Consent and respectful relationships education in Australian schools provides age-appropriate, evidence-based learning from Foundation to Year 12, and National Children’s Commissioner Deb Tsorbaris says it is key to preventing sexual harm.

“We can and must do better to boost young people’s understanding of consent and respectful relationships,” Tsorbaris says.

“Young people have a right to information that will help set them up...

“If we don’t offer relatable and relevant sex and consent education, young people will turn to less reliable sources like porn, social media or peers.”

Burnett Institute’s highly regarded annual Sex, Drugs and Rock ’n’ Roll Survey earlier this year revealed that only 42 per cent of its 15-29-year-old respondents said consent education was covered well in schools.

While young people are exposed to more sexual content online than ever before, the content rarely reflects real-life intimacy, Associate Professor Megan Lim, Head of Young People’s Health at Burnet told EducationHQ in February.

“Porn and social media don’t show the conversations that make relationships healthy, things like boundaries, consent and checking in with each other,” she says.

In timely fashion, the Australian Human Rights Commission has today launched On Your Terms, its own national survey of young people to help inform improvements to consent, respectful relationships and sex education in Australia.

Tsorbaris says it’s a topic that can be difficult for some young people to talk about and so the anonymous survey provides a welcome opportunity for them to share their views and experiences.

Tsorbaris says the survey will give the Government direct insights from young Australians, ‘so that recommendations for improvements are grounded in lived experience’.

“Their voice will help improve consent education, so it is relevant, timely and helpful for young people,” she says.

“We need to hear from young people and meet them where they’re at with real life, useful education to help them navigate respectful and healthy relationships.”

Funded by the Australian Government Department of Education, On Your Terms takes 10-15-minute to complete online and is open to young people aged 14-18 years.

“The survey will give us direct insights from young Australians, so that recommendations for improvements are grounded in lived experience,” Tsorbaris says.

“Many teenagers understand consent in theory but applying it in real-life situations can be challenging.

“I am hoping young people will tell us how to make sex education less awkward and far more useful.”

Developed through extensive stakeholder engagement and consultation with more than 70 experts and organisations, the survey is evidence-based, has been subject to strict ethics approvals and reflects best practice.

Findings will be delivered to the Australian Government later this year.

School curriculums were changed in 2023 following a mandate to provide consent education after youth advocate Chanel Contos pushed for the change.

Contos founded Teach Us Consent five years ago after an Instagram post went viral and alerted her to the dire need for consent education in Australian schools.

While the mandate was a huge milestone, much of the burden landed on teachers to roll out the new curriculum when many had not received training to deliver it in line with best practice.

In June last year, Consent Labs co-founder Angelique Wan claimed that just because (consent education) was in the curriculum, it did not mean the work is necessarily being done. 

“We need to ensure it is delivered in a way that is relevant to young people and in order to do that you need to lean on experts and upskill teachers and parents to have those conversations,” Wan said.

Tsorbaris says the new survey is a unique opportunity to listen to young people and find out what is working well in schools and where respectful relationships education needs strengthening.

“If we want to meaningfully reduce gender‑based violence, we need education that supports every young person to live a safe, respectful and fulfilling life.”

On Your Terms survey will run until June 30, 2026. For more information click here.