Online Sexual Activity & Relationships and Sexuality Education

Sexual Health Victoria is proud to partner with the eSafety Commissioner as a Trusted Provider of eSafety education.

The purpose of Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) is to help young people understand and identify safe, healthy, respectful relationships. We can use those same skills, knowledge, and understandings, in the online world.

In 2021 Sexual Health Victoria was a successful applicant in the eSafety Online Safety Grants Program. Our project will deliver professional learning to school leadership groups and teachers. Parents and carers will be involved through an information session delivered by their school using resources provided by SHV. We will also deliver the Socialising Online classroom sessions directly to students in upper primary and lower secondary.

The grant also supported the production of a series of podcasts all about online sexual content as part of the SHV podcast Doing ‘IT’. See episodes #53-#59.

RSE covers many topics which are relevant to the way that young people engage online. These are:

• Protective behaviours
• Understanding public and private behaviours
• Understanding public and private body parts
• Understanding public and private spaces
• Social & emotional learning
• Recognising and challenging gender stereotypes
• Respect
• Challenging media representation of relationships
• Understanding the law around sexual behaviour
• Critical analysis and discussion of pornography
• Strengthening digital and media literacy specifically linked to online relationships
• Discussion of the ethics of sending sexually explicit images
• Consent
• Help seeking behaviours
• Reporting options

ESafety have published The best Practice Framework for Online Safety Education. This research identifies the importance of a broad approach to online safety education, including Digital citizenship; Social-emotional learning; Specific risks; and Help-seeking.

SHV provides specific resources and education around engaging with sexual content online.

Socialising Online program for grades 5 & 6.

Doing It podcast for parents & carers. See episodes on Sexting and the law, The ethics of sexting, Pornography and Consent.

Socialising Online eLearning for parents and carers.

Socialising Online for young people (12 – 16) with cognitive disability and their carer.

Esafety provides research, teaching activities and information for young people, parents/carers and teachers.

Also see eSafety for ways to report image-based abuse, illegal and harmful content and cyberbullying.