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Beusekom, G.V., Bos, H.M.W., Collier, K.L., & Sandfort, T.G.M. (2013). Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity/Expression Related Peer Victimization in Adolescence: A Systematic Review of Associated Psychosocial and Health Outcomes. The Journal of Sex Research, 50(3-4). 299-317.

Barker, G., Ricardo, C., Nascimento, M., Olukoya, A., & Santos, C. (2010). Questioning gender norms with men to improve health outcomes: evidence of impact. Global Public Health, 5(5), 539-553.

BBC Stories. (2017, August 16). Girl toys vs boy toys: The experiment - BBC Stories [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWu44AqF0iI

Coyote, I. (2015) Why We Need Gender-Neutral Bathrooms. Retrieved fromhttps://www.ted.com/talks/ivan_coyote_why_we_need_gender_neutral_bathrooms

Department of Education and Training. (2016). Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships: Teaching for Social and Emotional Learning Respectful Relationships. Victoria State Government. Retrieved from  http://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/programs/health/Pages/respectfulrelationships.aspx

Department of Education and Training. (2016). (2016, November 1). Respectful Relationships – Vox Pops [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pt5dA-mo1kk

Department of Education and Training. (2017).School Policy Advisory Guide - Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Requirements. Retrieved from: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/principals/spag/management/Pages/humanrights.aspx

Education and Training Department. (2017). Gender Identity Policy. Victoria State Government.

Flood, M., Fergus, L., & Heenan, M. (2009). Respectful Relationships Education Violence prevention and respectful relationships education in Victorian secondary schools.

Foshee, V. A., Bauman, K. E., Ennett, S. T., Linder, G. F., Benefield, T., & Suchindran, C. (2004). Assessing the long-term effects of the Safe Dates program and a booster in preventing and reducing adolescent dating violence victimization and perpetration. American journal of public health, 94(4), 619-624.

headspace. (2017). Retrieved from:https://www.headspace.org.au/

Kids Helpline. (2016). Sexual and Gender Identity. Retrieved from:https://kidshelpline.com.au/teens/tips/sexual-and-gender-identity/

MacLellan, L. (2017). The biggest myth about our brains is that they are “male” or “female”. SBS. Retrieved from http://www.sbs.com.au/topics/sexuality/agenda/article/2017/08/29/biggest-myth-about-our-brains-they-are-male-or-female

ReachOut Australia. (2017). LGBTQI Support Services. Retrieved from:https://au.reachout.com/articles/lgbtqi-support-services

Taylor, B. G., Stein, N. D., Mumford, E. A., & Woods, D. (2013). Shifting Boundaries: an experimental evaluation of a dating violence prevention program in middle schools. Prevention science, 14(1), 64-76.

Workplace Gender Equality – Australian Government. (2017). Fact Sheets and Statistics. Retrieved from:https://www.wgea.gov.au/fact-sheets-and-research-reports/fact-sheets-and-statistics

Yoon, J. (2008). Jiyeon and Her Pink Things 2007 and Jeonghoon and His Blue Things 2008. Retrieved December 10, 2017 from http://www.jeongmeeyoon.com/aw_pinkblue.htm

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Family Violence Prevention and Support Program

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Family Violence Prevention and Support Program

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This resource is a support service for women and children who may be affected by family violence, as well as men who accept responsibility for their use of violence towards family members and are focused on changing their behaviour.

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Family Violence Prevention and Support Program - Department of Human Services, Victoria, Australia

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Prevention and Support Program available for those who experiencing family violence and attempt to address their violent behaviour, including support services for women and children and men's behaviour change programs.

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The Victoria Against Violence (VAV) is an activism campaign that commences on International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on the 25 November 2017 and concludes on International Human Rights Day, on 10 December 2017.

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The Victoria Against Violence (VAV) - 16 Days of Activism campaign commences on International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on the 25 November 2017 and concludes on International Human Rights Day, on 10 December 2017.

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This SBS blog explores the research between various opinions on the idea of brains being inherently male or female, providing a range of opinions from different scientific researchers and ultimately debunking this common theory.

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Daphna Joel was already an established neuroscientist in 2009, when she chose to launch a gender studies course at Tel Aviv University. While preparing the class curriculum, she became deeply interested in the mechanisms through which gender is formed. Her research led her to an experiment by a professor at the University of Maryland that demonstrated how characteristics of certain neurons in animal brains could change from male to female, or vice versa, when exposed to a stressor for 15 minutes.

"I realized that if certain areas of the brain could change from the typical 'female form' to the typical 'male form' under stress, there was no point in talking about the female brain and the male brain," Joel told Haaretz (paywall).

Around the same time, Cordelia Fine was prompted to write Delusions of Gender: How our minds, society, and neurosexism create differences, which would become a zeitgeist-y hit,after spotting the book Why Gender Matters, by the American psychologist Leonard Sax, at her son's kindergarten in Australia. Sax's guide, she says, presents as fact the idea that "hardwired sex differences in the brain mean that girls and boys should be parented and educated differently." Fine had studied brain structure during her PhD work at Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London, so she looked into the studies Sax cited. She was "shocked at the disconnection between what the studies revealed, and the practical implications being drawn from them."

We take for granted how often laymen and even researchers use science-and specifically neuroscience-to "verify" stereotypes about gender: That men are naturally more competitive, for instance, or that women are more in touch with their emotions and better skilled at communicating. Such notions aren't just academic, but pervasive and potent, indirectly influencing the way we organize our households and organizations, not to mention the way we see our relationships, and even ourselves.

Recently, former Google engineer James Damore was fired from the company after writing a memo criticizing its diversity programs, and suggesting there may be biological reasons that women aren't fully represented in engineering. Studies have found that women care more about people than things, wrote Damore, who holds a graduate degree in biology and cited studies from both Wikipedia and reputable institutions.

