Australian teachers overwhelmingly believe sex education should be taught in schools, but most receive little or no formal training to prepare them for the lessons and many fear repercussions for teaching it, according to new national research.
La Trobe University’s Third National Study of Australian Teachers of Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) has found 68.1 per cent of teachers reported no pre-service training in the subject and most feared negative reactions from parents (60.4 per cent) or saying the wrong thing in class (59.5 per cent).
Male teachers were significantly more concerned (34 per cent) than female teachers (19.6 per cent) about risks to their professional reputation related to RSE teaching.
The study surveyed 482 teachers across government, Catholic and independent schools.
Researcher Lily Moor, from La Trobe’s Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society (ARCSHS) said school-based RSE was the cornerstone of sexual health education for young people in Australia.
“The benefits of school-based RSE are well documented but young people report that RSE often lacks the nuance or practical guidance regarding sexuality and relationships that they are looking for,” Dr Moor said.
“The scope of RSE has also expanded considerably, with consent education, respectful relationships and digital and media literacy – including online safety, sexting and the influence of pornography – emerging as prominent areas of focus.”
There was near-universal agreement among those surveyed that schools should teach core topics including consent (98.6 per cent), sexual development (96.8 per cent) and contraception (96.8 per cent).
But teachers were considerably less comfortable discussing topics such as sexual pleasure (37.7 per cent said they were somewhat/very uncomfortable teaching it), pornography (25.4 per cent) and abortion (23.4 per cent). These were also the topics most commonly reported as being excluded from school programs.
Lead researcher Professor Jennifer Power, also at ARCSHS, said national guidelines for RSE had been introduced in 2015 but there was still considerable variability in how the subject was taught across states, schools and individual classrooms.
The current social environment was also creating new challenges for schools, with increasing misogynistic and anti-LGBTQA+ content online. Broader debates about sexuality and gender had also heightened scrutiny of RSE.
“These broader moral and political dynamics shape teachers’ comfort and confidence in delivering RSE, as they navigate concerns sometimes raised by parents or others in the community,” Professor Power said.
The study makes 13 recommendations to strengthen RSE nationally, including making training compulsory for all Australian teacher education and developing a coherent national outcomes framework to ensure consistent, evidence-based delivery across schools.
About half the surveyed teachers reported experiencing pushback from students (52 per cent) and parents (48.1 per cent). Adverse reactions from other staff members were reported by 35 per cent of respondents.
Participants commonly described confidence in teaching RSE as something that developed gradually through experience rather than something they possessed when entering the profession. Many emphasised the importance of opportunities to observe, train, and work with other educators or health and welfare staff to build both skills and confidence. Being part of a team committed to RSE within the school was seen as particularly valuable.
Gender dynamics also shaped teachers’ experiences of RSE delivery. Some male teachers described feeling cautious when teaching sensitive topics to female students, concerned that their actions or intentions could be misinterpreted. Female teachers also reported gender-related concerns, including navigating and responding to comments that reflected sexist attitudes from male students during RSE lessons.
- DOI: 10.26181/32919662
