Supporting Young People to Understand Affirmative Consent Program (2022 - 2025)
When Yes Means YES is one of the 13 projects created as part of the Supporting Young People to Understand Affirmative Consent (SYPTUAC) Program. The SYPTUAC program aims to empower and educate young people and their key influencers to strengthen their understanding of affirmative consent and healthy relationships.
When Yes Means YES
Developed by Australian Childhood Foundation.
The Australian Childhood Foundation and the Centre for Excellence in Therapeutic Care (CETC) supports children and people who have experienced trauma and abuse. The CETC mobilises knowledge about 'What Works’ in out-of-home care to better resource carers and organisations supporting children and young people living in all forms of care, including foster and kinship care.
When Yes Means YES is an on-demand course designed to build the skills and confidence of foster and kinship carers to talk with young people (aged developmentally 12 – 14 years) in their care about non-sexual consent and affirmative sexual consent. The two courses were developed jointly with carers and young people, supported by the Victorian Government Department of Families, Fairness and Housing.
Our When Yes Means YES course for foster carers was launched in 2024. It was developed in conjunction with OzChild and is available now.
Our When Yes Means YES course for kinship carers is coming soon and will be launched mid 2025 and available via our website.
What does the course include?
There are six self-paced modules that form part of this online course.
Topics include:
Preparing for consent conversations
Healthy & unhealthy relationships
Understanding personal boundaries
Consent – what it is, how we give it and get it
Grooming, coercion & consent
Consent & the online world
At the end of each online module, there are activities for carers to select and complete with the young person in their care. Which activities a carer chooses will depend on the age, stage and development of the young person. Each activity has content alerts, to help carers select the right activities, depending on the needs of the young person.
Both courses are available until the end of September 2025 and have limited, no-cost registrations for carers and foster/kinship agencies in Victoria.
In the future, a national course for other states will be made available, so please contact us if you wish to register your interest for the National course.
Click the button below to access: When Yes Means YES: A carer’s guide to conversations about consent with young people.
Australian Muslim Women’s Centre for Human Rights
Why Yes Matters
A project designed to raise awareness and understanding of affirmative consent and sexual violence prevention within newly arrived and migrant Muslim communities across Melbourne. It focuses on empowering young people and their families.
Banksia Gardens Community Services
Good People Act Now (GPAN)
A youth-led action group working to promote gender equality and prevent gender-based violence in Hume and surrounds. GPAN focuses on peer-to-peer bystander action, equipping young people with tools to safely challenge harmful beliefs and attitudes.
Body Safety Australia
Image-based Autonomy: Creating Digital Upstanders
A project that aims to capture young people’s experiences and perspectives around their use of digital technology, with a particular focus on image taking, sharing and editing. It will pilot effective approaches to meaningful online safety education.
The Supporting Young People to Understand Affirmative Consent Program is supported by the Victorian Government.
Accessing sexual violence support
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, there are specialist sexual assault services across Victoria that provide free and confidential counselling and advocacy support for people of all ages.
You can find your local service by using the Specialist Sexual Assault Service Map.
If you have experienced a recent sexual assault, you can call the Sexual Assault Crisis Line (SACL) on 1800 806 292.
SACL operates between 5pm - 9am on weeknights and throughout weekends and public holidays. During office hours, the line will divert to your local specialist sexual assault service.
