Matter of consent: Parents to teach children about consent education

The NSW Education Department will supply how-to guides informing parents how to teach their children about the hot button issue of consent.

Parents will be supplied how-to guides for teaching their children about consent.

NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said the guides would offer information about consent education, including ­exactly what their children were being taught at school, and advice in a bid to encourage them to keep the conversation going at home.

Whether that means sending children home with information packs, face-to-face meetings or providing parents with digital resources is yet to be decided.

NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gaye Gerard

“Those discussions are being had now between the P&C and the department about the best way forward,” Ms Mitchell said.

“These are really serious ­issues and there have been some really harrowing acc­ounts that have come to light in the past few months.

“The reality is some of these issues around sexual relationships consent, respectful rel­ationships, they are really whole-of-society issues and that’s why we need to be looking at this beyond just what we can do in the classroom … and how we empower families outside the school gate to really support the ­children in dealing with these really sensitive and important issues.”

Ms Mitchell has brokered discussions with the heads of the P&C Federation to best work out how parents can play a part in the hot button issue of consent education.

“We are looking at the moment how we strengthen resources available to parents so that they can continue those conversations at home around the dinner table,” she said.

“We are also working with the P&C on ways we can communicate with parents directly and getting advice from them about the kinds of information parents want so we can make sure what is being taught at school can also be covered at home. I think the most powerful conversations children can have about these issues is with their parents.

“Parents play a really key role when it comes to seeing some improved and lasting change around issues of sexual consent and respectful ­relationships.”

The issue of relationships and sexuality education has been at the centre of national conversation in recent months after thousands of former students came forward with disturbing accounts of sexual assault and harassment.

Former Kambala student Chanel Contos launched a petition calling for better and earlier consent education and a flood of stories followed.

In NSW, the PDHPE syllabus, which was revised and rolled out last year, mentions the word consent eight times.

But experts say consent is only one part of relationship and sexuality education that should start as soon as children start school.

On a federal level, the ­national curriculum is about to undergo review soon with a focus on strengthening consent education.

Criminal lawyer Katrina Marson. Picture: Tim Hunter.

Katrina Marson believes there needs to be an audit into how all NSW schools teach students about ­relationships and sex to identify where “the gaps are”.

Ms Marson travelled around the world researching best practice when it came to relationship and sexuality education (RSE) in schools.

In Australia, these subjects are ­embedded in the curriculums of each state and territory.

But the quality and depth of relationship and sex education varies from school to school.

In line with The Saturday and Sunday Telegraph campaign A Matter of Consent, Ms Marson has backed calls for all schools in NSW to audit how they teach students about the sensitive issues.

“This is not a product question ­because there is really good product out there,” Ms Marson, a criminal lawyer, said. “There is plenty of research, resources and material from experts about how to teach children about relationship and sexuality education from a young age.

“It is really easy to say let’s improve the curriculum but that says nothing about how it’s being delivered and supported by the school. Nor how the school and teachers are being supported by the government and wider community.”

Ms Marson is a member of Rape and Sexual Assault Research and Advocacy, which is partnering with the campaign.

We are calling on the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) to oversee the audits and ensure the results are ­publicly available.

“We need to know how schools are currently delivering RSE,” Ms Marson said. “Whether it’s a fleeting lesson once a year to year 10 students, or repeated lessons that start young and build up skills, or bringing in external groups to run regular workshops, so that we can see where the gaps are.”

Ms Mitchell has not ruled out an audit.

“Public schools already track how we deliver the curriculum,” she said.

“But if there are things that we can do to strengthen and improve that, I am very happy to have those conversations.”

FORMER COP HELPS WOMEN THROUGH BRUTAL SYSTEM

Pip Rae has a vital job that shouldn’t exist.

She sits somewhere in between lawyer, police officer, counsellor and friend by helping victims of family and sexual ­violence navigate through the complicated and daunting justice system.

She doesn’t get paid and her phone is always on.

Former police officer Pip Rae has helps victims navigate their way through the confusing and intimidating justice system. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

After 17 years in the NSW Police Force, the mother-of-four battled through a worker’s compensation claim and tossed up what to do next.

She studied human resources to finetune her conflict resolution skills, and then a friend ­approached her for advice on an abusive relationship.

It marked the beginning of her advocacy for victims.

As a former police officer, preparing statements, going to court for apprehended violence orders and cutting through legal jargon are second nature.

But for the dozens of men and women she has helped since leaving the police in 2011, the legal process is foreign, unfamiliar and anxiety inducing.

“I think I have a lot of people who trust that I will be straight with them,” she said.

“I have people who have come to me about domestic violence or sexual assault and I have helped them because they don’t know how to navigate that system.

“They don’t know whether to record it (with police) or what evidence they need. It is a really daunting system.”

In some cases, Ms Rae, 47, helps women prepare their statements for police, simply sits next to them in court or refers them to someone in her network of support services.

The retired leading senior constable, who runs a podcasting and branding business, ­believes justice doesn’t have to mean traversing through the court system.

“That fear of going to court is so huge, the anxiety it creates in people …” she said.

Asked what would improve the system for survivors, Ms Rae suggested allocating female police officers to take statements from victims, and specialist courts for the sensitivities and nuances that come with partner and sexual violence.

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