Australian laws are structured so that the evidence given by a young child if not taken on oath must be corroborated by material evidence. In addition, they narrowly define sexual abuse. Research in Australia and the United States reveals a much higher frequency of incest than indicated by official figures and suggests that nearly all sexual abuse committed upon children is intrafamilial. Experience in the New South Wales Child Mistreatment Unit confirms these findings and demonstrates that the family often refuses to believe the child incest victim and pressures them to withdraw the complaint. The criminal justice system places the child in an impossible situation by conducting a case where it is not only the child versus an adult, but the child versus the caregiver. Although training workshops have been conducted in New South Wales, very few helping professionals are sufficiently skilled to identify or intervene with sexually abused victims. Children must be educated that their bodies are very personal things and no person has the right to interfere with them. Laws must be changed or alternative methods found to have children give evidence in court. Other needs include research on the problem's extent, a hotline for sexually abused children, and public education programs. Tables and footnotes are supplied.