Speaking to other people about sexual consent is a step we have to take to keep young people safe and set them up for future success.

Framing Sexual ConsentHow you frame sexual consent in your reporting can greatly affect how the community thinks and responds to the topic. The campaign’s developmental research showed that 86% of Australians agree that adults need to talk to young people about consent. However, the research also shows that many adults aren’t comfortable talking about this topic even with their peers. Many Australians find the topic confusing and taboo. These guidelines have been developed to equip you with up-to-date definitions and language, and consideration of victim-survivors to help your reporting.Please note, this campaign presents a community definition of sexual consent, not a legal definition. Sexual consent is defined differently by each Australian state and territory.Positive framingconsent is a set of skills people can learn to have healthy relationships and sexual experiences, rather than a problem to be solved. Understanding sexual consent isn’t just about knowing enough to not break the law. It’s about making sure sexual activity is positive and pleasurable for everyone, and reducing the potential for harm to sexual partners.   These skills include empathy, communication, setting and respecting boundaries, reaching consent, withdrawing consent and dealing with rejection. Consent is not a contractConsent isn’t a transaction where one person gives or gets consent from the other. It is part of an ongoing conversation and communication, and involves reading the situation – and it can change. A person needs to consent to something. A person needs to regularly check for consent with someone. Consent can be withdrawn at any time. Affirmative consent is everyone’s responsibilityConsent is all about communication. People must check if their sexual partner wants to take part in a sexual activity. Not saying ‘no’ doesn’t mean that someone agrees; they must communicate that they agree.Consent is more than using wordsConsent can be conveyed through behavioural cues and actions too. It is about paying attention to how the other person is responding in their words and actions. It is important to understand that some people freeze or fawn when they are afraid, or may say ‘yes’ due to pressure, coercion or fear of rejection.Everyone is invited to the conversation Consent is a society wide issue that many people want to talk about but don’t know where to start. Many people feel shame and fear about consent. We want to invite everyone into the conversation regardless of gender. While most perpetrators of sexual violence are men, we also know that men are a large part of the solution.Consent doesn’t have to be awkwardReaching consent does not always have to be a stilted formal conversation. It includes reading body language, facial expressions and cues. It can be flirty questions such as ‘do you like that?’More than penetrative sexSexual consent applies to all sexual interactions. Descriptions such as ‘sexual activity’/ ‘sexual interaction’ / ‘sexual encounter’ should be used as they are umbrella terms for sexual activities that require consent within or outside of relationships - sexual intercourse, sexual touching, online sexual imagery and online activities.SupportWhen reporting about sexual consent, always include support services such as 1800RESPECT. Discussing consent and sexual violence can be triggering to victim-survivors and it is important to include the contact details for support services. A full list of support services can be found on the consent.gov.au website. Terminology and language to avoid Instead use The issue of consent The problem of consentThis frames consent as a problem that needs to be solved and makes people feel like it is too taboo to engage in. The topic of consent The concept of consent Sexual consent This reframes consent as something neutral – a set of skills that people can learn. During sex This term is generally understood as sexual intercourse, however consent is required for any sexual activity. During a sexual encounter / sexual experience / sexual activity This covers all sexual activities that require consent including kissing, sexual touching and online activities like sharing sexual images and sexting. Giving consent Granting consent This implies that consent is a contract that one person gets from another. It puts the responsibility on one person.  Reaching consentConsentingCommunicating consentExpressing consent Everyone involved in the sexual encounter consents. This shows that it is a mutual agreement and everyone’s responsibility. Does not give consent This implies that consent is a transaction to be given and received at the beginning of a sexual activity.  Withdrawing consent Not consentingConsent is not present This is when someone communicates that they don’t consent – and they can withdraw consent at any time during the sexual experience. Getting consent Asking for consent Implies that consent is a one-time contract or transaction between people where one person gets consent from the other.  