"When I hear stories like the Google memo in the news, I think, Is this 1873 or 2017?" says Kimberly Hamlin, a professor of American Studies at Miami University. Hamlin, who is the author of F rom Eve to Evolution: Darwin, Science, and Women's Rights in Gilded Age America, says the same arguments about women's abilities keep being repackaged with new natural reasoning because "naturalist" explanations for why there are few women in science and tech are easier to accept than the more complex structural ones.

But some scientists believe it's time to question the pat explanation evolutionary biology offers about sex and gender: Namely, that gender is entirely pre-programmed in utero.

Evolutionary biologists are behind many popular theories that have gained traction outside academia, like the notion that our brains are "hardwired" with the skills our Stone Age ancestors needed to hunt and kill (if we are men), or keep children safe while also preparing food (if we are women).

Within neuroscience, however, a loose, global network of five female scientists are at the forefront of a movement to liberate people of all genders from what they see as the sexist limits of "hardwiring." The question is whether their scientist peers will take them seriously.

The gendered brain

Cordelia Fine, a psychologist, writer, and professor at University of Melbourne, initially met Rebecca Jordan-Young, an interdisciplinary scientist who chairs the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies department at Barnard College in New York in 2010, at the inaugural NeuroGenderings conference. The two discovered, to their mild horror, that they both had books in press on the same topic. Fine's Delusions of Gender was shortlisted for several book awards and named a 2010 book of the year by The Guardian and the Washington Post, and Jordan-Young's Brainstorm: The Flaws in the Science of Sex Differences, was called "by turns fascinating and appalling" by the Los Angeles Times.

NeuroGenderings had been co-organized by Anelis Kaiser, a Swiss neuroscientist and professor of gender studies in STEM at the University of Freiburg, in Germany. At the second conference, in Vienna two years later, she helped connect Daphna Joel, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Tel Aviv University in Israel, and Gina Rippon, a professor of cognitive neuroimaging at Aston University in the United Kingdom, to Fine and Jordan-Young.

Today, these five researchers, while still working independently, also join forces in pairs or as a group to write papers for the scientific and popular press, and to respond to public issues about gender and neuroscience, explaining the many ways that neuroscience studies and their tantalizing headlines are misleading or misinterpreted.

When Damore's Google memo took over the news cycle, for instance, the scientists were contacted by reporters from around the world. In Joel's notes for Spanish reporters, which she shared with Quartz, she wrote: "Studies do often find differences between women and men in specific cognitive tasks, personality characteristics, interests and attitudes. However many of these differences are very small; and some of the differences are different in different societies (for example, in some countries boys do better on average in math, whereas in others girls do better.)"

What's more, many gender gaps can be eliminated with training, she added, a point which Rippon also made to the Guardian. With some practice playing the right sort of video game, women can boost their spatial reasoning skills to match those of boys.

Rippon and others have called also attention to brain plasticity, which complicates evidence from brain imaging tests since men and women are both saddled with gender expectations from the time of infancy, and develop skills and behavioral tendencies accordingly. These learned behaviors could be responsible for literally changing the shape of certain structures in one's brain, in the same way that memorizing London's streets alters the physical structure of cabbies' hippocampus, the area of the brain associated with memory.

Perhaps most importantly, studies have also shown that gender biases exist within science, and a researcher's implicit assumptions can inform the methods and language they use to build a study. Damore's assertion in his memo that "women on average show a higher interest in people and men in things" is a timely example of how this happens, Fine writes to Quartz. She explains that meta-analyses of career interest surveys have shown that 80% of men are more interested in "things," compared to the average woman. But some psychologists who have studied such surveys find them problematic because the "things" they include are often associated with men-the surveys do not try to gauge a subject's interest in, say, taking apart and reassembling a dress.

Such concerns make it obvious that culture and biology cannot be disentangled, according to Daphna Joel. In studies that find differences between genders, "there is no way to prove that these differences have an innate basis, because the studies are conducted in adults, who have lived their entire life in a highly gendered society."

The Mosaic brain model

Ask Joel what the most persistent myth is about men's and women's brains and she says, "that they exist." And it's a problem that has "a very important role in maintaining our social structure."

The myth endures, Joel proposes, because we assume that since humans have two separate reproductive systems (with very few exceptions), and because sex hormones also play a role in brain development (in both those sexes), we must have two separate brains.

"What my work has shown, first on the basis on data from animals, and then in the human brain, is that the next step is unjustified," Joel says. "It's not a logical conclusion and it's not the only possibility."

Where there are plenty of studies that show sex hormones affect the brain, and that there are some group-level differences between male and female brains-for example, on average, women have more gray matter then men-what's not proven, according to Joel, "is that these effects add up to create two types of brains: male and female."

That was the paramount finding of her recent paper, "Sex beyond the genitalia: The human brain mosaic," which she wrote with a team of neuroscientists and published in 2015. In the meta-analysis, the scientists compared the brains of 1,400 men and women, analyzing the volume, connections, and other physical characteristics of brain structures. Though there were some extreme differences in outliers of both sexes, they found that, on an individual level, brains contained a mosaic of bothsex-congruent and sex-incongruent features. For example, the left hippocampus, which is associated with memory, was more often bigger in male brains, but a woman with a large left hippocampus was common.Depending on the sample, 23% to 53% of individual brains contained a mix of "typically male" and "typically female" traits, while only zero to 8% of the subjects were found to have "all-male" or "all-female" brains.

