Holistic and age appropriate consent education will be implemented in Australian schools from 2023, after all education ministers unanimously committed to include it in school curriculums.
It comes exactly one year after Chanel Contos launched her consent education petition that sparked new conversations across Australia about consent.
“Today marks exactly one year since we launched a petition demanding for earlier and more holistic consent education to be mandated in Australian schools,” Contos wrote on Instagram on Thursday.
“After over 44,000 signatures, more than 6,700 testimonies of sexual assault, and countless hours of volunteer work and support, we are very happy to announce that we did it ‼️🎉 thank you to everyone involved.”
The new curriculum will roll out in schools during 2023, incorporating comprehensive consent education, including an understanding of gendered stereotypes, coercion, and power imbalances. It will be taught from foundation until Year 10 in every school.
Back in February 2021, Contos posted a question to her Instagram story, asking her followers if they, or someone close to them, had been sexually assaulted while they were at school. In just one day, over 200 people replied ‘yes’ to the story.
Contos then launched a petition asking for improved education around consent in schools. Over the past year, it has attracted 44,000 signatures and her organisation Teach Us Consent has received more than 6,700 anonymous testimonies about people’s experiences of sexual assault.
“This monumental change has only been possible because of the tens of thousands of voices that have supported this movement over the last 12 months, the countless hours of volunteer support, and the foundation that was laid before by pioneering activists in this space,” Teach Us Consent posted to Instagram.
“The next generation of Australians will now have consent because of YOU.”