Bringing the National Code to Life
Welcome to Part 2 of the National Code Blog. In this article we discuss how real cultural change doesn’t happen through policy alone, it happens through practice.
In Part 1 of this blog we explored why the National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence matters. We emphasised how gender-based violence is a national emergency here in Australia, and we discussed the importance of relevant, practical education that can bring real cultural change. (Read full blog here).
The Key in Standard 3
For universities, Standard 3: Knowledge and Capability in the proposed National Code is key to creating real cultural change in university communities. Standard 3 calls on institutions to build the skills, confidence, and understanding of gender-based violence by centring ongoing comprehensive prevention education.
Standard 3 clearly outlines that comprehensive prevention education must be:
Ongoing – delivered regularly to both students and staff
Evidence-based – based on current research and best practice
Trauma-informed – sensitive to the impact of trauma in both content and delivery
Context-specific – tailored to the provider’s unique environment and community
Culturally appropriate – respectful and relevant to diverse cultural backgrounds
Inclusive and accessible – designed to accommodate people with disabilities and diverse needs
Collaboratively developed – co-designed with experts, students, staff, and disproportionately affected communities
Bringing Standard 3 To Life
At Learning Consent, preventing gender-based violence through comprehensive education is the foundation of our work. We partner with universities and colleges to implement impactful, co-designed programs that are engaging, evidence-based, and reflect the core principals of the National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence.
Our tertiary offerings include the Sex & Consent eLearn, Consent Conversations workshops, Bystander Training workshops and Responding to Disclosures training. Our programs provide a comprehensive and tailored approach to prevention education across university communities. Here’s how:
Research-led and Evidence-based Curriculum
Our eLearn modules and in-person workshops align with national and global best practice, including the UNESCO International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education, the Universities Australia’s Good Practice Guide and The National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence. We work with universities and colleges to enable a whole of institution approach to violence prevention education, with a focus on relevant, inclusive, and culturally sensitive content and delivery.
Our eLearn content has been developed in response to the findings of current qualitative and quantitative research with a diverse representation of young people, including the National Student Safety Survey (2021), and the Australian Human Rights Commission Change The Course report.
To ensure our programs continually align to best practice and the latest research, all of our program content is formally reviewed and updated annually to align with current research, support ongoing learning, and incorporate participant feedback and evaluation findings.Co-Designed With Students, For Students
We believe that young people are the experts when it comes to what they need from consent and respectful relationships education. Students arrive at university with varying experiences of school-based relationship and sex education. So, it’s crucial that we listen.
Each program begins with student co-design sessions. This is a space where students can speak openly about the questions, challenges, and real-life scenarios they encounter. Through these sessions, students help shape the content by developing fictionalised scenes based on their lived experience. Themes often reflect students’ complex realities navigating alcohol, consent , peer pressure, cultural differences, power dynamics, and more in their experience of relationships.
We then work with writers and actors to turn students lived experiences into relevant and authentic scenes that are performed in our workshops, and filmed for our eLearn. The result? Programs that students genuinely see themselves in and want to engage with.Peer-Led and Student-Focused
Our workshops are co-facilitated with student leaders, who run small-group discussion and engage peers in meaningful conversations. We deliver pre-workshop training sessions to ensure that student leaders are equipped with the skills to offer safe, inclusive, and respectful learning environments for discussion of sensitive content. This approach builds trust, relevance, and long-term impact for students.
Our workshop participants consistently report increased confidence in navigating consent, skills to intervene safely as ethical bystanders, and the capacity to respond safely to disclosures. As one university student shared: “The scenarios presented are extremely relevant to my role and position on campus. It enabled me to have some really interesting and thoughtful conversations with others.”Inclusive, Responsive and Trauma-Informed Delivery
Engaging in conversations around consent and gender-based violence can be triggering, particularly for those with lived experience of gender-based and sexual violence. That’s why at Learning Consent we take a trauma-informed, inclusive approach to all our programs, including our eLearn course and in-person workshops. Our modules and workshops are culturally responsive and inclusive of people of all genders, sexualities, and backgrounds, including LGBTQIA+ individuals, First Nation Australians, Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) groups, and other marginalised communities. We recognise and respect the diverse realities and needs within student cohorts and communities and we take great care to ensure student wellbeing.
Students are given clear, upfront information about the content so they can make an informed decision about whether it is safe for them to participate. To ensure the safety of all students, facilitators are trained through a trauma-informed and person centred-approach for disclosure response, gaining key skills in managing the safety of students during and after sessions. During the delivery of our workshops, we work closely with our university partners to ensure that on-site wellbeing support is available to students in a discreet and accessible way.
Policy Into Practice
With a focus on ongoing learning, our tertiary programs not only meet, but exceed the National Code’s Standard 3 requirements, making us a trusted partner for Higher Education Providers seeking to build safer, more informed learning environments. Our tertiary programs set a high standard for comprehensive, trauma-informed prevention education, that equips students, leadership, and staff with the knowledge and capability to foster safer, more respectful communities.
Learning Consent is committed to driving violence prevention outcomes for our tertiary partners, moving universities beyond policy and into genuine, student-centred cultural change. To partner with us and to learn more about how support tertiary institutions, get in touch with us via our website
