Queensland's consent education has been overhauled with revamped educational materials that will be available for teachers to use with students from 2023.
A study published in September revealed more than three quarters (79%) of Australians say the sex education they received at school did not prepare them for real life experiences, with less than half (41%) saying their education was adequate.
Concerningly, more than a third (33%) of Aussies say they did not receive any sex education at school, with less than a fifth (19%) saying they learnt about consent and relationships at school – despite more than two-thirds (66%) of Aussies becoming sexually active when they were 18 years old or younger.
The updated and upgraded suite of resources, announced by the Palaszczuk Government includes new and strengthened information on concepts like consent education, reporting of sexual assault, ethical decision-making, coercive control, forms of abuse and drivers of gender-based violence have been incorporated into the new Respect program.
The Respect program will support teachers with the resources they need to provide comprehensive, age-appropriate respectful relationships education, with a $15.5m investment in professional development and specialist advisors.
“Queensland has led the nation when it comes to respectful relationships education,” Queensland’s Education Minister Grace Grace said.
“In March 2021 I instigated a comprehensive review to make sure we were delivering the best age-appropriate resources and materials to our schools.”
During the review, the state’s government consulted more than 180 stakeholders including subject matter experts, parents, teachers, principals, and students.
“Students told us they wanted to talk about consent in a direct and mature way – no euphemisms or gimmicks – and they wanted to be engaged in discussions that would help them respond to real-life issues.”
Earlier this year, education ministers from across Australia announced that consent education would be mandatory in the national curriculum from 2023.
“Queensland’s updated Respect materials are now available online in a Respectful Relationships Education hub, which also includes publicly available resources for parents and high school students,” Grace said.
“The Respect materials will be available for all schools – state, Catholic and independent. Teachers may choose to use all or some of the resources in the Respect program, depending on their needs.”
Grace said the $15.5m announced in this year’s budget will support eight principal advisor roles, one in each region and one in central office, and fund professional development time for teachers away from the classroom.
“The advisors, who have now been appointed and completed their inductions, will provide tailored professional development for our state schools and teachers to ensure they are prepared to deliver what are at times challenging and sensitive topics,” she said.
“Every Queensland state school will be able to provide teachers and staff with time to access appropriate professional development and curriculum planning.”