The same was true of gender as it relates to personality traits and interests-such as scrapbooking or playing video games-which Joel also examined in a meta-analysis of three data sets for the same study. "The only thing you can say is that more women have more feminine than masculine characteristics, and more men have male characteristics on average than women," says Joel. To her, however, "it really doesn't matter how many you have of these characteristics. The question is, who are you?"

In the Guardian, Joel and Fine summed up the metaphysical questions posed by the mosaic brain model poetically:
Which of the many mosaics that males display should be considered the male nature? Is it a profile of pure masculinity that appears to barely exist in reality? Or is it time to let go of binary thinking and celebrate the fact that there are many different ways to be male, to be female, to be human?
A common critique: This is political

While the scientists have found support from within the scientific community, and they are not alone in their conclusions, they are also often dismissed by evolutionary biologists who believe that gender is innate, and their supporters. Jordan-Young, recalls facing "purple faced" academics at one conference where, as the keynote speaker, she presented her findings from Brainstorm.

For that book, Jordan-Young, who has a special interest in research methodology, had painstakingly analyzed hundreds of studies around the "brain organizational paradigm," which, as she explains to Quartz, proposes "that the brain is essentially organized to be either more masculine or feminine by the degree of testosterone exposure in utero." In her examination of the studies, however, she found that this thesis was not supported by any cohesive body of research.

One common complaint among their scientist critics is that their work is driven by ideology, and that the women are using arguments about neuroscience to undo gender inequities. "The Science of the neurobiological basis of behavioral sex differences is Objective," Fine jokes, "while any critiques of that science is Ideological."

This attitude "isn't just a very naïve view of science," she adds, "it's also highly counterproductive to scientific progress."

Working in Europe, Kaiser says her motives within the lab are also questioned, a consequence of being open about her feminist values. "We are 'the others,'" she tells Quartz.

"When you are working within normative ideas, you do not need to use any labels," she says, which creates the illusion for those scientists they are working without an underlying belief system. "I try to make this point when I'm asked if I'm an ideologist or not: maybe we are, but then all of us are."

Joel says her first paper on the brain mosaic was rejected from the leading journals: Editors told her the topic wasn't of general interest. After a year of rejections, she sent it to an open-access journal. Her second paper, published in PNAS, was received with enthusiasm from the media and public, receiving coverage all over the world, but was harshly criticized in ways she says she found sexist within some professional networks.

The scientists' most vocal opponent may be Larry Cahill, a professor of neurobiology at University of California, Irvine, who wrote about the women's research in " Equal ≠ The Same: Sex Differences in the Human Brain," an essay published by the Dana Foundation, a private philanthropic organization that funds brain research, in 2014. He called scientists like Joel, Rippon, Fine, Jordan-Young, and Kaiser, "anti-sex differences," and expressed concern that they were afraid to find a distinction between male and female brains because it would somehow mean that men and women were not equal.

By contrast, he tells Quartz, his work for the last 17 years has been focused on defining sex differences in the brain -which he says exist on every level and vary in size- because neuroscience had been treating male and female brains as if they were the same. He says this view puts women at risk for diseases, such as Alzheimer's, that manifest differently in men and women.

Cahill also asserts that, yes, the brain is plastic, but only within certain limitations, and that the reason Joel's study did not find two categorical genders was because her definition of "internal consistency" was extreme, an assertion that was also made by a different group of researchers in a study described in a letter to PNAS. "It's a joke," he says. "I wish people would read the two papers and come to their own conclusions."

Joel, for her part, responded to the team of researchers who challenged her definition of internal consistency. She says their data actually validated her findings, but were presented in a way that "attests more to their political agenda than to their wish to advance science."

And together, the five women have written a detailed response to Cahill's critiques, clarifying that they "are neither 'for' nor 'against' sex differences (or sex similarities, for that matter)" and proposing that "focusing only on similarities or differences is misleading."

They emphasized the points on which they agreed with Cahill, particularly in terms of sex and brain development, but urged that "we need to develop a new framework for thinking of the relation between sex, brain, and gender that better fits current knowledge, and that takes into account distributions, changes, overlap, variance, and most of all, context."

The irrelevant, gendered brain

Neuroscientists are beginning to integrate ideas about culture into their research, according to Fine, who says she's feeling positive about the direction science is going.

In her new book about women in science, British journalist Angela Saini speaks to Paul Matthews, a neuroscientist at Imperial College London who agrees with Joel and others, saying, "There's a lot of variability in individual brains. In fact, the anatomical variability is much greater than we ever realized before. So the notion that all people of the male sex have a brain that has fixed characteristics that are invariant seems less likely to me. In fact, so much less likely that I think the notion of trying to characterize parts of the brain as more male-like or more female-like actually isn't useful."

Regarding the question of whether certain traits that we call "male" or "female" (at least in the West) are determined by biology or socialization, Joel says she isn't sure why scientists or the public are so captivated by it. "The question doesn't interest me, because we can't answer it," she says.

It's also irrelevant in terms of the way society should operate, she says. For example, if a child can't read, we give them extra lessons and find ways to help them improve. "We don't say, it's biologic so it must be natural and good for the child," says Joel. "Likewise, we don't celebrate aggression just because it is natural."

"If we feel empathy is a great characteristic and someone is not empathetic by nature, we help them to enhance their empathetic abilities. It's not, 'She is not empathetic, so let's help her,' but 'He is not empathetic, but it's fine, he's a boy,'" she says. "What society needs to decide is what virtues or characteristics we would like to encourage."

