As the government announces another review of consent education, The Saturday Paper can reveal that evidence-based discussion of sex was removed from the federal framework in favour of a more politically palatable approach to “respectful relationships”.

“We’re in a political environment where some of the key components of a best practice intervention, which includes talking to kids about sex, may actually not be politically viable, where the intervention itself may prove extremely difficult – socially and politically – to implement as it is understood to be most efficacious,” says Professor Michael Salter, director of Childlight UNSW, who resigned from the Department of Education’s expert advisory group because he didn’t think the government was interested in hearing and acting on independent advice.