• At the beginning of September, England has made sex and relationship education a government priority, with primary and secondary schools needing to create policies showing how they are implementing this in their schools, and wider communities.

This will mean that primary schools will see a focus on relationships such as those with family, friends, and safe relationships with others they speak to, and also their relationships with online content. Secondary schools will focus on sexual health, intimate relationships and the importance of consent in regards to online activities, drugs and alcohol and how to reduce sexually transmittable infections. Gender and sexuality is also a mandatory element that must be addressed throughout lessons.

So how does Australia compare when it comes to teaching sex and relationship education across their schools? What is the current curriculum, and what is the government’s role? This was brought to light in an article in The Conversation this week.

We were joined by article author Dr Jacqui Hendriks, who is a Lecturer and Researcher with the Sexology Program at Curtin University.