Sex education in Australia: Dismally out of touch with young people’s needs
Every young person has a right to evidence-based education to support their sexual health and wellbeing. But Australian schools continue to skirt around the S-E-X word, preach abstinence or throw some bananas and condoms in the break room and hope for the best. As Brianna Delahunty and Linnea Burton Smith from the ERA’s Young Women’s Advisory Group argue, Australians deserve inclusive, safe and respectful education that prepares them for the real world and real relationships.
A survey completed by the Equality Rights Alliance's Young Women’s Advisory Group (YWAG), captured young women and non-binary people’s experience of sex education. Of the 1058 young women and non-binary people who responded to the survey, 78% reported that they had not learnt anything that had helped their experiences with sex, dating and relationships. Even more concerning, 11% reported that they had not received sex education at all. So, what is Comprehensive Sex Education (CSE)? And why aren’t we teaching it?
CSE is a public health intervention designed to prevent the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies. It is also designed to address gender inequality and power imbalances which contribute to sexual assaults occurring. In Australia, those who experience structural inequality are more likely to experience health, education and justice deficits. Cycles of discrimination perpetuate and exacerbate cycles of poverty. Making CSE available to all young people in Australia has the potential to contribute to reducing inequality. For example, CSE has the ability to speak not only to the technicalities of consent but also the power imbalances that can challenge consent. CSE can identify negative gender stereotypes and provide strategies for challenging those stereotypes.
In Australia, it is the responsibility of the states and territories to develop and implement education programs. However, there is an Australian Curriculum which each state and territory has agreed to implement. This curriculum has recently undergone review by the Australian Curriculum Review Authority and a new curriculum, released in 2022. While ensuring topics such as consent, sexuality and gender diversity are important to include in the curriculum, the curriculum needs to address these topics with enough specificity to ensure they are actually taught. The old curriculum specified schools should also cover these elements. However, our survey results indicate that has not been the case. The majority of students said they learnt about penetrative sex, however only 12% students said they learnt about pleasure. And while 62% learnt about consent, only 27% learnt about sexual violence. The curriculum has failed to specify the depth to which the topics should be taught, and how.
In addition to the curriculum being deficient, schools appear woefully unsupported to deliver the curriculum. Of the 1041 respondents that received sex education, 252 received that education from an external provider. External providers were largely utilised by private schools who had access to funding for such programs. Those who received sex education from an external provider rated the quality of their sex education significantly higher. This raises questions as to whether state and territory governments need to specifically provide funding for CSE, or whether classroom teachers should be skilled up to teach the classes themselves in an effective manner. While there may be a limit to how much can be taught in a school environment, schools can at least ensure what they are providing is relevant and provide students with reliable sources which they might access in their own time.
One respondent said; ‘OH GOD CAN TEACHERS PLEASE TALK ABOUT LGBTQ+ COMMUNITIES?????? I FELT SO ALONE WHEN MY HOMOPHOBIC ASS TEACHER TALKED ABOUT IT.’
There remains resistance to CSE from a small portion of the Australian community that fear CSE will cause an increase in the number of teenagers engaging in sex or becoming pregnant. Evidence does not support this. There is also a small portion of the Australian community that remain concerned CSE will result in young people questioning their gender or sexuality when they otherwise wouldn't have. Similarly, this assertion is unfounded. YWAG understands the government may be hesitant to implement CSE due to political backlash from these groups. However, the government has a responsibility to dispel misinformation in our community. Implementing CSE does not mean disrespecting individual choice or religious beliefs. CSE respects personal decisions to be abstinent, while also providing young people with tools to engage safely in sex if they choose to do so.
YWAG believes that every Australian student has a right to receive age-appropriate sex education that empowers them to look after their sexual health and wellbeing. Access to comprehensive sex education should not be impeded by the type of school a student attends or the location of the school. Sex education also needs to be relevant to its audience. Sex education that is heteronormative or perpetuates gendered norms, can fuel homophobia, gendered violence, and discrimination. This messaging impacts not only young people’s physical wellbeing but also their mental wellbeing. YWAG calls for any policy relating to consent education in the Australian Curriculum to address the failings of the old curriculum.
Read the full report – Let’s Talk: Young Women & Non-Binary People’s Experience of Sex Education In Australia.