As for the arc of research, Hamlin says that historically, it has mostly taken women scientists mounting careful and convincing studies to slowly dismantle baseless, damaging ideas about gender stereotyping that science is not immune to, despite the field's objective aims. These researchers believe that, in the end, the power of science will uncover the truth-if other scientists will only allow it.
Correction: This article has been updated to reflect that it was Joel's first paper, published in 2011, that was initially rejected by editors and eventually published in an open-source journal. Her second paper on the same topic was published in PNAS and was well-received. Additionally, Larry Cahill's article published in DANA was not a response to Joel's 2015 PNAS paper, but a response to the research generally, as it was published in 2014. This article was originally published on Quartz: Click here to view the original. © 2017 All Rights reserved. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency.

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The biggest myth about our brains is that they are "male" or "female"

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Daphna Joel was already an established neuroscientist in 2009, when she chose to launch a gender studies course at Tel Aviv University. While preparing the class curriculum, she became deeply interested in the mechanisms through which gender is formed.

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This BBC video explores the unintentional gender stereotyping that occurs almost from birth.

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Girl toys vs boy toys: The experiment - BBC Stories

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This resource may be helpful for students who are questioning their sexual or gender identity and would like to access information to help support them in some way. Teachers and parents can also use this page to familiarise themselves with terminology associated with gender and the issues that young people face in the community. This resource relates to our table of contents in the engagement activity where students can understand the definitions and learn to relate them to the community and others around them. There are options for support and an FAQ section.

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What is sexual identity?

As a teenager you will be figuring out lots of things including your sexuality. Sexuality is about experiencing and expressing yourself as a sexual being. This can include how you feel in your body, your sexual thoughts and feelings, and who you feel attracted to.

Sexual curiosity and experimentation can be seen as a normal part of discovering yourself. With all the changes you go through during adolescence there can be many uncertain or conflicting thoughts and feelings about your sexuality and who you are attracted to.

However:

Being attracted, having sexual thoughts and experimenting with the opposite sex doesn't automatically mean you are heterosexual.

Being attracted, having sexual thoughts and experimenting with the same sex doesn't automatically mean that you are gay.

You don't have to be dating or sexually active to know that you are straight, gay, bisexual or whatever.

You can engage in sexual activity as part of experimenting with people of the opposite or same sex and still not be totally sure about your sexual identity.

You may not have any particular attraction or sexual interest in anyone else.

Some people are clear about where they fit from an early age while others remain confused about this for some time. Others prefer to not attach labels to themselves about their sexuality and that is okay

What do all the words means?

LGBTIQ is a long acronym with a lot of meaning but it still doesn't cover all the definitions of sexual identity or gender. While the definitions vary among the community, the following represent the most common interpretations of LGBTIQ.

Lesbian: same sex attracted female

Gay : attracted to the same sex and can refer to men or women

Bisexual: attracted to both sexes

Transgender/transsexual: Identifies as being a different gender to the body they were born in

Intersex: Born with physical, hormonal or genetic features that are neither wholly female nor wholly male; or a combination of female and male; or neither female nor male

Queer: Term sometimes embraced by some people to refer to a range of sexual identities

Questioning: Hasn't identified with any labels as above. Some young people identify themselves as "questioning" because this takes the pressure off having to have a label

Please note, not everyone likes to categorise their identity and the terminology is always evolving. Providing a complete list of categories and definitions is beyond the scope of this article. More information and terminology can be found from LGBTIQ specialised services and websites.

What about transgendered people?

Sexual Identity is not the same as identifying as a different gender or feeling like you're in the 'wrong body'.

'Working it out' for some people may be about determining which gender they are. Sometimes people are born feeling they are in the 'wrong body' and may experience themselves to be the opposite sex to their anatomy. Someone born with a female body may feel 'male' or with a male body may feel 'female'. Sometimes people decide to make physical changes to their body through surgery and hormone treatments so that their body aligns with who they are. This is called 'transitioning'. Being transgender/transsexual is not the same as being gay or lesbian. Transgender people can also identify as being heterosexual, gay, lesbian or bisexual. Being transgender is also different to being intersex.

Is it ok to feel confused?

A common myth is that LGBTIQ people make a 'lifestyle choice'. Sexuality is not about choosing, nor is it 'just a phase", it is about who you are.

If you realise that you are attracted to the same sex or if you feel you are born the wrong gender it can be a confusing and emotionally turbulent time. Working this stuff out can be made even more stressful by ideas and beliefs held by people around you. Many common cultural and religious beliefs and attitudes may promote an idea that 'normal' is about being heterosexual and being a 'female' or 'male' based on the body you are born in.

It is not known exactly what determines sexuality in people. Approximately one in four families will have a family member who is gay, lesbian or transgender and this does not include the many young people who are questioning their sexuality.

Unfortunately there isn't a series of steps you can take or a test you can do to work out your sexuality. Some people work it out quickly while others take a lot longer to work through their feelings and find themselves. There is no rush. Feelings of uncertainty and confusion may be a normal ongoing part of being a teenager while discovering who you are. Sexuality can also be a fluid and changeable thing for some people and not so easy to categorise or label

When should I "come out"?

Unfortunately there isn't a series of steps you can take or a test you can do to work out your sexuality. Some people work it out quickly while others take a lot longer to work through their feelings and find themselves. There is no rush. Feelings of uncertainty and confusion may be a normal ongoing part of being a teenager while discovering who you are. Sexuality can also be a fluid and changeable thing for some people and not so easy to categorise or label.

"Coming out" is when you're in the process of getting in touch with your sexuality/ identity. You may want to be open about this in your social and personal life. Some people will "come out" while others keep their sexuality hidden for various personal, cultural or social reasons. Others will come out to a few people but not everyone. Coming out can be an uncertain time when you are unsure how others will take it and if they will accept you.

Take your time to think it through including who you feel safe talking to about this and when the time feels right.

Test people's reactions to LGBTIQ people by bringing the topic up in various ways and checking their ideas and reactions.

