Today NSW and Commonwealth Ministers gathered with a shared mission to address the rise of sexual violence and misogyny involving and impacting young people in New South Wales.
An urgent Roundtable convened by Acting Premier Prue Car and facilitated by NSW Women’s Safety Commissioner Dr Hannah Tonkin, brought together victim survivors, school leaders, frontline services, researchers, policy makers, and other experts to discuss this pressing issue.
The Roundtable examined how online environments and algorithms are playing an increasingly influential role in shaping harmful attitudes towards gender, relationships and consent, and are contributing to sexual violence among young people.
Attendees welcomed the leadership of Commonwealth Ministers in considering the impact that harmful algorithms are having on young people and the remedies that have been legally imposed through the courts in other jurisdictions.
The Roundtable also examined the critical role of families, schools and the broader community in challenging harmful social norms and supporting trusted adults to have open conversations with young people about respect, consent, healthy relationships and online influences.
Participants identified several priority opportunities to strengthen existing efforts to address sexual violence, including:
- increasing the reach of Respectful Relationships Education in public and non-government schools;
- supporting parents, carers and other trusted adults to have conversations with young people about online influences and healthy relationships;
- working with the Commonwealth Government to explore giving social media users more control over what they see on social media;
- improving coordination and responses to online misogyny, pornography and technology-facilitated abuse;
- expanding evidence-based prevention; and
- strengthening support for victim-survivors of sexual violence.
Today’s Roundtable is the first step in a wider program of ongoing work the NSW Government is doing to address sexual violence. The Roundtable will inform immediate work on developing a contemporary NSW Sexual Violence Plan, due for release in 2027.
The Sexual Violence Plan will build on the most up to date evidence, insights from recent consultations, best practice and lived experience. Consultation with the broader community and sector will be undertaken to develop a contemporary plan to address the serious issue of sexual violence.
In addition, Commonwealth Women’s Domestic Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner, Micaela Cronin, and her NSW counterpart, Dr Tonkin, will commence a program of work focused on the experiences of young women and girls, including discussions in partnership with lived experience advocates.
Today’s meeting reinforced the importance of a coordinated, whole-of-community approach to preventing sexual violence, promoting respectful relationships and improving safety for young people across New South Wales.
