Thank you Nina for such a concise summary of the challenges those of us engaged in relationships, sexual health, and anti-violence education are grappling with. Supportive school environments to provide effective, consistent and comprehensive interventions would be one avenue for expanding beyond the 'plumbing' to the real concerns and needs of men and women in negotiating happy, safe, ethical sex in our relationships. I applaud women like yourself and Moira Carmody, and all the less prominent women and men who actively engage in their communities to raise the issue of ethical sexual conduct. I also look forward to similar law reform on the burden of consent in all Australian jurisdictions.

A breath of fresh air.

Coming from overseas, I was staggered to find out how prudish Australia was.

My children were given age appropriate sex education from kindie (recognition of privates, what is appropriate adult behaviour, and who to talk to etc) and not only in high school as done here.

The next step would be access to reproductive controls and in extreme cases abortions without parental consent.

The trouble with the Australian education system in this area is no curriculum or lack of resources for age- and developmentally-appropriate relationships and sexual health education for early childhood, primary and secondary schools, but the lack of leadership to ensure it is delivered consistently and comprehensively for all young people. My colleagues around the country all identify the 'hit and miss' nature of this as a key problem. Schools often suggest that parent communities are opposed to it, so they don't make it happen. But Family Planning Queensland found that parents are both overwhelmingly in support, and surprised to hear that schools are teaching it. There's a big gap between community expectations of what young people learn 'these days', and what is actually happening in the classroom. Not that schools can be the only effective forum for building a positive, ethical sexual culture - that's a responsibility we all share.

The WA Dept of Health produced a great little website to assist in
educating 14-17 year olds about matters to do with sex etc.

http://www.getthefacts.health.wa.gov.au/

The director of Catholic Eduaction in WA seemingly said that his
schools would not even mention it to students, for fear of encouraging
its use.

Seemingly this website might "create curiosity". Sheesh, arn't
they aware yet,down at the Catholic Church, that teenagers are
naturally curious about sex?

With that kind of lack of sex education in some schools, no wonder
we have a problem!

'Ethics-based education is one part of the solution.' 1000 cheers. I just hope Nina does not mean the immoral secular values or lack their of.

Every act of sex should require a signed consent form witnessed by a government-accredited sex educator with compulsory training and professional indemnity insurance; stamp duty on the instrument should vary according to the social engineering goals that policy is trying to acheive by the particular act of sexual intercourse.

By the way Nina, it's not grammatical to say "I remember ... I". You have to say "I remember ... myself".