The Victorian Government has announced that respectful relationships education will be introduced to the State curriculum in 2016. The changes to the curriculum will come into effect in Term 1 to educate students on how to build healthy relationships, understand global cultures, ethics and traditions, and to prevent family violence.

The announcement comes one month after the NSW Government announced that the Year 7-10 personal development, health and physical education (PDHPE) syllabus will include lessons on domestic violence prevention from 2016.

These changes to the school curriculums demonstrate how governments can amend the curriculum in their jurisdiction to respond to current social issues affecting young people.

The new lessons

In Victorian government schools, Years Prep to Year 10 will participate in respectful relationships education that focuses on challenging negative attitudes such as prejudice, discrimination and harassment, which can lead to violence, often against women.

The program has been previously piloted in 30 schools and the Government now believes it is ready to be introduced state-wide. The new program is part of the Victorian Government’s commitment to address family violence, promoting gender equity and ensuring contemporary education for children and families. The emphasis on addressing these issues comes as a result of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting last month at which advocates, including 2015 Australian of the Year Rosie Batty, implored State and Territory governments to adopt greater measures to reduce family violence and educate the population.

Other changes to the 2016 curriculum include the addition of classes on world histories, cultures and ethics to ‘give students the lessons and knowledge they need to understand the world around them, which will help them grow and be their best’, according to Victorian Education Minister James Merlino.

How will all these classes fit into schools’ timetables?

The Victorian Government, in its announcement of its initiative to help combat family violence in Australia, also announced that special religious instruction (SRI) will be dropped from the State’s new curriculum in 2016 to make way for these new lessons. SRI will now, according to Mr Merlino, be moved to lunchtimes or before or after school, freeing up 30 minutes of valuable class time per week for the curriculum additions.

What does this change mean?

At present, Victoria’s Education and Training Reform Act 2006 provides discretion for government schools to offer SRI for no more than 30 minutes a week. Until now, schools have used this discretion to provide 30 minutes of class time each week for students to attend classes that are specific to their religion. The Victorian Government has not shown signs of amending this discretion in the Act, but instead, has directed that scheduling of the classes should be before or after school, or during lunch time.

The Victorian curriculum, as it applies to government schools includes a requirement for general religious education (GRE). The new global cultures, ethics and tradition classes for 2016 will be added to these GRE classes. Adding all this new content to the existing curriculum structure has meant that available class time to teach it is lacking, and that is why the Government has made the decision to move SRI outside of class time.

Unlike government schools, Victorian non-government schools are free to dictate the religious curriculum that their students will follow and this may vary from in-depth classes instructing students in the school’s affiliated religion, or GRE classes as per the State curriculum. Non-government schools may also choose not to offer any religious programs at all.

Mixed support for the curriculum changes

The rescheduling of SRI has attracted controversy in the context of the ‘secular schools’ debate. ACCESS Ministries is the main provider of religious instruction in Victorian schools and it has raised concerns about the Government’s lack of consultation or consideration of the views of SRI providers and parents. That organisation and other religious groups have predicted that the loss of SRI will drive students away from state schools and into the non-government school system.

While supporting the Government’s introduction of respectful relationships education, ACCESS Ministries, along with the Australian Principals Federation Victoria, is appalled at the lack of consultation that occurred prior to the announcement.

Currently, 30,000 students opt to participate in SRI in Victoria, a figure that represents 20% of all students in the State. For the other 80% that don’t participate, the impacts on their timetables can mean that they are are missing out on essential learning time and according to Mr Merlino the government’s new curriculum means that teachers and students will be able to focus on core curriculum and learning the new lessons.

What does this mean for schools?

The introduction of respectful relationships education will be a curriculum requirement for all Victorian government schools from Term 1 next year. Schools will receive training and guidance to deliver the curriculum content and the government has affirmed that the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) will develop resources to support teachers.

The VCAA is the provider of the State curriculum in Victoria. This State curriculum only strictly applies to government schools, meaning that it will be up to the discretion of non-government schools whether or not the new curriculum changes are adopted.

Currently, some independent schools in Victoria implement the Australian curriculum, while others use AusVELS which is Victoria’s adaptation of the Australian curriculum. There are also independent schools that, depending on their mission and values, may follow alternative curriculum frameworks.

All schools, government and non-government, across the country need to implement the eight learning areas in the Australian curriculum. While government schools in Victoria will have no choice in implementing the new classes, Victorian non-government schools will need to investigate their options for adopting the proposed content.