – and this gives opportunities for meaningful interventions.

We know that policing is chronically underfunded, that tech companies’ reluctance to make platforms accountable leaves kids at risk, that grooming is on the rise. But there is a growing body of evidence for prevention measures to better protect children in homes, online and in the community. Clear-eyed and compelling, Before the Harm reframes one of our most confronting social issues – and shows that protecting children begins long before a crime is committed.

Sonia Orchard is an award-winning author and a leading voice advocating for systemic reform in the prevention of child sexual abuse. Her memoir Groomed (2025), which chronicles her experience navigating the justice system as a complainant in a historic case, weaves lived experience with neuroscience, culture and law, and has helped catalyse national conversation and action.

Jess Hill is an investigative journalist, author of See What You Made Me Do, The Reckoning and the Quarterly Essay: Losing It: Can We Stop Violence Against Women and Children?, and one of Australia’s most recognised and respected thinkers on gendered violence. Her work has won three Walkley Awards, an Amnesty International Award and the Stella Prize. In 2023, she was the Marie Claire Changemaker of the Year and, in 2024, the NSW Premier’s Woman of Excellence.

Grace Tame is a survivor-advocate, bestselling author, columnist, and ultra-marathon runner. Named 2021 Australian of the Year, she became a national voice for survivors of child sexual abuse after successfully overturning Tasmania’s gag laws, becoming the first female survivor in the state to speak out under her own name. She is the founder of the Grace Tame Foundation, a not-for-profit driving national initiatives to prevent, disrupt and respond to child sexual abuse.