Let's talk sex ed

The structure and approach has significantly changed from the current 2007 curriculum.

In the current (2007) curriculum

• Students need to meet learning objectives for each subject

• Teachers have flexibility to design how and what students learn. This means teacher can be more responsive to students’ needs but creates inconsistencies across the country

In the new curriculum

• Teachers are told exactly what students should be taught, and how they need to apply this knowledge

• Teachers must teach what’s listed under each topic, but can expand on it

Because the knowledge and practices that need to be taught in the new curriculum are so specific, we can see where it’s comprehensive and holistic, and where the gaps are.

The Years 11-13 (Phase 5) Health curriculum has been divided into three strands: Physical health, Mental wellbeing, and social wellbeing and within those strands, prescribed knowledge has been added on the following topics relating to sexuality education.

What’s been added

• Sexual and reproductive Health

• Digital world and being online

• Friendships and other platonic relationships

• Sexual relationships

What's not included

• Taha wairua, or spiritual health, is not included as a "strand" of health, which is essential in an Aotearoa New Zealand context.

• The term "Relationships and Sexuality Education" (or Sexuality Education as it's referred to in the 2007 curriculum and in the new draft Years 0-10 Health curriculum). Curriculum content from RSE or Sexuality Education is instead dispersed throughout the whole of the health curriculum and areas of the science curriculum.

• Consent is not explicitly named as an element that is taught for Years 11-13

Areas of concern

The curriculum:

• Lists abstinence as a means of preventing pregnancy

• Lists abstinence before barrier methods as a way of preventing STI transmission

• Hyperfocuses on unplanned teen pregnancy

• Has very little information about sexual orientation or LGBTQIA+ 

• Has little information about how to use a condom

• Has limited information about STIs and how to protect against them

• Doesn’t cover cervical cancer, HPV screening, or vaccines

• Doesn’t tell people how to access to sexual health services

• Doesn’t cover gender-based violence

• Has limited information about infertility prevention and care

• Doesn’t give students the skills to identify misinformation or disinformation

• Has limited information about consent

• Doesn’t cover rough sex and non-fatal strangulation

• Uses the term “unplanned pregnancy” rather than “unintended pregnancy”

• Says sexual partners need to notice when there are changes to their bodies to prevent the spread of STIs. This ignores the fact that many people with STIs don’t have any symptoms

• Uses the terms “biologically female” and “biologically male”

• The draft Years 0-10 curriculum was released for public submissions on 28 October 2025. Submissions were open until 24 April 2026.

• The Ministry of Education announced on 14 May 2026 that some learning areas of the Years 0-8 curriculum, including Health and Physical Education, will not be mandated until 2029. 

• The Years 9-10 curriculum for all learning areas will be implemented in 2027.

• The final curriculum for Years 0-10 will be released in mid-2026.

• The draft Years 11-13 curriculum was released for public consultation on 15 May. Submissions are open until 15 June.

The structure and approach has significantly changed from the current 2007 curriculum.

In the current (2007) curriculum

• Students need to meet learning objectives for each subject

• Teachers have flexibility to design how and what students learn. This means teacher can be more responsive to students’ needs but creates inconsistencies across the country

In the new curriculum

• Teachers are told exactly what students should be taught, and how they need to apply this knowledge

• Teachers must teach what’s listed under each topic, but can expand on it

Because the knowledge and practices that need to be taught in the new curriculum are so specific, we can see where it’s comprehensive and holistic, and where the gaps are.

Here is a summary of what’s changed in the draft Years 0-10 curriculum for the Health and Physical Education learning area – what's been added, what’s been removed, and what else has changed.

What’s been added

• Example lesson plans

• Consent is taught from Year 0 – and this is mandatory 

What’s not included

The curriculum:

• Covers puberty in Year 5 and menstruation in Year 6 – after many young people are well into these changes

• Has very little information about sexual orientation or LGBTQIA+ and only in Year 10

• Mentions gender only twice – and not until Year 9

• Has no information about condoms or how to use one

• Contains little information about sexual abuse, coercion, and violence

• Doesn’t cover healthy, unhealthy, and abusive relationships

• Doesn’t cover intimate, sexual, or romantic relationships

• Doesn’t cover contraception until Year 10

• Has limited information about pornography, or drug and alcohol use

What else has changed

The draft curriculum:

• Builds on content learned in previous years

• More rigidly defines what teachers should be teaching

• Doesn’t give teachers much time to teach this content, with sex education one small part of health and physical education

• Is still optional – parents can remove their child – except for consent

If you want to have a say in how these topics are taught in schools across Aotearoa, read on for ways to get involved.  