Even if people communicate discriminatory views it doesn't necessarily mean they hold those views and won't accept and understand you. On the other hand even if people express views conveying acceptance of LGBTIQ they may still be surprised by your disclosure.

Talk it through with a counsellor or support service if you are considering coming out to friends and family. It can help to have some extra support to explore how to talk to others about it and to be prepared.

Being different

Unfortunately in our society we are often told that being different from others is wrong, bad or something that needs to be 'fixed'. People may also make jokes about sexuality and talk about 'gays' and 'lesbians' in a negative, derogatory way. You may see LGBTIQ people 'stereotyped' in the media. This is when LGBTIQ people are represented in an oversimplified way and are portrayed as having a set of stereotypical behaviours and characteristics rather than seen as individuals. It can be helpful to know that your sexuality and 'difference' is never the problem. The problem is usually created by a lack of education and understanding within society.

What are some of the issues faced by LGBTIQ people?

Homophobia, Transphobia, Internalised Homophobia/ Transphobia and Heterosexism

Heterosexism is when society overly represents heterosexuality (being 'straight') as being "normal" while appearing to not acknowledge the other sexual identities or people who are questioning. Heterosexism can imply that it is wrong to be LGBTIQ and reinforce negative ideas about LGBTIQ.

Homophobia/Transphobia is when someone fears or has prejudiced views about LGBTIQ people. This can lead to discriminating behaviours such as social isolation, stigma, rejection, verbal abuse harassment threats and acts of violence against LGBTIQ people.

Internalised homophobia or transphobia relates to negative attitudes and feelings towards LGBTIQ within an individual. If someone has internalised homophobia they may deny their LGBTIQ identity, hate themselves or other LGBTIQ people. Internalised homo/transphobia may be influenced by heterosexist social attitudes and may be when an individual is not ready to accept their LGBTIQ identity. This has impacts on the "coming out" process, mental health and connection with other LGBTIQ people.

These things can have a big impact if you are LGBTIQ and make it hard to feel accepted and safe to express yourself as you are. Luckily there is more and more promotion and education around most of Australia and general awareness and acceptance in the general population is improving.

It is OK to be questioning and to be exploring and discovering yourself and who you are. You are OK even if you are not the same as the majority 'normal straight' people that you see depicted in most movies, TV, music, media and the community. Remember we are all individuals with many different qualities, whether we are gay, straight or somewhere in between and regardless of what gender you identify with.

How do I deal with discrimination?

Things you can do:

Try and remember when someone discriminates on the basis of your identity that it says more about them and doesn't mean you are not OK as you are. Sometimes homophobic harassment can come from people that are uncomfortable with their own sexuality.

Think about how to respond in any given situation. Responses will differ depending on how severe the abuse /harassment is. There is information and support available to help you with this.

Find out about human rights/ anti- discrimination policies and speak up about your concerns with relevant people at work or university/school

Don't stay alone with this experience. Talk to someone that you trust and that understands your experience. LGBTIQ services can provide support and counselling and many general counselling services are helpful too.

Keen for more information?

When should I seek help?

It is known that depression, mental health concerns, suicide and self- harm effect a significantly greater percentage of LGBTIQ people than the straight population. There are many factors influencing this including some of the issues we have mentioned, and more generally, the experience of feeling "different" to the heterosexual majority. However it is important to also remember that the majority of LGBTIQ people have happy and fulfilling lives.

If you experience any concerns or symptoms to do with stress and depression access a LGBTIQ friendly support service, GP, psychologist or counsellor. Getting the right support will make a huge difference.

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What is sexual identity? As a teenager you will be figuring out lots of things including your sexuality. Sexuality is about experiencing and expressing yourself as a sexual being. This can include how you feel in your body, your sexual thoughts and feelings, and who you feel attracted to.

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“headspace is the National Youth Mental Health Foundation providing early intervention mental health services to 12-25 year olds, along with assistance in promoting young peoples’ wellbeing. This covers four core areas: mental health, physical health, work and study support and alcohol and other drug services.“

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You can get support for your mental health by creating a headspace account. Here, you can access group chats, online communities, and 1:1 direct support with eheadspace professionals.

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headspace National Youth Mental Health Foundation

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You can get support for your mental health by creating a headspace account. Here, you can access group chats, online communities, and 1:1 direct support with eheadspace professionals.

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The following websites are great resources for students seeking help for any mental health issues they may be facing. Individuals can seek support and advice by talking to support officers and counsellors either in person or over the internet.

Support is provided for young individuals facing bullying, mental health problems, school or family issues and a range of other problems.

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“Need help with sex, sexuality, gender or trans questions? There are national as well as state and territory-based services with volunteers and staff who have had personal experience of or training in dealing with LGBTQI problems”

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Gender, sex and sexuality are all pretty complicated concepts - and definitely not as black and white as some people might think. The most important thing to realise is that you're not defined by your sexuality or gender. You're you, and that's awesome.

If you have questions about, or feel like you need support related to, sexuality or gender, there are national, state- and territory-based services with volunteers and staff who have had personal experience with or training in dealing with LGBTQIA+ questions and concerns.

Understanding your sexuality and gender

Everyone's sexuality is different, and it's not necessarily as simple as being 'gay' or 'straight'. Some people are attracted to only one sex, and others are attracted to a diversity of people regardless of their sex or gender, with a lot of different preferences in-between. For more information on understanding your sexuality, check out this article.

'Gender' refers to your sense of who you are as a guy, girl or something else, as opposed to what your physical characteristics, genes and hormones indicate (your 'sex'). Identifying your gender can be more diverse than simply seeing yourself as 'male' or 'female', and people express their gender in different ways. For further help on understanding gender, have a look at Everything you need to know about gender.

Head here for a breakdown of the difference between gender, sex and sexuality, courtesy of the Gender Unicorn.

