Respect matters
The Respect Matters curriculum connection supports teachers to address respectful relationships and consent education through the curriculum schools are already delivering. This resource acknowledges that respectful relationships education can be delivered in a range of ways and will occur within programs, policies and processes that are currently in place in schools across the country.
This curriculum connection shows how content from across the Australian Curriculum learning areas and general capabilities can be organised to deliver respectful relationships education. The curriculum links are age appropriate and can be used flexibly by schools and teachers to support student learning about respect and respectful relationships. To maximise the effectiveness of education about how and why respect matters, learning should be developmentally appropriate, planned, sequential, have clear and specific links to curriculum and be reinforced through everyday interactions.
Respect and respectful relationships are important for a cohesive Australian society. Schools play a vital role in educating students about relationships in positive, strengths-based ways. Education provides an opportunity for children and young people to develop and reflect on knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours that relate to respect, inclusion and power. Schools can help students to understand right and wrong and support them to have respect for themselves and others. The Australian Curriculum provides a variety of opportunities to support this learning.
Children and young people form beliefs from the world around them and the values and traditions of their families and communities. What they hear, see, talk about and experience from a young age shapes their view of the world. It is important that all children and young people experience and learn from positive influences where they live, learn, work, and socialise. Schools support students to develop respectful relationships with family, friends and important people in their lives. This education can also support the primary prevention of domestic and family violence by educating young people about respectful relationships and helping them to develop protective behaviours and resilience.
The Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education (HPE) is the main curriculum area for addressing respectful relationships education. Content about respectful relationships and consent is in the Personal, Social and Community Health strand through the focus area: Relationships and Sexuality. This focus area includes content about respectful relationships, including negotiating consent, managing relationships online and offline, and dealing with relationships when there is an imbalance of power.
Students learn about establishing and managing respectful relationships and how power imbalances within a relationship can create a dynamic where coercion, intimidation and manipulation can occur leading to non-consensual or inappropriate behaviour. They also learn to develop positive practices in relation to their reproductive and sexual health which includes aspects associated with sexual consent.
In the focus area: Relationships and Sexuality in the Australian Curriculum: HPE, students from Year 3 to Year 10 should learn about matters such as:
- standing up for themselves
- establishing and managing changing relationships (offline and online)
- strategies for dealing with relationships when there is an imbalance of power (including seeking help or leaving the relationship)
- managing the physical, social and emotional changes that occur during puberty
- practices that support reproductive and sexual health (contraception, negotiating consent, and prevention of sexually transmitted infections and blood-borne viruses)
- celebrating and respecting difference and diversity in individuals and communities.
Some of the key skills that students need to develop in order to develop and maintain respectful relationships and effectively negotiate consent are communication and assertiveness skills. These skills are specifically taught through the HPE curriculum. They are also reinforced through other learning areas and through the development of the Personal and Social capability.
The Ethical Understanding general capability in the Australian Curriculum also supports students to build a strong personal and socially oriented ethical outlook that helps them to develop an awareness of the influence that their values and behaviour have on others. They develop an understanding of their rights and responsibilities and learn to evaluate the intended and unintended consequences of actions in a range of age-appropriate scenarios.
Consent is also an important factor when it comes to the use of digital technology and in particular social media. Consent is particularly important in relation to the sharing of intimate images. Online and digital safety is taught in HPE through the Safety focus area, as well as in the Digital Technologies curriculum. The Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies has a significant role in developing digital literacy in young people and provides opportunities for students to learn about and work with traditional and emerging technologies that shape the world in which we live.
Teaching about respectful relationships and consent requires intentional planning and explicit teaching to help educators create safe and inclusive learning environments. It is important that questions can be asked, and ideas and opinions can be shared and discussed without fear of judgement or silencing. Setting classroom agreements about such things as active listening and using respectful language can help to create a safe and respectful learning environment.
Reflecting on relationships can be personally challenging and may evoke feelings of distress in some teachers and students. It is important to respect students’ right to not engage in some discussions. Schools will have policies and procedures in place to support students and educators about dealing with sensitive issues. Schools make use of their school referral processes and are aware of mandatory reporting requirements and legal procedures for dealing with disclosures of abusive situations.
Resources from states and territories
PDHPE Teacher Toolkit: Prevention of Domestic Violence – New South Wales http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_sc/domestic-violence-prevention.html
Respectful relationships education program - Queensland https://education.qld.gov.au/curriculum/stages-of-schooling/respectful-relationships
Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum – South Australia https://www.education.sa.gov.au/schools-and-educators/curriculum-and-teaching/curriculum-programs/keeping-safe-child-protection-curriculum-information-educators
Respectful Relationships Teaching and Learning package – Tasmania https://respectfulrelationships.education.tas.gov.au/
Resilience, rights and respectful relationships – Victoria https://fuse.education.vic.gov.au/ResourcePackage/LandingPage?ObjectId=0249f9d6-e536-4122-9298-dbd3d6b29808&Check=1
Building Respectful Relationships - Victoria http://fuse.education.vic.gov.au/Resource/LandingPage?ObjectId=03bdca34-62ec-4f30-aca0-8262db67c2db
Growing and developing healthy relationships – Western Australia https://gdhr.wa.gov.au/learning-activities-by-topic/respectful-relationships
Links to pdf versions of respectful relationships