Monash University’s mandatory lessons in booze and sex

Nanny state lessons or essential learning? Why Monash University is locking students out of its online learning system until they complete these mandatory learning modules.

Monash University students are being locked out of study unless they complete mandatory modules about safe drinking, respectful relationships and Indigenous culture. Picture: iStock

Safe drinking, sexual consent and Indigenous culture lessons have been made mandatory at an elite university.

Monash University students are being blocked from accessing learning materials or submitting assignments if they refuse or fail to finish the study modules on respectful relationships, Indigenous voices and academic integrity.

The National Union of Students criticised the learning lockout, warning it was unfair to block students from learning materials they were paying for as part of a degree. “If you pay fees for an education, you should have access to the resources to get your degree,’’ NUS president Georgie Beatty said on Wednesday.

The university requires all students, regardless of the degree they are studying, to complete compulsory modules on “Indigenous Australian Voices’’.

The module explains the Kulin nations people are the traditional owners of Melbourne. Students are taught about the “key events for Indigenous peoples since the arrival of the British in 1788’’, and practical ways to “be an agent of change’’ for Aboriginal people.

A university spokeswoman said students “will no longer be able to access their units on the learning management system until they complete the compulsory modules’’. “They will lose access to the content associated with the unit,’’ she said.

“Once they have completed the compulsory modules, they will regain access to the learning management system.’’

The spokeswoman said students could still access the university library and were able to sit exams and graduate, even if they failed to complete the modules.

“Incompletion of the module will not directly impact exam attendance or graduation,’’ she said.

“Students who complete their academic units will be eligible to sit exams and graduate, regardless of the completion status of compulsory modules.’’

But Ms Beatty said students could not study for their degree – be it an arts, science or engineering course – without accessing the online system, known as Moodle.

“If you can’t access Moodle, you can’t study,’’ she said.

“All the learning resources are centralised.’’

The university spokeswoman said students would not be taught about the federal government’s plan to hold a referendum to give Indigenous Australians a separate voice to federal parliament.

“This module has no connection to the federal government‘s Indigenous voice to parliament,’’ she said. “(It) was developed to provide students with an opportunity to learn more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australia, and gain an important understanding of the rich and complex histories of First Nations Peoples and the lands on which we study, work and live. To date, more than 30,000 students have completed the module.”

Monash students are also required to complete online study modules about academic integrity, introduced in 2020, and Respect Now Always, introduced in 2019 after an Australian Human Rights Commission inquiry revealed a culture of sexual assault across university campuses. It found that half of all university students had been sexually harassed at least once in 2016, while one in 14 students was sexually assaulted at least once in 2015 or 2016.

The university’s respect training includes “safe alcohol consumption’’ and maintaining respectful relationships, which includes sexual consent.

Federal opposition education spokesman Alan Tudge said he supported training on respectful relationships, but questioned why all students were required to learn about Indigenous history.

“Why are modules on Indigenous perspectives compulsory at university when it is part of the school curriculum every year from prep to year 10?’’ he said.

“If it was aimed at international students, I could understand it, but even then I would hope that Australia’s liberal values are taught alongside lessons on our proud Indigenous heritage.”