Australia’s new consent campaign gets a lot right. But education about consent won’t be enough to stop sexual violence

The Australian Government recently launched “Consent Can’t Wait,” a campaign focused on supporting communication about sexual consent between adults and young people.

Advertisements will run on TV, in cinemas, online and on social media, asking adults to examine their understanding of consent. Videos will ask questions such as “How do I bring up consent?”, “Do I have to ask every time?” and “What if we’ve been drinking?” before finally asking, “If we don’t know the answers, how will our children know?”

The campaign website contains numerous resources to help adults engage in conversation with each other and with young people.

While this campaign has many positive aspects, education about consent alone will not be enough to stop sexual violence.

What was the reason for this campaign?

At the launch of this campaign, the government cited statistics showing that one in five women and one in 16 men have experienced sexual violence since the age of 15. One in two women and one in four men have been victims of sexual harassment in their lifetime.

These statistics do not take into account the experiences of trans and gender diverse people. According to Private Lives 3, a survey on the health and wellbeing of queer people in Australia, 64% of nonbinary people, 55% of trans men and 42% of trans women have experienced sexual assault.

A lack of understanding of sexual consent is considered a major cause of sexual violence. According to a report, almost half of Australians surveyed were unsure what consent actually means in relation to sex and intimacy.

In a separate survey, more than one in four young Australians agreed with the statement: “When a man is very sexually aroused, he may not realise that the woman does not want to have sex.”

What the campaign does well

The campaign is a welcome update to the infamous 2021 milkshake video that was part of the Respect Matters campaign. That video was heavily criticised for its confusing messages and trivialisation of consent.

In contrast, Consent Can’t Wait takes a simple, direct and carefully crafted approach aimed not only at young people but also at adults.

This is perhaps what makes this campaign unique. Most campaigns on consent focus primarily on supporting young people, but forget that sexual violence occurs across all age groups and that adults play an important role in shaping young people’s understanding and attitudes around consent.

Adults are often asked to have conversations about consent with young people, but they may not have a good understanding of the topic. Many adults in their 30s and older are unlikely to have received comprehensive sex education during their formative years that included conversations about consent. An adult having sex does not automatically mean they have a good understanding of consent.

The campaign provides guidelines on how adults should talk to each other and young people about consent. It includes interactive activities that answer frequently asked questions (‘What is sexual consent?’) and debunk myths about consent, such as ‘You only need to ask for consent the first time’.

There is also a “community kit” that includes awareness-raising flyers, as well as a resource hub with links to sexual health and sexual violence services. Guides are translated into more than 15 languages, and there are specific guides for First Nations communities.

The campaign includes diverse representations of people with disabilities, queer couples, and people of different ages and cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

Information about consent is a start, but not enough

While the campaign is to be commended for its simple and clear messages on the subject of consent, one crucial aspect is missing.

Sexual violence is often not just the result of a lack of consent. For decades, research has shown that sexual violence is rooted in misogyny (hatred or prejudice towards women), femmephobia (hatred of femininity), queerphobia (fear and hatred towards LGBTIQA+ people) and a sense of sexual entitlement.

It’s tempting to think that these problems will no longer exist in 2024. But the rise of incel culture (men who feel entitled to sex with women but are angry that they can’t have it) and the continued influence of people like Andrew Tate (who believes, among other things, that women belong in the home and are the man’s property) all point to broader societal problems.

The recent incident in Melbourne, where boys were caught making derogatory lists about the sexual attractiveness of girls at their school, highlights the relevance of these problems.

We know that most cases of sexual violence are perpetrated by men, against other men, women, transgender, non-binary and gender diverse people. Data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows that 2.5 million people who have experienced sexual violence reported a man as the perpetrator, compared to 353,000 who said it was a woman. At the same time, 2 million women reported that their attacker was known to them, not a stranger.

In Private Lives 3, 84% of LGBTIQA+ participants who had experienced sexual violence in the past 12 months reported a cisgender man as the perpetrator.

Although power is discussed in the election campaign, I find this discussion vague, less central than it should be, and disregarded because it ignores the role of gender and culture.

Understanding and respecting consent are two different things

A recent study I conducted with colleagues showed that while young men and women in Australia understand what consent means, they don’t necessarily apply that knowledge in the moment. Rather, a range of other factors influence how they approach (or choose not to approach) consent in sexual situations.

Other research has shown that while men know what consent is, it is important to respect it.

Education about consent is important. This campaign, along with mandatory education about consent in schools overall, is a very good start.

But sexual violence cannot necessarily be reduced if we do not recognize that at its core it is not necessarily about a lack of understanding. It is and still is about the perception of a claim to one’s own body.