An approach to developing shared understandings of consent with young people

This chapter outlines an approach to collaborating with young people to co-produce principles and strategies to support their consent literacy, especially sexual consent literacy, self-efficacy and involvement in decisions that affect them in different settings and contexts. Developing a shared understanding of consent must begin early in young people’s lives to build their awareness, skills, and agency. The Teach Us Consent movement called for mandated inclusion of consent education in Australian schools. Education ministers around Australia have unanimously agreed to mandate consent education in school settings from 2023. Using participatory, iterative pedagogies such as a Living Lab methodology is foundational to embedding consent literacy within young people’s everyday practices and interactions. The development of young people’s sexual consent literacy must address the sociocultural discourses underpinning gender and power, foreground the complexities of intersectionality, and be guided by young people’s everyday lives, concerns, and practices.