Support services

Emergency help

If you're feeling distressed and want to talk to someone right now, call Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800, Lifeline on 13 11 14, or one of the other contacts in the urgent help section, all of which provide trained counsellors you can talk with 24/7. They are available to discuss whatever is going on with you, and are trained to help you figure out what to do.

If you have experienced threats or violence, report it to the police on 131 444.

National services

If you're looking to talk to someone about sex, sexuality or gender but you're outside the local call area of a capital city, you can contact the number/website below to get connected with your local sexuality and gender support service.

QLife

A national service that aims to keep LGBTQI communities supported and connected.

Phone: 1800 184 527 (3pm-midnight AEST)

Online chat (3pm-midnight AEST)

National services which may be of use for those who identify as intersex include:

Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome Support Group

Organisation Intersex International

State- and territory-based services

Australian Capital Territory

Meridian

Provides face-to-face counselling and access to social groups in the ACT for people of diverse sexuality and gender.

Phone: (02) 6257 2855 (9am-4pm, Monday-Friday)

Twenty10 incorporating GLCS NSW (also services ACT)

Provides a range of support services and social spaces for people of diverse genders, sexualities and sexes in NSW. Services are aimed specifically at people aged under 26.

A Gender Agenda

Information website and online community for gender-diverse people in the ACT. Information on support groups that you can connect with is also available via their website.

Phone: (02) 6162 1924

New South Wales

Twenty10 incorporating GLCS NSW

Provides a range of support services and social spaces for people of diverse genders, sexualities and sexes in NSW. Services are aimed specifically at people aged under 26.

The Gender Centre Inc.

Provides information and support to trans and gender-diverse people in NSW.

9am-noon, 1-4.30pm, Monday-Friday
Phone: (02) 9519 7599
Regional NSW: (02) 9569 2366
Email: reception@gendercentre.org.au

ACON is a NSW based organisation specialising in HIV prevention, HIV support and LGBTIQ health. Services include state-wide counselling, care coordination, substance support, peer education and health promotion.

Phone: 1800 063 060

Northern Territory

Northern Territory AIDS and Hepatitis Council (NTHAC)

The NTAHC is the main point of contact for people in the Northern Territory who have questions about sexuality or gender, and can put you in contact with local services that provide support.

Phone: (08) 8944 7777
Email: info@ntahc.org.au

Queensland

Diverse Voices

A non-profit organisation with a focus on the wellbeing of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) communities through the operation of teleweb counselling services.

3pm-midnight, 7 days a week
Phone: 1800 184 527

The Queensland AIDS Council

A non-profit organisation that provides support services, information and counselling for sex and gender-diverse people in Queensland.

Phone: (07) 3017 1777
Outside Brisbane: 1800 177 434

Open Doors Youth Service

A drop-in centre and support service for young people who identify as sex, gender or sexuality diverse. As well as support services, they offer a range of peer support programs and social events - providing a safe space for young people in Queensland.

Phone: (07) 3257 7660
Email: opendoors@opendoors.net.au

QSpace
QSpace is drop-in space for LGBTQIA+ young people. It's run by the Expanded Horizons Program and provides an opportunity to socialise, skill share and explore the community. Specific programs as well as casual activities are offered.

Phone: 0437 013 710 (Wednesday & Thursday)
Email: r.rive@wmq.org.au

South Australia

Phone, email and face-to-face support for sexuality- and gender-diverse people. They also have a structured mentorship program.

Phone: (08) 8202 5190

The Rainbow Directory SA lists services, organisations, groups and activities that are South Australia-based and for, or inclusive of, LGBTIQA+ communities. You can search the directory and sort by service type.

Phone: (08) 8168 8776 or 1800 636 368
Email: info@catalystfoundation.com.au or rainbowdirectorysa@catalystfoundation.com.au
SHINESA
SHINESA offer a Sexual Health line and clinical services (including doctors and counsellors) for people who are intersex, gender diverse and of all sexualities. They also offer a Gender Wellbeing Service for people who are transgender, gender diverse and gender questioning.

Contact: 1300 794 584

Tasmania

Switchboard

Anonymous, free telephone counselling, information and referrals for the LGBTQIA+ communities of Victoria and Tasmania.

Working It Out

Tasmania's gender and sexuality support and education service provides direct support, including free and confidential counselling, support groups, education programs and workplace training.

Victoria

Switchboard

Anonymous, free telephone counselling, information and referrals for the LGBTQIA+ communities of Victoria and Tasmania.

Zoe Belle Gender Centre (ZBGC)

An online service supporting the health and wellbeing of Victoria's sexuality and gender-diverse community, with information available to anyone in Australia. The ZBGC also provides an online Q&A service for people seeking answers to their questions about sexuality and gender diversity.

Western Australia

Living Proud

Available to anyone to talk about sexuality and gender, no matter what they identify as. Their phone counsellors can also refer you to gender- and sexuality-friendly doctors, psychologists, counsellors or lawyers, and other community groups that you might wish to connect with. They also run community workshops and inclusivity training.

7-10 pm, Monday-Friday
Phone: 1800 184 527

The Freedom Centre

Provides safe social spaces, peer support, information and referral for young gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans, intersex, queer and questioning young people under age 26.

Phone: (08) 9228 0354
Email: info@freedom.org.au
Western Australian AIDS Council
Offers counselling to people living with or affected by HIV and their friends and family, the broader LGBTIQIA+ community and youth counselling for the LGBTIQIA+ community.

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Gender, sex and sexuality are all pretty complicated concepts - and definitely not as black and white as some people might think. The most important thing to realise is that you're not defined by your sexuality or gender. You're you, and that's awesome.

