Framing Best Practice: National Standards for the Primary Prevention of Sexual Assault Through Education

In 2008, the Rudd Labor Government identified the prevention of violence against women as a priority for action. The National Sexual Assault Prevention Education Research Project (SAPE) was established to complete a one-year project to develop and trial a national sexual assault prevention education framework. The project was to identify best or promising practice models for doing sexual assault prevention education in the Australian context with the aim of building upon existing prevention education activities to provide a framework that can be implemented across Australia by prevention educators, service providers, policy makers and funding bodies. In considering existing prevention programs the following areas were of particular interest: programs that have incorporated men as well as women, that are targeted to culturally and sexually diverse groups, and that address the specific needs of regional women and men and people with disabilities. Another key component of the consultation process was to identify programs that included some form of evaluation, particularly programs that have included steps toward assessing behavioural change. In addition, the research was to identify some of the barriers to wider implementation of primary sexual assault prevention education. This report provides a comprehensive discussion of the research underpinning the framework, along with some of the researchers' analysis of the 32 fieldwork interviews that were completed with workers and other key individuals in most states in Australia. Six national standards for sexual assault prevention education are identified and described as the framework for increasing the capacity of the sector to deliver high quality primary prevention education programs.