Communicating consentChecking for consent Looking and listening for consentPresenting consent as active, and everyone’s responsibility. No means noThis puts all the pressure on one person to express that they do not consent. The absence of a no doesn’t mean someone is consenting. It ignores the freeze and fawn responses where people may not speak up due to pressure, fear, coercion or people pleasing.  Actively say or do something to check for consent. Affirmative consentWithdrawing consentConsent is ongoing and mutual Affirmative consent is where everyone involved is responsible for making sure everyone consents.  If someone no longer consents, that is withdrawing consent and it can happen before or during the sexual experience/sexual activity or encounter.  Asking why someone didn’t express consent This puts responsibility on one person and excuses coercion and power dynamics. Asking why everyone didn’t check for consent This frames consent as the responsibility of everyone involved. Consent is always a verbal agreement Make sure everyone says ‘yes’ This fails to acknowledge /ignores non-verbal forms of affirmative consent. It also risks framing consent as a stilted and ‘unsexy’ interaction.  Consent is about checking that others are actively saying or doing something to communicate consent.  Consent can be verbal and non-verbal, it is in cues like body language, tone and words.  Focus on actions of the victim-survivor. The victim-survivor was drunk The victim-survivor was walking aloneThis perpetuates attitudes of victim blaming, showing that sexual violence is the fault of the victim-survivor. Focus on actions of the person using/who used violence.   This puts the focus on the behaviour of the person using violence and away from the victim-survivor. Victim This reduces the person to the act of violence that happened to them. Victim-survivor People with lived experience  Their occupationThis frames them as a whole person. It’s best to ask the person their preference when appropriate. Enthusiastic consent It is recommended the phrase “enthusiastic consent” is not used on its own. Best practice is using the phrase “genuine or enthusiastic consent”. While enthusiastic consent as a concept is not wrong, not all consensual sexual encounters will be enthusiastic. Sometimes people will consent to a sexual experience, but they might not be  bubbling with enthusiasm and that’s ok.  Genuine or enthusiastic consent Consent is present when people mutually and genuinely want to take part in the sexual encounter. Genuinely wanting to be there can look like an enthusiastic hook up, or a tired but affectionate ‘alright’ between partners and everything in between. Use the phrase ‘genuine or enthusiastic’ to cover all of these scenarios.  They didn’t say ‘no’ They went along with it Language which questions why the victim didn’t speak up ignores coercion, and trauma responses like freezing or fawning.  Consent wasn’t present. Consent can never be assumed. Silence, freezing, the absence of a ‘no’, appearing disengaged or a lack of any apparent discomfort, hesitation or resistance, does not imply consent. Signs of physical arousal do not mean there is consent. Had his way with her Took advantage Non-consensual sex Unwanted touching Using language which dilutes violence can influence the audience’s attitude towards it. For example, they are less likely to have empathy for victim-survivors. Sexual violence RapeSexual assault Sexual harassment Name the violence for what it is. This reinforces how wrong it is.  Woman sexually assaulted Sexual harassment or sexual assault is a choice the perpetrator makes. How you frame the issues can affect whether a survivor is believed or can reinforce attitudes in society around sexual violence. Man convicted of sexually assaulting woman.Use active language that focuses on the person who chose to use violence.  Avoid sensational language, use a respectful and appropriate tone. Key statistics Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) - Personal Safety Survey 2021-22: Australians experience sexual violence at an alarming rate, particularly younger age groups:  1 in 5 women (22 per cent) and 1 in 16 men (6.1 per cent) have experienced sexual violence in their lifetime.  1 in 2 women (53 per cent) and 1 in 4 men (25 per cent) have experienced sexual harassment during their lifetime. (PSS, 2016) For female victims of sexual assault, the most common age for sexual violence to occur is between 15 and 19 years old.  