in the classroom
A seat at the table
What needs to be considered ahead of the introduction of mandatory consent education .
Allie Carter interviewed by Eleanor Campbell
Involving young people in the design and delivery of consent education will be crucial for them to learn about having respectful and safe relationships , according to researchers .
As of 2023 , consent education will be made mandatory for all Australian high school students .
The landmark decision was made after state and federal education ministers unanimously agreed to include it in the new national curriculum .
According to a summary obtained by SMH , learning content will be ageappropriate , with young kids to be taught about obtaining permission and setting boundaries .
Teenagers will learn about consent , power imbalances , coercion and gender stereotypes .
According to Dr Allie Carter from UNSW ’ s Kirby Institute , who led a report on teaching consent to young people in schools , consent programs typically focus on the negative impacts of sexual activity rather than healthy relationships .
“ We also found that programs rarely moved beyond the individual and interpersonal level , to include discussions of social structures that can influence how young people negotiate sexual encounters with one another ,” Carter said .
“ Very few programs have tended to involve young people themselves in co-design , and we know from the practice of sex education , involving young people in the design of the curriculum is really important to meeting their needs .
“ It ’ s really just about having young people at the table from the beginning to inform the content .”
Carter joined Education Review to speak about how we can design and implement a safe , inclusive and effective consent education program for all students .
ER : Looking at the current way consent education is taught in schools , what are some of the issues that we need to address first when reworking this new curriculum ? AC : I think there are a few issues that are worth highlighting . The first is that current policies and content vary incredibly between states and territories , so I do hope that in writing this new curriculum we ’ re able to develop consistent evidence-based programs across the country .
Within our review , we looked at education programs on consent among young people in any country and we
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