Respectful Relationships

Driving meaningful generational change through our practices and policies relating to gender, respect, and equality both as a school and as a workplace.

Respectful Relationships is a wide-ranging initiative to help young Victorian’s deal with a range of challenges they may face and covers topics including being respectful, resilient, and engaged at school and confident in themselves.

Respectful Relationships promotes equality and helps students learn how to build healthy relationships. The initiative prepares them to face challenges by developing problem-solving skills and building empathy, resilience, and confidence.

Family violence has a devastating impact on communities and affects people from all walks of life. The Royal Commission into Family Violence recommended Respectful Relationships be introduced to all schools to change attitudes and prevent the prevalence of family violence in future generations.

In 2016 Respectful Relationships became a core component of the Victorian Curriculum and is being taught in all government and Catholic schools and many independent schools.

There are 8 core areas for the teaching of Social and Emotional learning and Respectful Relationships. These include:

  1. Emotional literacy
  2. Personal strengths
  3. Positive coping
  4. Problem solving
  5. Stress management
  6. Help seeking
  7. Gender and identity
  8. Positive gender relations

Respectful Relationships is underpinned by evidence that shows schools can play a key role in preventing family violence by helping students develop an understanding of healthy relationships and respect.