National Community Attitudes Survey - Youth Report 2023: Young people aged 16-24 years old continue to hold problematic attitudes on consent and equality in relationships. For example:  20 per cent of young people believed that a lot of times women who say they were raped had led the man on and later had regrets.29 per cent of young people agreed with the statement, “when a man is very sexually aroused, he may not even realise that the woman doesn’t want to have sex”.10 per cent of young people agree that women often say no when they actually mean yesReporting on sexual harassment and assaultFor a comprehensive guide on reporting sexual harassment, visit Our Watch. How you frame discussions or articles about sexual consent can impact whether you reinforce problematic attitudes in society. It can affect whether victim-survivors are believed or the likelihood of people engaging in the topic in a constructive way. When reporting on specific incidents of sexual assault or sexual harassment: Use active language with the perpetrator as the focus: Say a ‘man assaults’ rather than ‘woman assaulted by.’  When safe and legally possible, consider naming any gender or power dynamics, to highlight the link to broader systemic issues.Be respectful to victim-survivors and avoid trivialising or downplaying the issue.Focus on the actions of the perpetrator rather than the actions of the victim-survivor.  Avoid perpetuating myths around sexual violence like referring to whether the victim-survivor had been drinking, what they were wearing and their past history, as this perpetuates victim blaming.Avoid excusing the actions of the perpetrator including by presenting them as a ‘good bloke’ whose behaviour went too far, or was out of character, on this occasion.Be careful about how you present myths about sexual consent.  Restating misinformation can have the unintended consequence of reinforcing the myth. If you do refer to a myth, ensure you are clear that it is a myth and present the facts.Don’t identify victim-survivors without permission – for safety reasons, leave out details of victim-survivors unless they have told you they want to be identified.As can be inferred from the statistics above, perpetrators come from all socio-economic groups in our society. It is important to not present perpetrators as social outcasts or misfits.Glossary of termsConsent: A free and voluntary agreement between people for something to happen.Sexual consent: Sexual consent is a free, voluntary and informed agreement between people to participate in a sexual act. Consent is only present when these people mutually and genuinely feel they want to engage in that sexual act and actively make sure their partner does too. The communication of consent can be verbal and non-verbal.Sexual encounter/ sexual experience/ sexual activity: Acts that a reasonable person would see as sexual, including but not limited to, kissing, sexualised touching, penetration of any kind and oral sex. It also includes non-physical acts such as online sexual activity, sexting and sharing sexual images.Victim-survivor (from the National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children, 2022-32): People who have experienced family and domestic violence or gender-based violence. This term is understood to acknowledge the strength and resilience shown by people who have experienced or are currently living with violence. People who have experienced violence have different preferences about how they would like to be identified and may choose to use ‘victim’ or ‘survivor’ separately, or another term altogether. Some people prefer to use ‘people who have experienced, or are at risk of experiencing, violence’.Sexual violence: The intentional perpetration of sexual acts without consent, capturing all forms of sexual assault and sexual harassment. This definition of sexual violence refers to both criminal and non-criminal sexual activity perpetrated without consent to reflect that some emerging forms of sexual violence have not yet been addressed in legislation.Sexual assault: Sexual assault is an act of a sexual nature carried out against a person’s will through the use of physical force, intimidation or coercion, including any attempts to do this. This includes rape, attempted rape, aggravated sexual assault (assault with a weapon), indecent assault, penetration by objects, forced sexual activity that did not end in penetration and attempts to force a person into sexual activity. Note sexual assault occurs when a person is forced, coerced or tricked into sexual acts against their will or without their consent, including when they have withdrawn their consent.Sexual harassment: An unwelcome sexual advance, unwelcome request for sexual favours or other unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature which makes a person feel offended, humiliated and/or intimidated, where a reasonable person would anticipate that reaction in the circumstances.Freeze response: A trauma response where someone’s body reacts from a perceived threat by being unable to move, speak, fight or flee. This is an unconscious reaction to an unsafe situation.Fawn response: A trauma response where someone people-pleases or ignores their own needs to neutralise a perceived threat and keep themself safe. This is an unconscious reaction to an unsafe situation.

Below is a collection of videos from experts and advocates who are passionate about changing the way we think about consent, sex and relationships.

