Help for schools to teach consent

Children as young as five will be offered lessons on forming healthy and respectful relationships to pave the way for a better understanding of sexual consent and boundaries in later years.

Former Kambala girls school student Chanel Contos has collected almost 4000 testimonies from young women detailing allegations of sexism, sexual harassment and assault. Picture: Instagram

Schools will be granted access to improved resources to teach children as young as five the foundational skills to develop healthy relationships, amid concerns that inadequate sex education is contributing to sexual violence among teenagers.

The federal government has launched a new website that collates more than 350 videos, digital stories, podcasts and other learning materials on topics including respect, consent and peer group pressure.

To go live on Wednesday, the new Good Society website, which is part of the government’s ­Respect Matters program, will ­feature new curriculum resources as well as a selection of existing evidence-based resources.

Education Minister Alan Tudge last month committed to providing further support for ­educators after a viral petition launched by a former Sydney school student lifted the lid on the prevalence of sexual violence ­experienced by teenage girls, ­describing the situation as “un­acceptable”.

Women’s Safety Minister Anne Ruston said education and early intervention were key to ­enabling the next generation of Australians to grow up in an environment that is free of violence against women.

“School years are crucial in a child’s development and we want to guarantee that whether it be at home, at school or even playing weekend sport, the kids and their parents have been informed about what is respectful behaviour and what is not,” Senator Ruston said.

Resources have been tailored to students’ ages, and schools will be free to make their own decisions about what materials they use in their classrooms. Parents will also be able to access the site.

Lessons for primary students will focus on teaching how to build healthy relationships and friendships, covering themes of respect, empathy, peer pressure and challenging discriminatory behaviour.

Content specifically dealing with abuse and violence against girls and women will be introduced from Year 7, alongside topics of relationships and power dynamics.

Intimate relationships, sexual consent and sexting feature in ­resources aimed at Years 10 to 12.

While none of the lessons are mandatory, they are aligned with the Australian Curriculum, which already incorporates the topic of consent into health and physical education lessons. The curriculum is currently subject to a review.

Schools have come under mounting pressure in recent months to overhaul the way they teach relationships and sex education. The Victorian government has declared consent education will be compulsory for all state schools from next term and has announced new opportunities for non-government schools to sign up to its Respectful Relationships initiative, which provides a whole-of-school approach to tackling gender-based violence.

Former Kambala girls school student Chanel Contos has collected almost 4000 testimonies from young women detailing allegations of sexism, sexual harassment and assault, often perpetrated by young men they knew, as part of the petition calling for sexual consent to be elevated in the school curriculum.

As many as one in five women will experience sexual violence over the course of their lifetime, ­research shows, and those aged 15 to 19 are the most likely to fall victim to sexual abuse.