Answers to Questions

Misogynistic Behaviour in Schools

In reply to the Hon. R.A. SIMMS ().2 May 2024).

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector):

The Minister for Education, Training and Skills has advised:

Misogynistic language and behaviour has no place in our society and is particularly concerning when occurring amongst young people in schools. All staff and students have the right to feel safe and respected in schools – and addressing this behaviour is a priority of our government.

What occurs in schools is often a reflection of our broader society which is why this government has established the Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence and the legal examination into banning children's access to social media where misogynistic content, harassment and cyberbullying are a significant concern.

Increased reports of misogynistic language and behaviour in schools, and the rise of influencers such as Andrew Tate is of concern to the government, and that is why we're taking strong action to end this toxic behaviour and challenge the impact of influencers who target young people.

Within schools a focus is being taken on explicitly teaching students about consent and respectful relationships through curriculum, initiatives for building safe and supportive learning environments, managing the risks of online safety and emerging technologies, as well as responding appropriately where behaviours of concern have occurred.

The Australian government Consent and Respectful Relationships Education (CRRE) election commitment is providing $77.6 million over five years from 2023-24 to 2027-28 to states, territories and the non-government school sector.

Funding has been committed to the SA Department for Education for the five-year period of $4 million to support the delivery of age-appropriate, evidence-informed CRRE across government primary and secondary schools in 2024-28.

The Minister for Education, Training and Skills has directed that this funding be used to address the scourge of misogyny and sexism. Schools will be supported to implement a whole-school approach to gender equality and tackling misogyny and sexism. Professional development and resources will be provided to support schools.

This measure will build on current respectful relationships education in schools through the Australian curriculum and the department's Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum (KS:CPC). The KS:CPC is currently being updated to strengthen child safety and respectful relationships content that address issues such as gender-based violence, gender inequality, misogyny, coercive control, deepfakes and online abuse. The KS:CPC is mandated in all department sites for children and young people from age 3 to year 12 and requires teachers to complete a full day training before delivering to children.

The recent release of the Safe and Supportive Learning Environments Plan of Action is focused on 15 actions for building school cultures that are inclusive and respectful for all, supported by strong leadership and enhanced by school, family and community partnerships. This includes investment of up to $3.1 million over two years to research a new school based approach to support the mental health and wellbeing of primary school students.

Preschools and schools are also involved in whole-of-school strategies to embed practices that focus on building respectful relationships, setting behaviour expectations and self-regulation. This includes a Positive Behaviour for Learning framework being rolled out in 40 schools and 161 preschools and schools currently undertaking whole-of-school training and implementation on universal trauma-informed practice strategies.

In terms of risks associated with online environments the rollout of a ban of mobile phones in schools that became compulsory from term 3, 2023 has already shown a decrease in incidents involving students. A review of the department's guidelines on Responding to Online Safety Incidents in South Australian Schools will also include consideration of the impact of artificial intelligence such as the emergence of 'deepfake' images.

Where misogynistic behaviours of concern do occur in school or online environments these are addressed through a range of departmental policy and guidance, including:

a behaviour support policy on how staff support safe and positive behaviour in children and young people at department sites. It requires staff to:

explicitly teach children and young people about safe and inclusive behaviours and behaviour expectations

model and promote behaviour that values diversity, demonstrates respect for and inclusion of all children and young people, and promotes a positive school climate; and

report behaviours of a criminal nature to police.

a sexual behaviour in children and young people procedure that assists school staff to identify and respond to concerning and harmful sexual behaviour, including misogynistic behaviour. Examples provided in the procedure include:

degrading or humiliating others using sexual themes

sexually intimidating behaviour

bullying involving sexual aggression; and

simulation of sexual activities.

the aforementioned responding to online safety incidents in South Australian schools guideline, which includes advice on how schools may respond, including engagement with the eSafety commissioner and potentially referring matters to the police.

In addition to managing incidents and behaviours of concern, a focus on restorative practices is also taken where appropriate to prevent repeated behaviour and seek to ensure a deeper understanding and repair relationships. This has included the funding of face-to-face training for schools and a soon to be released online learning module for educators.

The department's generative AI chatbot, EdChat, currently undergoing a targeted trial in 16 South Australian public schools, recently introduced an image generation feature. This feature, designed with robust safeguards, converts text to visuals for educational use while preventing and monitoring the creation of inappropriate or offensive content, including misogynistic imagery. It aligns with the department's commitment to safe and supportive educational environments, with ongoing oversight to ensure its proper use. This new feature has created a new opportunity for teachers to educate their students about the harm of malicious deepfakes, in the context of using EdChat's image generation for teaching and learning.

The government takes this issue incredibly seriously, and will continue to make the investments needed to end sexism, misogyny and violence in schools and preschools.