THE CAUSE
Intrafamilial sexual abuse is a profound systemic failure that has long been hidden within the safety of the home. We believe that the silence of our communities is the greatest barrier to healing and justice for survivors.
By walking the 670km from Melbourne to Canberra, we are demanding a Royal Commission into Intrafamilial Child Sexual Abuse. This journey is a collective statement that survivors deserve truth, support, and the right to be heard.
OUR DEDICATED TEAM
THE guiding voice
PROFESSOR S. CAROLINE TAYLOR AM
Professor S. Caroline Taylor AM is internationally recognised as Australia’s leading publicly identified survivor advocate.
A survivor of intrafamilial child sexual abuse, she has spent more than 30 years demanding justice for victims, shaping law reform, and rebuilding systems so children are believed and protected.
Caroline endured two criminal trials that resulted in the conviction and imprisonment of her father and the complete rejection of her family and community. Many would have stepped away from public life. Caroline stepped forward.
After experiencing homelessness and interrupted education, she returned to university as a mature‑aged student, graduating with First Class Honours and completing an award‑winning PhD on how the law narrates, distorts and sometimes silences victims of child sexual abuse.
Her work has been tabled in parliament, informed law reform in Victoria and beyond, and distilled into two books, research projects and more than 50 peer‑reviewed articles and chapters. She has advised police, prosecutors and lawmakers, trained Interpol officers, and served on international editorial boards.
In recognition of her contribution to the protection and welfare of child abuse victims, Caroline was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia.In 2004, she quietly founded a registered not‑for‑profit charity — using her own money — to provide scholarships to survivors whose education had been derailed by abuse. Nearly 20 years later, it continues without government funding.
Caroline has long argued that survivor voices must not simply be included; they must formally shape policy, legislation and reform at every level. In 2023, the Council of Europe commissioned her to write the world’s first Policy Guidelines for engaging and including victim‑survivors of childhood sexual abuse in all levels of policy, legislative and service reform. Those guidelines are now published in multiple languages and adopted by more than 50 countries.
Matthew McVarish
Matthew is a Scottish screenwriter working in Television and Theatre since 2005, and also multi-award-winning human rights activist. Originally a client of Scotland’s Moira Anderson Foundation, who specialize in supporting victims and survivors of childhood sexual violence, Matthew is extremely proud to now be their International Ambassador.
By invitation of the Icelandic Government, Matthew joined the expert working group who drafted the international standards for child-friendly justice, alongside the UNCRC Steering Committee, UNICEF, the Council of Europe, Europol and the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Children. He was honoured to deliver the keynote launching these new standards at the UN Human Rights Council Conference.
A co-founder of the global Brave Movement, Matthew became the first survivor to receive a permanent seat at the Council of Europe, as he helped to secure Brave’s Observer status to the ‘Lanzarote Committee’. Representing Brave’s global gathering of survivor voices, he contributes to the discussions as 47 nations gather to oversee implementation of the world’s most comprehensive treaty on tackling childhood sexual violence, ‘The Lanzarote Convention’. Matthew has now become the first member of civil society to be appointed as the Lanzarote Committee’s next Special Rapporteur on Gender Equality.
His book, “The Truth That No One Tells Teenagers”, which explores how to reclaim your life after childhood sexual violence, is highly recommended by child therapists. Free copies are issued to all new clients of the Moira Anderson Foundation and it has even been used to inform policy reform in some European nations.
It isn't a family secret.
It isn't a private matter.
It is child sexual abuse.
I stand with Be Their Light because children deserve to be safe, believed and protected — and survivors deserve to be heard.
I support the call for a Royal Commission into intrafamilial child sexual abuse — to bring what has been hidden in the dark into the light, listen to survivors and find out what must change.
I am not speaking only for the child I once was.
I am speaking for the children who are still waiting for someone to see them.
Be Their Light.
Sandi Noble
Warlpiri Woman | Survivor Advocate | Lived Experience Voice
I am a proud Warlpiri woman from the Central Desert of the Northern Territory. I am 65 years old and a survivor of intrafamilial child sexual abuse.
For decades, I carried the heavy burden of a secret that should never have belonged to a child. I carried the silence, the shame and the lasting effects of what happened to me.
At 60 years of age, I finally decided to walk down my own Yellow Brick Road.
Like the Lion in The Wizard of Oz, I went looking for courage — not realising how much courage it had already taken just to carry that secret for so many years.
Somewhere along that road, I found my voice.
I am a member and lived-experience co-chair of the Australian Law Reform Commission’s Inquiry into Justice Responses to Sexual Violence, and I continue to use my lived experience to speak up for survivors and advocate for change.
As a First Nations woman, I know how easily Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children can become invisible when abuse happens inside families. Their voices must be heard.
For too long, intrafamilial child sexual abuse has remained in the dark.
Beth tinning
Bio coming soon