Consent education should be made compulsory in all Queensland schools in a bid to curb alarming rates of sexual violence, Greens MP Amy MacMahon says.
Sex education is available to children across the state, but parents who are opposed to lessons have the option of excluding their child.
Grace Tame has called for a national definition of consent. Credit:Sam Mooy/Getty
State schools were required to provide health and wellbeing education, including respectful relationships, as part of the Australian Curriculum or as part of the school’s pastoral care program, although the word “consent” is not explicitly stated in the curriculum.
South Brisbane MP, Ms MacMahon, wrote to the Queensland education minister Grace Grace on Monday afternoon, calling for mandatory consent education for all students.
She said without it “many young people will seek out this information from less reliable sources – like mainstream pornography or popular culture – which can enforce damaging stereotypes about gender, sex and intimate violence without context”.
“We’re finally having all these discussions about the scourge of rape and sexual assault in workplaces and schools across the country, but meanwhile Queensland schools aren’t even required to teach about consent – it’s a massive blind spot,” she said.
“The vacuum you get when you deny kids this information helps maintain rape culture. It can lead women and girls into thinking they’re the problem, and doesn’t challenge any assumptions boys and men might hold about how they can and should act.”
Ms Grace and the education department were contacted for comment. A spokeswoman for Ms Grace said the letter was received late on Monday and the Minister was yet to read it.
Ms MacMahon’s letter comes off the back of a national push for a more consistent approach to consent teaching in Australia.
