Ayla* was just 12 years old when a male friend at the time sent her explicit sexual images without her consent.
It was an incident from her childhood that shocked her and still makes her feel uncomfortable years later.
"I couldn't believe it was happening. I didn't think this person would ever do that," the now-year 12 student recalled.
"He did something that I wasn't OK with in front of me and he didn't ask if it was OK and continued to do it.
"I haven't forgotten about it and I keep thinking about it, especially when I talk about this issue with my friends."
It was Ayla's first encounter with a lack of consent that she believes, with more education, could have been stopped.
It comes as the Queensland government overhauls the way respectful relationships and sexual consent is taught in schools, with students as young as five to be taught body privacy and emotional awareness in prep classes.
From today, revamped educational materials — such as lesson plans — will be available for teachers to use with students from next year.
High school students will learn about the importance of enthusiastic, ongoing consent.
Education Minister Grace Grace ordered the review of Queensland's respectful relationships program last year, after thousands of Australian students shared anonymous testimonies about sexual assault on activist Chanel Contos's petition for improved sex education.
Testimonies included an array of allegations that ranged from students describing slut-shaming and cat-calling, through to allegations of sexual assault.
More than 180 stakeholders and experts were consulted during the review, including students, educational leaders, the Queensland Sexual Assault Network and LGBTIQ+ organisations.
Earlier this year, the country's education ministers also agreed to mandate consent education in the national curriculum.
The Queensland resources will teach students concepts such as consent in an age-appropriate way.
Young children will be given examples, such as a sibling taking their belongings, or someone hugging them without asking.
From Year 1, students will learn about gender respect, while older grades will be taught the concept of power and how gender expectations and stereotypes "can be harmful, unfair or are unequal".
Practising 'how to say no'
Senior high school material will focus on the importance of informed sexual consent being given freely and enthusiastically.
The program said high school students will also practise "how to say no", while also role playing how to "seek, give and deny" consent.
It said it will also teach students how if "you hear silence, maybe, or in doubt, you need to stop".
In addition, a publicly available website will also go live to provide "practical advice" for parents and students on how to discuss these issues at home.
Rachael Pascua is a program coordinator with Logan-based youth program R4respect.
She runs workshops across south-east Queensland, teaching sexual consent and respectful relationships to students that, she said, were hungry to know more.
"The demand has been ridiculously high in the past year … We're super busy, we're constantly following up on requests from schools," she said.
Ms Pascua welcomed the additional resources and said a holistic approach was needed beyond the classroom.
"It's 100 per cent a step in the right direction. There's a big gap in teachers' ability to deliver that content and what resources are actually available.
"Young people need that positive messaging when they're at school, but also when they go home as well. Having a holistic approach is going to be our best bet for tackling this issue."
'The younger, the better'
Ms Pascua said the younger consent education was taught, the better, describing age-appropriate learning as "critical".
"It's never too early to talk about respect," she said.
"[Prep students] are at that developmental age where they're very observant and they're starting to pick up on gender roles already.
"In simple, simple ways, we can embed that from an early age and we'll see those drivers of gendered violence be reduced in young people as they head into their teenage years."
Ayla agreed the overhauled consent education program was "a step in the right direction for the next generation".
She said it was a far cry from the sex education she received at a Brisbane high school, where the overly simplistic message of "no means no" was readily dished out, in amongst an encouragement for high school students to be abstinent.
"Teachers would separate boys and girls and they'd get taught different things, based on their gender, which is not good enough. Everyone should be getting the same talk," she said.
Responding to 'real-life issues'
Ms Grace said she was proud that Queensland had "led the way on this", with the first age-appropriate respectful relationships education program introduced into Queensland schools back in 2017.
"In March 2021, I instigated a comprehensive review to make sure we were delivering the best, age-appropriate resources and materials to our schools," she said.
"Students told us they wanted to talk about consent in a direct and mature way — no euphemisms or gimmicks," she said.
"They wanted to be engaged in discussions that would help them respond to real-life issues."
She said the government had also picked eight "principal advisor roles" to deliver the program across each Queensland region.
"The advisors — who have now been appointed and completed their inductions — will provide tailored professional development for our state schools and teachers to ensure they are prepared to deliver what are at times challenging and sensitive topics," Ms Grace said.
It will be up to teachers to decide whether to use all or some of the resources and materials.
* Name has been changed
