Calls for domestic violence lessons to become a core part of the school curriculum

The federal government is facing calls to ensure young Australians are better educated about the dangers of violent intimate relationships through the new national curriculum.
Currently there is a provision to teach children about “respectful relationships” in the revamped Health and PE curriculum, which is still awaiting formal endorsement from the Education Ministerial Council.
But anti-domestic violence advocates argue it does not go far enough, because it leaves it up to schools to determine whether to include any specific reference to family violence when teaching kids what respectful relationships look like.
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority general manager Phil Lambert, who is also a White Ribbon Day Ambassador, says the curriculum as it stands provides “a good starting point for schools to teach about domestic violence issues as required”.
But Dr Lambert said specifically incorporating domestic violence “would lead to a crowded curriculum.”
Domestic Violence NSW chief executive Moo Baulch said schools needed to better appreciate that many children are exposed to the issue through the media or their own life experiences.
“I absolutely think it should be a core component of the curriculum,” she said.
Brisbane Domestic Violence Service team leader Kylie Robertson said research showed early intervention, and talking to children about unhealthy and violent relationships, was a critical weapon in the fight against the scourge of domestic violence.
“We need to be thinking about what we would say was most important when it comes to educating and influencing young people, and what we can take out (of the curriculum) to put these things in,” she said.
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Education Minister Christopher Pyne last night said he would support “any steps” that can be taken to eradicate domestic violence in our community, but he defended the current curriculum as “appropriate”.
“The National Curriculum also offers opportunities for students to learn about respectful relationships and I think this is appropriate,” he said.
“We can always do more, but while teachers and schools can do a lot, it is parents and other members of the community who are the most important role models for children on what is acceptable behaviour.”
Children’s Commissioner Megan Mitchell said she would be exploring how the national curriculum enables children to learn about respectful relationships as part of her investigation into family violence.
OurWatch chief executive Paul Linossier said programs teaching children about family violence need to be on offer in primary and secondary schools.
“Relationships are so important to young people, it’s the lens through which they see their life and in our experience they are very open to (learning) about it,” he said.