On Your Terms is a national survey run by the Australian Human Rights Commission and funded by the Australian Government Department of Education.

We want to know what young people think about their consent, relationships and sexuality education and what could make it better.  

The Australian Government is committed to improving consent, respectful relationships and sexuality education in schools to help shift attitudes and behaviours of young people to prevent violence against women and children. To do this, we must listen to their views, so we can make recommendations which are relevant, timely and helpful for young people.

Young people’s responses to the On Your Terms survey will:

• help to inform how consent and respectful relationships education is taught and support the Australian Government to deliver high quality, evidence-based and age-appropriate Respectful Relationships Education in primary and secondary schools 

• contribute to the Australian Government’s agenda and support of the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032

• improve health and wellbeing outcomes for young people in Australia by promoting positive consent, gender equality, and the prevention of violence against women and children through improved education.

On Your Terms is a short 10–15-minute online survey that is confidential and anonymous. The survey is open to anyone aged 14 to 18 living in Australia.

Young people who complete the survey can enter a draw to win 1 of 40 $50 eGift card!

First, young people will be asked if they understand what the study is about and if they agree to take part. Then they’ll be asked about:

• their age, postcode, country of birth, gender and sexuality 

• the consent education they’ve had at school, including what they’ve learned, who taught it and what they would like to learn more about

• where they’re learning about consent and sex outside of school, including any experiences they may have had with online sexual content

• a few questions about any romantic relationships, sexual experiences and their views on consent. 

If any of the questions make them feel uncomfortable, young people can skip them or stop at any time. However, the answers they have already provided can’t be changed or withdrawn since we won’t know what information belongs to them. 

To protect young people’s privacy, if they want to complete the survey later, they’ll need to start it again. 

Young people’s safety is being prioritised throughout the survey:

• Questions have been designed with experts to ensure they are age appropriate and minimise discomfort. 

• Young people don’t have to answer any questions they don’t want to. They can skip questions or stop the survey at any time.  

• Young people will not be asked for identifying information.

• Links to a range of support services and consent and respectful relationships resources are provided throughout the survey and on our website and can be accessed at any time.​

• A 1800 number will be available for those who want to reach out about the survey​.

• If they would like further support, young people can request to be connected to a support service or helpline.  

Additionally, the survey has undergone rigorous development and review to ensure that it is safe for young people to take part.  This includes:

• extensive stakeholder consultations with over 70 expert organisations including state and territory education departments, Catholic education officers, independent schools associations and advisory groups

• guidance from leading international and Australian experts

• drawing on validated question sets to ensure an evidence-based instrument design

• ongoing feedback from the Australian Government Department of Education and the study’s advisory groups.

The findings will be used to guide the future of consent and respectful relationships education at school to make teaching more relevant and meaningful. The survey also builds a national evidence base that shows where things are working and where change is needed.  
 
By taking part, young people can help schools and governments understand how young people feel about these topics, how much they know and what support they need. 

Findings will be shared in late 2026 through reports, videos, infographics and social media. All answers are combined and anonymous.

The survey is anonymous.

If a young person types in details about themselves or someone else that suggest someone might not be safe, we may need to follow it up. 

Wallis Social Research will collect the survey answers following Australia’s data protection and privacy laws. 

The Australian Human Rights Commission will store survey responses securely for 5 years. 

The survey data may be archived with the Australian Data Archive (ADA) in the future for further analyses. If so, the data will be de-identified, and access will only be granted to approved researchers.  

This survey has been approved by the University of Sydney Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) [HE000498]. The HREC ensures that all research in Australia is conducted ethically and safely, which means it has checked that the survey is safe for young people to complete.

If you have concerns about the ethics of this study or want to make a complaint, please contact the Human Ethics Manager on +61 2 8627 8176 or human.ethics@sydney.edu.au

If you would like to make a complaint to the Commission, please contact us on 1300 656 419 or online.

‍Learn more about On Your Terms on the Commission’s website.

Learn more about consent and respectful relationships, including how to talk to your young person about it.