As we outline in our media release, and in our submission, the draft Years 0-10 curriculum doesn’t reflect what young people want and need.

We welcome mandatory teaching on consent from Year 0, and appreciate that the curriculum builds on content learned in previous years. But we believe that the new draft curriculum is regressive and fractured.  

We're concerned about:

• The lack of information on diversity and inclusivity, sexual orientation, gender identity, and intersex variation – and the lack of inclusive language

• The lack of information about relationships, sexual health, drug and alcohol use, and digital safety, sexual abuse, coercion, or violence, body parts

• The lack of clarity on how much flexibility teachers have

• That many topics – such as puberty, menstruation, contraception, and conception – are delivered too late 

As outlined in our media release, we're concerned that the draft curriculum lacks key sexuality education content, is fragmented, and lacks an inclusive and trauma-informed approach.

We’re concerned about:

• The fragmented approach makes interconnected topics, like alcohol, drugs, and consent unclear

• The lack of inclusivity risks the curriculum contributing to discrimination against our LGBTQIA+ communities

• The lack of information on key sexual education topics like safer sex, condom use, communication and consent, and analysis of misinformation and disinformation – leaving young people unprepared

• The curriculum isn’t culturally responsive and doesn’t recognise health as holistic

On 30 March 2026 we held an online panel discussion, Activating Advocates for Better Relationships and Sexuality Education.

Panellists shared information about the ways in which the new proposed curriculum diverges from what has been done in the past – what's positive, what's negative, and effective advocacy tactics and tools.

Read a summary of the panel discussion (PDF)

There are different ways for you to find out more about and have your say on the draft curriculum for Years 11-13. You can:

• Join our Advocates for Relationships and Sexuality Education facebook group

• Download our RSE "Activating Advocates" social media assets and share on social media

• Share your thoughts on our webform

• Share this page with your friends and whānau

• Enter a submission by 15 June – read our guidance on how to do this  

You can have your say on the Years 11-13 curriculum by entering a public submission by 15 June 2026. Here’s how to do it:

1. Read the draft Years 11-13 curriculum. You might also find the summary of the changes on this page or our media release useful

2. Think about what you would like schools to teach young people about relationships, sex, and sexuality, and whether the curriculum covers these areas. You might find our prompts useful.

3. Write down some notes that explains how and where you think the curriculum needs to change.

4. Go to the feedback form for consultation. This is an online form run through SurveyMonkey. 

Here are some questions to help you think about how you think sex ed should be taught in schools.

• What did your school teach you about relationships, sex, sexuality, puberty, and your body? How do you think this should have been different?
• How does this differ from the draft curriculum?
• What do you think is important for young people to learn about in this area of health and wellbeing?
• Are there contemporary issues (e.g. navigating social media) that you feel should be covered?
• What do you think is valuable in teaching young people about healthy romantic, intimate, or sexual relationships?  

Make a note of areas you feel need to be changed, added, or moved to a different year level.

Sex ed, RSE, sex education – really, they mean the same thing. Different countries and different people call it by different names. But what we’re talking about is “teaching and learning about a broad variety of topics related to sex and sexuality.”

“Sex ed” (short for sex education, or sexuality education) is the word often used in the United States – and in Aotearoa when people are talking casually.

But officially, in Aotearoa, until now we’ve used the name “Relationships and sexuality education (RSE)”. This name showed that this topic covered more than just sex – and talked about relationships and sexuality. The current draft curriculum doesn’t use the term RSE. Instead, it includes RSE topics (like bodies, relationships, sexuality, and sexual health) within the Health Education curriculum. It includes these under the elements Bodies | Minds, Relationships, and Sex Education.

In collaboration with Pōneke-based artist Josie Selkirk (Ngāti Whātua), we’ve created a series of downloadable social media graphics to support advocacy for relationships and sexuality education.

Designed in a 3:4 format, they’re perfect for sharing on your Instagram grid and across other platforms. Post them, share them to your stories, tag us, and help activate advocacy for better relationships and sexuality education.

Download social media assets (ZIP, 17.5 MB)

• Draft curriculum for Years 11-13

• Submission website for Years 11-13

• Our media release on the draft Years 11-13 curriculum

• Draft curriculum for Years 0-10

• Government fact sheet

• Our media release on the draft Years 0-10 curriculum

• Our open letter on RSE

• A summary of our RSE survey findings

• Comprehensive sexuality education – information from the World Health Organization