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This government website shows statistics of gender equality, gender pay gaps and gender workplace statistics. This is a resource that teachers can show students on how the influence of gender has changed over the last 10 years within in Australia. These facts and figures look at leadership in companies and how females are becoming more prominent in roles that were designated for men only.

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This section contains information on the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012, including reporting requirements, complying with the Act, notification and access requirements and guidelines around submitting comments.

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This state policy is directed at human rights and anti-discrimination with school uniforms in Australian schools. This policy states that it is unlawful to be discriminated against based on sex and gender identity, linking this into uniform choices in schools. School councils in single sex schools are advised to design uniforms that are as practicable as possible for both sexes. All uniform options should be available to students of any gender without extra approval needed.

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Gender neutral bathrooms have been implemented in certain schools and universities around Australia but it remains a contentious issue for some. This TedTalk explains the importance of neutral gender bathrooms from a transgender person's point of view.

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1,773,860 views | Ivan Coyote • TEDxVancouver

There are a few things that we all need: fresh air, water, food, shelter, love ... and a safe place to pee. For trans people who don't fit neatly into the gender binary, public restrooms are a major source of anxiety and the place where they are most likely to be questioned or harassed. In this poetically rhythmic talk, Ivan Coyote grapples with complex and intensely personal issues of gender identity and highlights the need for gender-neutral bathrooms in all public places.

Become a TED Member

Want to hear more great ideas like this one? Sign up for TED Membership to get exclusive access to captivating conversations, engaging events, and more!

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Ivan Coyote: Why we need gender-neutral bathrooms

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There are a few things that we all need: fresh air, water, food, shelter, love ... and a safe place to pee. For trans people who don't fit neatly into the gender binary, public restrooms are a major source of anxiety and the place where they are most likely to be questioned or harassed.

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OTHER RESOURCES FOR MEMBERS OF THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY

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OTHER RESOURCES FOR MEMBERS OF THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY

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Around the world, the effects on gender and sexuality are a prevalent and contentious issue, and substantial research has been conducted to reinforce this point. Here in Australia, women may outperform men academically, but gender-based violence is still highly pervasive in society (Flood, Fergus & Heenan, 2009). Students must be educated about the consequences of violence against women, particularly as this is the highest cause of premature death or ill health for women under the age of 45 in Victoria (Flood, Fergus & Heenan, 2009).

A review was conducted of 39 studies on psychosocial and health outcomes connected with peer victimisation according to adolescent sexual orientation and/or gender identity (Beusekom, Bos, Collier & Sandfort, 2013). The review of the studies showed fairly strong evidence that peer victimisation is associated with higher levels of depression symptoms and a reduced sense of belonging within the school for students (Beusekom et al, 2013). It has also been shown that due to peer victimisation of students based on their sexual orientation and gender identity, they have had a disrupted education, suffered from traumatic stress and have a higher likelihood of alcohol and substance abuse (Beusekom et al, 2013). This displays the importance of targeting healthy and respectful relationships of students at a younger age to warrant the greatest impact to carry them on into adulthood.

Barker et al (2008) conducted a review of 58 evaluation studies of programs with boys and men on health outcomes including violence against men and women. The evidence from the review indicates that programs that promote gender-equitable relationships between men and women are more effective at creating behaviour change compared to narrow focused interventions (Barker et al, 2008). Programmes that targeted the social context were also more effective than those that only targeted an individual level (Barker et al, 2008; Flood et al, 2009). Therefore when high quality school-based programs are well-delivered, lasting changes in attitudes and behaviours are produced, leading to reductions in violence or bullying (Foshee et al, 2009; Taylor et al, 2013). Programs that support social change might include targeting gender norms such as expectations, behaviours and roles of men and women (Barker et al, 2008). The reproduction of these norms in institutions and practices have been shown to be directly related to health-related behaviours for men, impacting themselves, their partner, their family and their children (Barker et al, 2008).

Flood et al. (2009) also suggests that it is not enough to target changing people's behaviour through only programs on respectful relationships, but that domestic violence against women is a product of a much broader aspect in which women are portrayed as unequal to men (Flood et al, 2009). It is not only the lack of respectful relationships between different genders and sexes that results in domestic violence, but the structural inequalities within society that are reinforced by gender norms. Therefore it has been recommended by Flood et al (2009) that violence prevention programs are an important step to changing this concept for school students. The RRRR program implemented by the Victorian Government is one example of a positive approach to changing gender stereotypes within the school community. The other resources given below support similar values, reinforcing the idea of altering societal gender expectations and providing support for students who are negatively impacted by such issues.

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One of the strengths of this resource is its flexibility, as these learning materials do not need to be completed in sequence; it can be delivered on its own or part of a program or used with other health program materials. This feature allows teachers to determine a course of implementation based on the needs of their students.

Overall, the RRRR learning materials provide a comprehensive and effective series of activities to help students to develop their social and emotional skills. Not only does this program allow students to extend their understanding of positive gender norms, but when implemented effectively, RRRR has the potential to challenge current ideas of gender stereotypes and make a significant impact on Australian gender culture.

The video below outlines the main aims and benefits of the RRRR program (Education and Training Department, 2016).

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Department of Education and Training, Victoria

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1.     Emotional Literacy – Students examine influences on and consequences of emotional responses

2.     Personal Strengths – Students make realistic assessment of their abilities and prioritise areas of improvement

3.     Positive Coping – Students can select, use and analyse strategies that assist in regulating behaviour and achieving goals

4.     Problem Solving– Students can learn to predict the outcomes of challenges based on problem-solving and decision making strategies

5.     Stress Management – Students identify enablers and barriers to achieving goals

6.     Help Seeking– Students learn to identify indicators of possible problems in relationships in a range of situations

7.     Gender and Identity – Student learn strategies for challenging negative gender-based norms

8.     Positive Gender Relationshipsgives students the opportunity to understand gender-based violence and learn to develop positive relationships (DET, 2016).

