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Let's talk sex ed website banner

Let's talk sex ed

Help shape how sex ed is taught in schools

  •  

    Quality sex ed directly and positively affects people’s health over their lifetime.

    When done well, sex ed:

    • Helps young people understand their bodies and their physical and emotional development

    • Gives students the knowledge and skills to develop healthy relationships and make informed choices about their body

    • Keeps all students safe and healthy in school and gives them skills to manage life outside the classroom

    • Helps all students feel included and acknowledged in their community

    • Helps young people understand that there are different identities and perspectives, including gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, language, and religion

    Our 2024 survey of over 1000 young people aged 16-20 revealed that young people see sex ed as critically important and necessary. They want: 

    • For sex ed to continue into later years of secondary school  

    • More time and attention to sex ed in school

    • Sex ed content to be inclusive and comprehensive for all genders, sexes, and sexual orientations

    • Young people to be consulted about what’s included in sex ed

    • More support and training for teachers who are teaching sex ed 

  • I had to find out about LGBTQIA+ relationships through social media and had no idea how to navigate being queer even though I knew from a young age.”

    Sexual health, sex and relationships I found became a lot more relevant to me in my senior years so learning about it when it becomes relevant would have made me more engaged and open to learning and so I would take more away from it.”

    RSE earlier in my life would have helped me understand what I am feeling, and not made me feel alone in that."

    Have the [sex ed teachers] that come in being confident to talk about everything as the people I had seemed scared and weren't confident teaching.”

    It’s important to continue teaching sex ed throughout school and not relying on what may have been taught in the past.”

      • What's happening with the curriculum for different year groups?

          • 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.

      • What's changed in the new draft curriculum?

        • 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

          This page will be updated shortly with details of the draft curriculum.

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

      • What does Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa think?

        • 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.

          More details will be added to this page shortly.

      • What do the experts think?

        • 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)

      • How can I have my say?
      • How to prepare a submission

        • 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. 

      • Prompts for preparing a submission

        • 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.

      • What’s the difference between sex ed, RSE, and sex education?

        • 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.

      • Social media graphics

        • 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)

      • Find out more