The Childlight East Asia and Pacific Hub is a ground-breaking partnership between the University of New South Wales, the University of Edinburgh and the Human Dignity Foundation.
Led by Professor Michael Salter of UNSW, one of the world's leading authorities on child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA), it was established in 2024 in the University’s School of Social Sciences to drive research for impact on CSEA in Australia and throughout the East Asia and Pacific region.
Its work helps to build crucial evidence and drive coordinated action to protect children from sexual exploitation and abuse.
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ACCELERATING CHANGE
The new regional Hub has a thematic research focus on technology-enabled child sexual abuse, perpetrator prevalence and survivor experience research. The Hub uses this research to influence and shape CSEA prevention and response policy, legislation and investment in child protection within the East Asia and Pacific region and globally.
Australia, with its strong network of CSEA prevention and response allies leading the global field, is a natural choice to host the Hub as a regional leader with extensive networks and leverage across the Asia Pacific region, representing an opportunity to influence and accelerate the pace of change. This partnership with UNSW Sydney places the needs of children at the heart of decision-making, with a shared commitment to turn research and insight into practice, for tangible impact.
East Asia and Pacific Hub Team
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Professor Michael Salter
Director, Childlight East Asia & Pacific Hub, UNSW
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Delanie Woodlock
Deputy Director, Childlight East Asia and Pacific Hub
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Tyson Whitten
Senior Research Fellow
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Professor Jan Breckenridge
Head of the School of Social Sciences, UNSW
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Malin Suchting
Manager
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Professor Jon Rouse
Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE)
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Professor Paul Griffith
Professor Michael Salter
Director, Childlight East Asia & Pacific Hub, UNSW
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Professor Michael Salter is the Director of the Childlight East Asia and Pacific Hub in the School of Social Sciences at the University of New South Wales, Australia. He is an expert on child sexual exploitation, gender-based violence and complex trauma, including intersections with technology.
Professor Salter is the Past President of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation where he has served on the Board of Directors since 2018. He is the Chair of the Grace Tame Foundation, which is dedicated to the prevention of child sexual abuse. Dr Salter sits on the editorial boards of the journals Child Abuse Review and the Journal of Trauma and Dissociation.
Delanie Woodlock
Deputy Director, Childlight East Asia and Pacific Hub
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Dr Delanie Woodlock is the Deputy Director of the Childlight East Asia and Pacific Hub. She holds an honours degree in Women’s Studies, a Master of Social Work, and a PhD in Sociology. As a feminist researcher, she is committed to advancing the understanding of men’s violence against women and children. She has conducted pioneering research into the use of technology by perpetrators of domestic violence and child abuse, shaping government policies and strategic directions in Australia.
Dr Woodlock continues to expand the field of technology-facilitated abuse through her research on child sexual abuse material as a specific form of gendered violence. Her research has broadened theoretical understandings of violence against women and children, particularly concepts like coercive control, by linking the use of technology to tactics used by perpetrators. She also provides support and training to academics and students on minimising the risks of vicarious trauma, particularly concerning the impacts of researching domestic and sexual violence.
Tyson Whitten
Senior Research Fellow
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Tyson is a Senior Research Fellow at Childlight, University of New South Wales. He was awarded his PhD in Criminology from Griffith University, where he also completed his undergraduate degree in Criminology and Psychology. Tyson’s research expertise spans criminology, public health, and mental health, with a strong focus on using administrative and record linkage data to inform policy and program evaluations.
Tyson collaborates extensively with government agencies and non-profit organizations to evaluate criminal justice and public health programs that impact vulnerable young people, influencing policy and program development
Professor Jan Breckenridge
Head of the School of Social Sciences, UNSW
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Professor Jan Breckenridge is Head of the School of Social Sciences, UNSW and the Co-Convener of the UNSW Gendered Violence Research Network, UNSW. She is also a Research Fellow of the UNSW Australian Human Rights Institute (AHRI).
Professor Breckenridge has undertaken extensive work and research in the areas of gendered violence, including child abuse and domestic, family and sexual violence. Professor Breckenridge’s research is oriented towards maximum impact in innovative social policy development, service provision and outcome measurement of effectiveness
Malin Suchting
Manager
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Mailin manages the Childlight East Asia and Pacific Hub and the Gendered Violence Research Network, UNSW Sydney. She brings considerable experience in research and knowledge translation in both government and non-government management, training, education and research in gendered violence. Managing a policy portfolio for the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is a notable career highlight.
Professor Jon Rouse
Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE)
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Professor Jon Rouse dedicated 39 years to the Queensland Police Service, specialising in child protection from 1996. In 2001, he joined Task Force Argos, where he pioneered Australia’s first proactive operations against internet child sex offenders. In 2019, Professor Rouse joined the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) to establish critical teams, including covert online operations and victim identification, and he chaired INTERPOL’s Covert Internet Investigations Group until 2023.
Professor Rouse’s service has been recognised with six Commissioners’ Certificates, multiple commendations, and the prestigious Champion for Children Award from the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children in 2018. Named Queensland Australian of the Year in 2019, he also holds the Queensland Police Medal, National Service Medal, Exemplary Conduct Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, National Police Medal, and Australian Police Medal. He is an ambassador for key child protection organisations, including Act for Kids, Bravehearts, the Carly Ryan Foundation, and the Daniel Morcombe Foundation and is on the Board of Directors for the Daniel Morecombe Foundation and ICMEC Australia.
Professor Paul Griffith
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Professor Paul Griffith spent 15 years as Child Victim Identification Manager for Queensland Police Service, and was previously a police officer in the United Kingdom for over 18 years. Much of that time was spent investigating online child abuse, with Greater Manchester Police, the National Crime Squad (NCS) and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre. Professor Griffith is a long-standing member of the INTERPOL Specialist Group on Crimes against Children. He was chair of both the Computer Facilitated Crimes against Children and the Child Victim Identification sub-groups, before serving as overall chair for six years