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Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships

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Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships

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The Australian government is investing over 20 million dollars to implement an all-inclusive approach to Respectful Relationships, directed at primary and secondary schools. The motivations for such an approach comes from evidence gathered by the Royal Commission into Family Violence, demonstrating that there are high rates of family violence in Australia, mainly against women and children. The Commission believes a cultural change is necessary to combat such violence, highlighting the necessity of implementing a long-term strategy for the prevention of family violence. This long-term strategy comes in the form of providing proper educational programs and training in schools.

As a result, learning materials such as the Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships (RRRR) have been designed to aid teachers in educating young people on family violence. RRRR’s purpose is to develop both primary and secondary students’ social, emotional and positive relationship skills. Research shows that helping children and young people develop stronger social and emotional skills can improve their wellbeing and reduce antisocial behaviour. Therefore, teaching positive gender norms to children and young adults should help to reduce gender-related violence. The purpose of RRRR is also in line with the current Victorian curriculum in areas such as Health and Physical Education, as it relates to mental health and wellbeing.

The Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships learning material consists of a compilation of various engagement and learning activities. It has been designed to help teachers effectively implement and teach social and emotional development. It is divided into eight topics, each relating to the development of social and emotional learning for primary and secondary education.

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The subject of gender identity, transgender people, and the process of including them in today’s education system is one of utmost importance when it comes to student wellbeing. The Education and Training Department in the Victorian State Government issued a policy that attempts to address this sensitive topic (Education and Training Department, 2017). While there are many positive points to be made regarding the policy, which was last updated on 27th September 2017, some issues do arise.

The policy’s stated purpose is to ensure schools support students’ gender identity, including those with intersex status. This statement is reinforced by the policy’s instruction of schools to support and respect a student’s choice to identify as their desired gender, especially when this does not align with their sex designated at birth. The instruction extends to principals, who must respect privacy and confidentiality. The policy also adequately defines the terms ‘gender identity’ and ‘intersex’. There are detailed steps for principals and school committees to follow when creating a management plan for including gender-diverse students into school life. Importantly, while the policy states a parent/family representative/carer must be present when the principal (or other school staff) discusses a school management plan with the student, the policy does not yet explicitly address situations in which the student and parent etc. are not in agreement. In this case the policy hands responsibility over to the school and its judgement, allowing for decisions to be made without parental consent. Clear regulations are in place for the management of documentation in the case of a student who wishes to change the sex on their birth certificate. An area of the policy that may prove to be problematic, involves an expert’s opinion: according to the policy, a school may request a letter from a gender identity specialist to support the development of a school management plan. This may pose a problem in cases in which a student is unable to obtain such a letter.

Worth noting is the policy’s attention given to toilet facilities. A clear warning is issued against the designation of disabled toilets for use by students who are not disabled (i.e. gender-diverse students), for this may run the risk of ‘othering’ the students in question. However, the policy arguably already marginalises gender-diverse students through the location of the policy on the website. The policy is located under student health – ‘specific condition support’. While this may be the case in terms of mental health, gender identity is unfortunately positioned in the same subgroup as asthma, allergies, haemophilia, cystic fibrosis and cancer. Furthermore, the policy does not address single-sex education. For example, if a student has transitioned to female, would they be allowed to enrol in a girls’ school? Admittedly this is a sensitive and complicated topic, which could be the next obstacle tackled in the process of complete inclusion of gender-diverse students in the education system. In conclusion, while the benefits of a rather progressive policy are clear, there are visible shortcomings which may serve to undermine students’ wellbeing.

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Throughout this page, we have included references to external resources to help teachers overcome the limitations that gender expectations can impress upon students and to emphasise why this is such an important aspect of our teaching practice as educational professionals.

This is not a mere side point of our vocation as educators; as we will explore further, gender expectations run deep within our society and are heavily influenced by institutions (Baker et. al., 2008). Therefore, it is crucial for institutions such as the education system to work to perpetuate positive, diverse relationships so that cultural change can occur over time.

The rest of this collaboration delves into the policies and programs that have been developed to address the issues of gender expectations and how we, as educators, can create diverse and inclusive classrooms within our schools. The aim of such a resource and presentation is to explicitly identify the reasons why we need to change the gender expectations that we are bringing into the classroom. Throughout this page, we will explore the current issues surrounding gender expectations, the corresponding government policies and implementations in schools, and resources for students, parents, and teachers to approach gender issues within the community. Our ultimate hope is that together, we can recognise the limitations that gender expectations can place on our students and aim to create classrooms that do not discriminate based on gender or sexuality. If we as educators can do this, our students will be free to grow as individuals within and beyond the school community.

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Photograph from the "Pink and Blue Project" by JeongMee Yoon suggesting that colour preference is cultural. If something like colour preference can influence gender stereotypes, what other gender-related stereotypes could be a result of societal pressures?

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Such a simple exercise emphasises why we need to be made explicitly aware of the gender expectations that exist within ourselves as educators and the students as learners. To begin challenging these expectations and the corresponding limitations they can place upon students’ learning, a series of definitions have been developed for you to peruse on the right.

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In this case, the answers are exactly what you would expect them to be - stereotypes. The fact that you were able to determine the answers so easily based on gender highlights a huge societal problem. This is why we need to address the gender expectations that exist in society, beginning in our classrooms.

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1. Are boys or girls more likely to choose STEM-based subjects in school?
2. Is it more common to see men or women in positions of power and management?
3. Are males or females more likely to be victims in cases of sexual assault and domestic violence?