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Increased demand for consent education in schools

A grassroots youth-led not-for-profit has expanded access to consent education programs for Victorian students.

Consent Labs, a youth-led not-for-profit delivering consent and respectful relationships education across Australia, has announced the expansion of its Victorian team to increase access to consent education in Victorian schools, universities, and TAFEs following growing demand. Through its programs, Consent Labs has worked with over 80,000 high school students, tertiary students, parents and educators around Australia to change the culture around consent since starting program delivery in 2021.

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The teaching of consent is mandatory in all Victorian government schools and in 2022, it passed affirmative consent laws to make it clear that everyone has a responsibility to get consent before engaging in sexual activity. 

As a result, Consent Labs has recently experienced high demand for its programs across Victoria and has opened a base in South Yarra, Melbourne. The business is currently expecting to reach more than 10,000 people in 2024, and deliver at least seven times the number of programs in comparison to 2023. 

One in five women and one in sixteen men have experienced sexual violence since the age of 15. In Victoria, 9537 sexual offences were reported in 2023, equating to 26 sexual offences a day, according to Crime Statistics Agency Victoria

In 2024 so far, Consent Labs has already reached more than 25,000 people nationally. According to feedback forms from Consent Labs’ workshops between 2021-2024, 66 percent of students rated their knowledge of topics around consent as “good” before a session, which rose to 93 percent after the session. Furthermore, 89 percent learned something practical they could incorporate into their day to day life, 91 percent rated the sessions as “engaging” or “very engaging”, and 84 percent wanted more workshops from Consent Labs in the future. 

Parents and carers have also benefited from Consent Labs’ approach to empowering students’ communities and ecosystem. One parent/carer from Iona College in Geelong, said, “The information was so valuable and really helped me to understand how I could start a conversation with my children in a safe, neutral and respectful space. I would change my ‘awkward’ response at the start to ‘comfortable’. That’s a big shift in two hours.”

Consent Lab’s growth comes at a time when consent education has become a Federal Government priority. It recently announced a $77.6 million investment for schools to deliver consent education nationwide, and launched its $40 million ‘Consent Can’t Wait’ campaign to encourage Australian adults to improve their understanding of consent to support more informed conversations amongst themselves and young people. 

Angelique Wan, CEO and Co-Founder of Consent Labs said: “We can no longer ignore the vital role of teaching consent from an early age as a means of addressing the rising rates of sexual assault and violence in Australia. At Consent Labs, we want to ensure every high school and university student, as well as their educators, parents and caregivers, has access to free, evidence-based and age-appropriate education on consent and healthy relationships. Expanding our Victorian team will allow us to reach more people at a time when it has never been more important.” 

School News

School News is not affiliated with any government agency, body or political party. We are an independently owned, family-operated magazine.

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