Beyond Compliance: Redesigning Child Sexual Abuse Safeguarding in Football Through Systems Thinking

ABSTRACT

Child sexual abuse (CSA) in sport persists due to structural inadequacies in safeguarding systems rather than individual misconduct alone. Major inquiries into CSA in sport consistently identify fragmented responsibilities, inconsistent implementation of controls and systemic blind spots that undermine prevention and trauma‐informed responses. Despite policy‐rich frameworks, safeguarding interventions are often designed as isolated components without adequate understanding of how they interact within the broader system. Consequently, interventions do not have the desired impact, and unwanted emergent properties can occur. Systems thinking approaches could help identify and understand the constraints and interdependencies shaping safeguarding performance to optimise the overall safeguarding system. This study aimed to develop a constraints‐based model of the current CSA safeguarding system in football in Australia and identify opportunities for system redesign and enhancement. Nine subject matter experts (subject matter experts [SMEs]; 7 females, 2 males; mean age = 47.8, SD = 8.5) participated in a workshop modelling process. Participants averaged 8.4 years (SD = 9.6; range = 1–33 years) in current safeguarding roles and 14.6 years (SD = 9.9; range = 1–30 years) in previous safeguarding roles. Participants were recruited through targeted sampling across multiple levels of the safeguarding system. Work Domain Analysis (WDA) was applied to model both the current and optimal safeguarding systems in football in Australia. Experts identified vulnerabilities in reporting case management, compliance, coordination and information sharing, recommending stronger accountability, crisis management, continuous learning and child‐centred safeguarding practice. Safeguarding reform requires both structural redesign and a broader cultural shift toward child‐centred, accountable and systems‐oriented prevention and response.