The Australian Christian Lobby has called on Australian politicians to follow the lead of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on sex education in schools to ensure that “parents, not activists, are the ultimate authority on what their children should learn about gender and sexuality.”
Sex education classes will not start until Year Five with more controversial issues not being covered until high school and extra care advised when teaching about gender identity.
New guidelines have been introduced to ensure children will be protected from inappropriate teaching on sensitive topics. The UK government said: “Following multiple reports of disturbing materials being used in Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) lessons, the Department for Education has published updated guidance that will ensure content is factual, appropriate and that children have the capacity to fully understand everything they are being taught.”
“Parents will have the right to see the resources that are being used to teach their children about relationships, health and sex in all circumstances and new age limits will be introduced so that children are not introduced to content they may not have the maturity to understand.”
Under the new guidance, schools will be told to avoid pro-actively teaching children about gender identity. Students will not start receiving sex education until Year Five when they are around nine years old. At that stage, teaching will be from a purely scientific standpoint.
Issues such as contraception, abortion and gender identity will be off the curriculum until children are 13. High school pupils will learn about legally ‘protected’ characteristics, such as sexual orientation and gender reassignment.
The updated guidance is clear that schools should not teach about the concept of gender identity. The government stated: “In light of the Cass Review [into child medical gender transitions] it is important that schools take a cautious approach to teaching about this sensitive topic, and do not use any materials that present contested views as fact, including the view that gender is a spectrum. This is in line with the Department’s gender questioning guidance, which also takes a cautious approach to assist teachers in ensuring they are acting in the best interests of children.”
Prime Minister Sunak said: “Parents rightly trust that when they send their children to school, they are kept safe and will not be exposed to disturbing content that is inappropriate for their age. That’s why I was horrified to hear reports of this happening in our classrooms last year. I will always act swiftly to protect our children and this new guidance will do exactly that, while supporting teachers to teach these important topics sensitively and giving parents access to curriculum content if they wish.”
The guidance includes additional content on suicide prevention in the high school health and well-being section, including equipping pupils to recognise when they or their peers need help. It has also been strengthened to help young people to understand the benefits of rationing time spent online and the impact on their well-being, and the serious risks of viewing content that promotes self-harm and suicide.
There’s also a dedicated section on sexual harassment and sexual violence, which covers some specific types of abusive behaviour that were not explicitly discussed previously, such as stalking, as well as advice for teachers about how to address misogynistic online influencers.
The guidance is currently open for eights weeks of consultation. When finalised it will become statutory and UK schools will be expected to follow it.
ACL National Director of Politics Wendy Francis said: “Prime Minister Sunak has taken a principled stand that Australian politicians would be wise to emulate. Around the world, gender ideology is being exposed as an ideological faux. Disturbingly, it continues to be taught in Australian schools largely unchecked – and is misleading our children to think gender transition is a harmless and even a trending pathway. The imperative to safeguard kids from radical gender ideology has never been clearer.”
