Should sexual consent be compulsorily taught in schools?
Introduction to the media issue
Video clip at right: On March 21, 2021, 9 News televised a report detailing that Victorian schools will conduct mandatory consent classes as of Term 2 this year.'[We] are sad and angry that [we] did not receive an adequate education regarding what amounts to sexual assault and what to do when it happens'
Chanel Contos, Australian advocate for better and earlier consent education in schools
'Right now, there's a petition signed by thousands of schoolgirls calling for better and earlier sexual consent education in schools. Is that really what we need, more lessons on consent rather than on Maths?'
Andrew Bolt, social and political commentator
The issue at a glance
On March 21, 2021, the Victorian government announced that consent education is to become compulsory in Victorian state schools and will be taught from Term 2, 2021.
On March 9, 2021, the Queensland government announced that independent and state schools would review sexual consent education.
On September 25, 2020, the British Parliament enacted regulations that require all primary schools in England to teach 'Relationships Education' and all secondary schools to teach 'Relationships and Sex Education'.
Despite the increasing pressure in Australia and overseas to mandate consent education in both primary and secondary schools, there remain critics who doubt schools' capacity to deal with this issue appropriately and who believe that school-based sex education intrudes in an area best dealt with in a family context