'Invisible' sexual violence impacting community safety

Sexual violence in Australia has been described as "invisible" with the justice system failing to deliver outcomes for survivors as experts call for a stronger message to be sent to perpetrators.

In an address to the National Press Club on Friday, Australian Law Reform Commission president Justice Mordy Bromberg and Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence commissioner Micaela Cronin outlined the barriers survivors face when accessing justice.

Most people who perpetrated sexual violence in Australia faced no consequences, Justice Bromberg said.

"This means that in our society, sexual violence is typically invisible", he said.

"The perpetrators of sexual violence need to be brought to justice for their conduct to be exposed, renounced and addressed, and for a message to be sent to all that sexual violence will no longer occur with impunity."

In Australia, the annual economic cost of gender-based violence against women and children is $26 billion.

Sexual violence survivors are often disempowered, disrespected and re-traumatised by the response of the justice system to their reports.

This includes police officers, lawyers and the wider court system.

Pathways to civil and restorative justice needed to be made clearer in order to allow people access to alternative outcomes than criminal proceedings, Justice Bromberg said.

"Doing more will require more resources and more commitment, however the investment necessary is well justified," he said.

"It far outstrips the financial and human cost of sexual violence remaining widespread, under-reported and ... in the shadows."

But Ms Cronin said justice system reform alone would not reduce the rates of sexual violence in Australia.

Since 1993 there had been a 97 per cent increase in reported cases of sexual violence, she said.

"We need to continue to keep sexual violence on the agenda and to be tackling it collectively in ways that see those numbers go down," she said.

Online sexual exploitation should be a key concern for policymakers who need to stay ahead of these forms of abuse, she added.

"The forms of sexual violence have expanded and become more complex," Ms Cronin said.

"We need to be thinking about how we can be aware of what's happening and the impact that has on young boys and young men, but also the way it is being weaponised against boys and girls."

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