The Australian federal government has launched the $40 million campaign, Consent Can’t Wait, to encourage parents to communicate to children about consent for sex.  

It comes in the wake of the alarming incidence of sexual violence in Australia, with 1 in 5 women and 1 in 16 men in Australia reporting previous experience of sexual violence since age 15.

The campaign’s main website provides resources for parents to reduce their own confusion about sexual consent and also includes advertisements on television, social media and cinemas. The Labor government highlights that “if we don’t know the answer, how will our kids?”

“Consent education is a vital first step towards achieving a society in which all individuals can enjoy a safe and pleasurable sexual health journey free of violence, abuse, shame and stigma,” says Mandeep Kaur, the project coordinator of The Australian Medical Students’ Association initiative for sexual and reproductive health. 

The Minister for Social Services, the Hon Amanda Rishworth, said “Learning about consent isn’t just about reducing harm, it is about the next generation with skills to have safe, healthy relationships for life”. Communicating clear information and messages about sexual consent to address the sexual violence is paramount. For example, around 25 percent of male teenagers follow social media personalities promoting violence against women.  

Importantly, this campaign is aimed at young people and adults because sexual violence affects all genders and age groups. Even in the Australian medical student sphere, medical students are at risk of experiencing sexual harassment at all stages of their training. This risk also translates once medical students become doctors. 

Previous studies have shown that 16-19% of doctors working in their first two years at New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory experienced sexual harassment in the clinical workplace. Further, sexual assault occurs in the medical workforce, such as Dr Dominique Lee who was sexually assaulted by her  supervisor oncologist. 

Australia’s future doctors welcome the government’s campaign addressing sexual consent as a step in the right direction. The straightforward messaging of the campaign can clarify the definition and shared understanding of sexual consent. The government’s campaign highlights that 48% of Australians “are conflicted in their understanding of consent.”

AMSA is the peak representative body for the over 18,000 medical students across Australia. The AMSA Sexual and Reproductive Health is an initiative concerned with a wide range of sexual and reproductive health issues, including menstrual hygiene, contraception, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), sexual assault and intimate partner violence.