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New resources co-designed with young people look to address gaps in current sexual health and relationship education
Key points:
A young person involved in a recently launched Australian Catholic University research project described reaching late adolescence before recognising that her childhood experience was abusive.
“Sometimes you get into situations that are uncomfortable, but you don’t know whether what’s happening is normal, because you’re not taught about this stuff,” they said.
Like the other 17 young people who joined the project as co-designers, they called for sexual health and relationship education (SHRE) to recognise that around 60 per cent of young people in every classroom will experience maltreatment before turning 18 years old.
The young co-designers also argue that SHRE needs to better respond to their needs.
To help address this gap, the research team, made up of researchers from ACU’s Institute of Child Protection Studies (ICPS) and the School of Justice at QUT, has launched SAY-IT: Survivor-Aware Youth-Informed Tools for Teaching Sexual Health Education.
The free national resources were recently unveiled in Sydney during the official launch of National Child Protection Week, opened by the Hon Tanya Plibersek MP.
ICPS Deputy Director Professor Tim Moore launched the resources alongside QUT Associate Professor Jodi Death and youth co-designer Priya Virdee-Hero.
Professor Moore said sexual health and relationship education could be an important source of safety and empowerment.
But when educators were unprepared for the experiences of young people, they could cause distress.
“A lesson about consent, relationships or sexual violence may be the moment a young person first realises that something they have experienced was harmful,” Professor Moore said.
“What happens next matters. Young people need educators who can respond calmly and sensitively, protect their dignity and connect them with appropriate support.
“SAY-IT begins with a simple but important assumption: survivors are present in every classroom and learning environment. We must design and deliver education with them in mind.”
SAY-IT was informed by a review of 98 studies, interviews with young people who had experienced harm, co-design and member-checking workshops, and consultation with educators and practitioners.
The research found young survivors wanted sexual health education to move beyond anatomy and risk to include honest, practical conversations about consent, communication, pleasure, sexual violence, diverse identities and healthy relationships.
Young people also wanted education to begin earlier, occur regularly like any other subject and feel less awkward or stigmatising.
Professor Moore said young survivors were partners throughout the research and development process.
“They helped us understand what safer education looks and feels like—and shaped practical resources that educators can use. SAY-IT demonstrates what becomes possible when lived expertise, research evidence and practice knowledge are genuinely brought together,” he said.
The free two-hour online course contains eight modules, downloadable checklists, planning templates, reflection tools and referral resources.
SAY-IT was co-designed by ACU, QUT, NAPCAN, Marina Dickson Practice Connections and the project’s youth co-designers, with funding from the National Centre for Action on Child Sexual Abuse.
The team also presented the research at the 2026 International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect Congress and the Lead the Way Conference.
SAY-IT course and resources are available from the National Centre for Action on Child Sexual Abuse.
Media Contact: Conor Burke, 0448 491 059, [email protected]
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