Respect Collective’s evidence-based digital RSE lessons are helping ACT secondary schools deliver one comprehensive resource across many different learning environments.
The Association of Independent Schools in the ACT (AISACT) represents a diverse group of 18 member schools, ranging from small alternative providers to large metropolitan campuses, with faith-based, secular, and boarding options among them. This diversity is a strength, but it also presents a challenge when it comes to ensuring all students receive consistent, high-quality consent and respectful relationships education.
With the Australian Government’s Consent and Respectful Relationships Education initiative (2024–2028) providing funding to independent schools through the AIS network, the opportunity arose to invest in an approach that could deliver evidence-based, developmentally appropriate, and teacher-ready resources across Years 7 to 12.
Enter Respect Collective – a team led by co-founders Dr Tessa Opie and Ms Kerrin Bradfield, who bring expertise in health, wellbeing, and education design. Their task: to create a program that was flexible enough to fit the diverse needs of ACT independent schools, but structured enough to ensure consistency of message and impact.
At the heart of Respect Collective’s approach is a digital, plug-and-play curriculum. Each year level receives five lessons – 30 in total from Year 7 through Year 12 – mapped carefully against the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education (v9.0) and the UNESCO International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education (2022).
Unlike guest speaker sessions or one-off seminars, Respect Collective’s curriculum is designed for teachers to deliver within their own classrooms. Lessons are sequential, building on the skills and knowledge gained in previous years. Importantly, teachers can determine the pace of delivery, allowing them to align lessons with broader wellbeing initiatives, guest speakers, or school events.
For Dr Opie and Ms Bradfield, teacher ease was a non-negotiable. “We heard time and again from schools that while they were committed to respectful relationships education, the practical challenge was workload. Teachers are already stretched, and too often, programs are either too rigid or too resource-intensive,” Dr Opie explains. “Our goal was to give schools a resource that is evidence-based, flexible, and ready to deliver without hours of preparation.”
Ms Bradfield adds, “Respectful relationships education shouldn’t be an add-on or a one-off talk. It needs to be embedded, consistent, and something students can engage with year after year.”
Diversity in action
The program’s rollout has shown just how adaptable it is. Ms Kath Morwitch, Senior Manager of Curriculum and Professional Learning at AISACT, highlights that the resource is being used effectively across very different school contexts.
“Our member schools are of different types, sizes, religious affiliations and educational philosophies and represent a range of approaches to teaching and learning. Each has different values and approaches to wellbeing, yet those involved have been able to take this program and use it effectively. That adaptability has been crucial.”
The value has also extended well beyond Canberra. Respect Collective is now being implemented across metropolitan and regional communities in Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, and Western Australia. Early feedback suggests the model is equally powerful in rural and regional schools, where access to external experts is often limited.
In some contexts, the program has also been reviewed for cultural responsiveness, ensuring that lessons are sensitive to local needs and student populations. This balance – consistency of framework with flexibility of delivery – is key to its success.
Perhaps the strongest endorsement comes from schools and teachers on the ground.
Canberra’s Galilee School, a registered independent school for disengaged and vulnerable young people in Years 7–12, implemented Respect Collective’s program in 2025. For a school community where re-engagement with learning is the central focus, the results have been striking.
“It is rare to find a program such as this that can be implemented without significant modification and adjustment to our setting,” says Ms Lisa Hivers, Head of Teaching and Learning at Galilee. “We were impressed and greatly appreciated the chance to share this valuable learning with our students.”
Teachers, too, have seen the difference.
“The Respect Collective program was highly valuable for my students,” notes Ms Olivia Wells, a teacher at Galilee. “The structured and supportive approach meant they felt safe to engage, and the relatable scenarios allowed them to make strong connections with the issues being explored. I noticed a real growth in their understanding and vocabulary, particularly around recognising controlling, coercive, and abusive relationships.”
These outcomes are not isolated. Across AISACT schools, students have responded positively, with increased confidence discussing complex issues such as consent, coercion, and respect in friendships and relationships.
For teachers, the workload benefit cannot be overstated. With lessons prepared and aligned to curriculum requirements, the burden of research and resource development is lifted. “That’s such an important point,” Ms Morwitch stresses. “Teachers are under enormous pressure. To have a program that is ready to go, yet still engaging and adaptable, makes a huge difference.”
Cost effectiveness and value
Alongside educational impact, the program’s affordability has resonated strongly with schools. “At approximately $6 per student, the Respect Collective program is arguably the best value for money, offering a complete secondary school curriculum for a fraction of a school’s wellbeing budget,” Ms Bradfield says. “Some schools spend upwards of $4,000 on a handful of sessions for one year group. For a similar investment, Respect Collective provides a full, multi-year suite of lessons for every secondary year level.”
“When schools realise that for just a little more, they can have 75 lessons that embed respectful relationships education across six year levels, the value becomes clear. It’s about making the money go further, but also ensuring consistency and quality,” she adds.
While Respect Collective’s alignment with government policy and curriculum standards is critical, Dr Opie and Ms Bradfield are clear that their vision extends beyond compliance.
“Ultimately, we’re not just ticking boxes,” Dr Opie says. “We want to help shape a generation of young people who understand respect, consent, and healthy relationships as part of who they are, not just as something they learn for a test.”
That aspiration resonates strongly with schools like Galilee, where students are often navigating significant personal and social challenges. It also aligns with broader community calls for cultural change in how respect and consent are understood across society.
With some ACT schools now embedding Respect Collective’s program and Queensland schools showing strong interest, Dr Opie and Ms Bradfield see potential for the model to spread nationally. Conversations with schools in the Northern Territory suggest that culturally responsive adaptations could extend the program’s reach even further.
For now, the focus is on supporting schools to implement the resource effectively, gathering feedback, and continuing to refine lessons. “The program is living,” Ms Bradfield explains. “We’re constantly learning from teachers and students, and that input helps us keep the resource relevant, engaging, and evidence-based.”
Ms Morwitch agrees: “Respect Collective supports the quality and consistency of respectful relationships education in our schools. It gives us confidence that every student, regardless of which school they attend, is receiving thoughtful, age-appropriate education that will make a difference in their lives.”
And as the positive feedback from students, teachers, and school leaders shows, this is not just another program to deliver. It’s a meaningful step forward in preparing young people to build respectful, safe, and thriving relationships – both in school and beyond.
More information
Thinking about launching in 2026? Respect Collective is giving schools a head start with free Term 4 access for their Wellbeing Team when they subscribe. Email info@respectcollective.com.au for all the details.
