NSW schools to act as one on crisis of consent

NSW schools will ensure students have greater input into developing measures to prevent harmful sexual behaviours, including education around consent, under a landmark agreement.

Former Kambala student Chanel Contos.

NSW schools from all sectors will ensure students have greater input into developing measures to prevent harmful sexual behaviours, including education around consent, under a landmark agreement aiming to tackling the crisis.

A draft statement of intent from the NSW Department of Education and heads of the independent and Catholic schools ­associations — which has yet to receive final sign-off — acknowledges that “student voice” and “experience” is “critical in strengthening healthy and ­respectful relationships”.

“We commit to identifying and taking concrete actions that will strengthen children and young people’s ability to form healthy relationships and prevent harmful situations, both at school and outside the school gates,” the draft, which has been seen by The Australian, says.

“All children and young people have a right to feel safe and ­respected at school and in the community. We will listen to their views about harmful sexual behaviours and how best to prevent them, and find ways to increase the voice of our students.”

Billed as a “first step” to ­addressing concerns that female students are being subjected to harmful sexual behaviours, the cross-sectoral statement of intent was one of the recommendations from a high-level crisis meeting between school leaders and NSW Police in early March.

It comes in the wake of an online petition detailing thousands of accounts of girls and young women who have alleged misogynistic conduct, sexual harassment and assault at the hands of schoolboys. Many of the schools implicated were high-fee private schools in Sydney’s exclusive northern and eastern suburbs, however schools across the country have also been named.

The author, former Kambala girls school student Chanel Contos, has since teamed up with NSW Police to encourage victims who might not want to pursue a formal complaints to instead make an anonymous, informal complaint.

Many principals have expressed surprise at the extent of the issue but have nevertheless conceded that young people have been calling for, and have a right to, better consent education at school.

The statement highlights the role of respectful relationships education, which is part of the NSW curriculum and canvases consent, and for “mandatory content” to be “robust, based on best-practice principles, supported by quality resources, and delivered in ways that meet the needs of children and young people in their communities”.

It commits to schools reviewing existing resources, guidance, professional learning, referral pathways, reporting protocols and other responsibilities to ensure that school leaders and teachers are able to support students effectively.

Once agreed, the statement of intent will cover more than 3000 schools across all sectors.