University Programs
Workshops
“This is real-life adult education that is applicable to real life sexual experiences. I learnt so much!”
— Sandra, University of Melbourne
1 in 3 Australian young people aged 18-19 years old have experienced intimate partner violence in the past year.
Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2023
Consent Conversations
Our Consent Conversations workshops have been co-designed with Australian university students, and are responsive to the latest National Student Safety Survey data, The Universities Australia Good Practice Guide and The National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence. They feature stage plays performed by professional actors, and discussion groups facilitated by trained student leaders educators.
“The Consent Conversations workshops demonstrates a scalable model for empowering students to take ownership of culture change and to become active participants in creating safer environments.”
— Dean, Philip Baxter College
Bystander Workshops
Our Ethical Bystander Workshops have been co-designed with Australian university students, and are responsive to the latest National Student Safety Survey data, The Universities Australia Good Practice Guide and The National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence. This bespoke 90-minute workshop familiarises students with a best-practice framework for bystander intervention and empowers participants with practical tools to enable them to be active bystanders in their college communities.
Disclosure Workshops
The Responding to Disclosures Workshops are interactive workshops that equips staff, student leaders, and university leadership with the knowledge and skills to respond to disclosures of gender-based violence in a trauma-informed and person-centered way. Responsive to the latest National Student Safety Survey data, The Universities Australia Good Practice Guide and The National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence, this training is essential for creating a safe, supportive, and legally compliant university environment.
Our Workshops Are:
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Student-Centred
Our university workshops are co-designed with Australian university students to ensure the content reflects their lived experiences navigating relationships, sex and consent. We undertake robust student consultation in all of our program design to inform the development of a series of scenarios, each authentically reflecting the lived experiences of young people navigating consent in their everyday lives.
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Story-Led
Each workshop uses stories as provocations for critical reflection and small-group discussion amongst workshop participants. Workshop content features a series of scenarios, performed by professional actors, as a medium to engage empathy, disarm and educate, and as a provocation for peer-led discussion throughout the workshops.
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Safe & Inclusive
We hold a safe space for the delivery of our workshops. We upskill teams of student leaders in safe and inclusive facilitation techniques and ensure that all participants are empowered to make an informed choice to participate in our workshops. Our student facilitators are trained to manage disclosures safely and respectfully, with all sessions delivered in partnership with university wellbeing staff who provide on-site support to students during and after workshops.
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Learning Consent workshop learning outcomes are in alignment with the UNESCO International Technical Guidance for Sexuality Education which presents the evidence base for delivering comprehensive sexuality education within a framework of human rights and gender equality.
Our approach is informed by the Universities Australia 2023 Primary Prevention of Sexual Harm in the University Sector Good Practice Guide.
All Learning Consent programs are designed 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.
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At Learning Consent we make sure that the diversity of all young people’s lived experiences is reflected in the content and delivery of our programs, so that all young people feel seen and can relate no matter where they are sitting on the gender and/or sexuality spectrum.
Learning Consent persistently contests the heterosexual privilege that disturbingly permeates much of the contemporary sex education taught to young people. Our own research ensures a diverse sample of young people, and our programs reflect this.
We under take cultural consultations to ensure that our content is relevant and sensitive a diversity of cultural backgrounds.
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Participant safety is our priority. Our team go to great lengths to ensure we are able to hold a safe space for the delivery of our workshops. We work closely to upskill teams of student leaders prior to our workshops in safe and inclusive facilitation techniques.
We ensure that all participants are empowered to make an informed choice to participate our workshops.
In-person wellbeing support is made available onsite throughout and after our workshops.
Wellbeing staff are present throughout our workshops for students who may require on-site support during the workshop. The details of relevant support services are provided to all participants and students are encouraged to seek support during and after the workshop, should they feel they need it. Following the event, all attendees are provided with an e-resource pack detailing relevant resources and local support services.