The Albanese Labor Government is today launching a new campaign to help reduce the incidence of sexual violence in Australia by improving community understanding and attitudes on consent and respectful relationships.  The Consent campaign helps adults be informed and understand consent so that they feel comfortable and confident having conversations with young people. “If we don’t know the answers, how will our kids?” the campaign asks.  Reducing sexual violence is a key priority under the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032, with 1 in 5 women and 1 in 16 men in Australia reporting having experienced sexual violence since the age of 15.  Like violence against women, Australians know that sex without consent is wrong, however there are high levels of confusion around the definition of consent, and who is accountable in non-consensual scenarios.  Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth highlighted that this campaign is a key part of the Government’s ongoing commitment to ending gender-based violence in a generation. “Learning about consent isn’t just about reducing harm, it is about providing the next generation with skills to have safe, healthy relationships for life,” Minister Rishworth said. “Even though research shows that 86 per cent of Australians agree that adults need to talk to young people about consent, it’s something many of us aren’t talking about at all, because it might feel uncomfortable and awkward. “This national campaign encourages people to learn more about consent, talk about it with other adults, and ultimately build a shared community understanding of the topic for the benefit of the next generation.”  The Consent campaign will feature on television, online video, social media and cinema to encourage adults to check their understanding and have conversations with each other – and then with young people – about consent. It will build on the work of the Stop it at the Start campaign to promote positive attitudes and behaviours on respectful relationships and gender equality among young people, by targeting their key adult influencers.  Evidence shows the importance of providing positive examples of consent to young people in an age-appropriate way during their early years and adolescence to help them gain the skills for respectful relationships and reduce harm.  While three in four Australians agree consent is a very important topic, one in two adults are conflicted in their understanding of consent.  Around 25 per cent of teenage boys in Australia look up to social media personalities who perpetuate harmful gender stereotypes and condone violence against women. Assistant Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence Justine Elliot said getting clear messages through to young people was critical to achieving a cultural shift.   “There’s a lot of contradictory messages and myths around consent, so it’s vital that we provide clarity and consistency on the messaging,” Assistant Minister Elliot said. “In fact, in Australia, one in five women and one in sixteen men has experienced sexual violence since the age of 15, with women most likely to experience this at the hands of an intimate partner.” “This campaign will ensure everyone in the community has a better understanding around consent and help us to come together in preventing this violence.”  The Government has committed $40 million in funding for the national Consent campaign.  The campaign has been informed by extensive developmental research with more than 2600 Australians, and alongside consultation with a panel of sexual violence and consent experts. This includes founder of Teach Us Consent Chanel Contos, National Association of Services Against Sexual Violence board member Kathryn Fordyce and Head of Engagement at No To Violence Lizette Twisleton.  Ms Twisleton said of the campaign, “Compared to every other consent campaign in history, this really nails it. It is invitational and appealing in a really great way. Fantastic job.”  Ms Contos, who is also a campaign ambassador, said “It's really exciting this is going to be shown around Australia. I think the impact of normalising public conversations about consent will be a significant step.”  Daniel Principe, campaign ambassador, said “We have such an opportunity before us to help young people form healthy relationships and understand what true intimacy looks like.”  A dedicated website, consent.gov.au, will be established to help broaden understanding of consent with an interactive ‘Check Your Understanding’ question generator and ‘Misconception Cards’ which will debunk common myths about consent.  The website will also feature conversation guides to assist adults to speak with other adults about consent and then speak with children and young people which include five key concepts about consent.  The campaign builds on the Albanese Labor Government’s $3.4 billion investment in women’s safety. To specifically address consent and respectful relationships, this includes: $6.5 million for a pilot of age assurance technology to protect children from harmful content, like pornography and other age-restricted online services. $3.5 million for Teach Us Consent to develop and distribute social media resources for young people aged 16 years and above about consent, sexual harm and healthy sexual relationships. $8.3 million to design, deliver and evaluate multiple small-scale trials to prevent sexual harm and violence. $3.5 million for a Healthy Masculinities Trial and Evaluation (Healthy MaTE) to help provide school-aged boys with greater understanding of ways to have healthy relationships with masculinity and to better equip this cohort to develop healthier and more satisfying relationships. $83.5 million for the Consent and Respectful Relationships Education measure which aims to ensure that students from Foundation to Year 10 receive age-appropriate education on positive, respectful relationships and consent.  $100.4 million to Our Watch over 2022-2027 to continue its important work as the national leader in primary prevention. This includes funding for The Line - Our Watch’s primary prevention social marketing campaign. If you or someone you know is experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, domestic, family or sexual violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732, chat online via www.1800RESPECT.org.au, or text 0458 737 732. If you are concerned about your behaviour or use of violence, you can contact the Men’s Referral Service on 1300 766 491 or visit  http://www.ntv.org.au. Feeling worried or no good? No shame, no judgement, safe place to yarn. Speak to a 13YARN Crisis Support Worker on 13 92 76. This service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. For more information about the Consent campaign visit consent.gov.au. 

Share our resources with your networks and communities. By getting on the same page about consent, we can all contribute to keeping the young people in our lives safe and improving the community’s attitudes and understanding.

The topic of sexual consent is highly sensitive and emotional. It can be hard to yarn about because we might not understand it and feel shame and stigma about not having all the answers. Questions like ‘can consent be taken away?’ can be confusing.