Kids Show Us What Respect Means To Them

More than 500 students around the country have participated in the Stop it at the Start campaign's Respect Competition to help foster greater awareness about healthy relationships and respect.

The Albanese Labor Government is excited to announce the winners of this national event - and congratulates all who participated.

Two young winners have had their drawings transformed into an animation by a professional animation studio and received a $500 gift card for themselves and one for their school.

The winner of the primary school (years 4-6) category is:

• Eilish a Year 6 student at Chelsea Primary School in Victoria for their entry "Spreading Respect Online".

The winner of the high school (years 7-9) category is:

• Arelia a Year 7 student at Brisbane Christian College in Queensland for their entry "R.E.S.P.E.C.T. This is what it means to me".

Entries were judged by Gus Worland - founder of Gotcha4Life and Stop it at the Start campaign ambassador, Ryder Jack - Principal Facilitator at Tomorrow Man, along with a representative from the Department of Social Services.

The winning stories were chosen for their creative and insightful portrayals of how to show respect online and in the community, what respect means, and how to stand up against disrespect.

Ten runners-up across both categories were each awarded a $250 gift card.

Students from every state and territory took part in the competition that encouraged young Australians to show what respect means to them, putting thoughts to paper to create heartwarming and inspiring stories.

The competition gave students a creative outlet to express their views about respect and a way for parents, carers and teachers to see what it means to young people.

The winning animations and storyboards from all runners-up are now available to view at www.respect.gov.au/respectcompetition.

Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth said gender-based violence can take many different forms and we may not always be able to recognise it.

"We all need to understand there are different types of negative influences online and in the real world reaching our young people, impacting their perceptions of respect, respectful relationships, and violence against women," Minister Rishworth said.

"This week marks the start of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence. This is an important time for us to come together and reflect on the causes of gender-based violence, and how we can address it with a whole-of-society approach.

"Taking steps to understand what our children are being exposed to every day, how we can talk about it, and how we can reject these negative influences is vital to ending violence against women and children."

Assistant Minister for Social Services and for the Prevention of Family Violence, Justine Elliot, said it was outstanding to see so many students highlight the importance of being respectful to one another at home, in the classroom, and online.

"As we know, young people are bombarded online with disrespectful views that become normalised and can impact behaviour - these views cannot be left unchallenged," Assistant Minister Elliot said.

"Our young people must be supported to make positive choices and to have healthy and respectful interactions online and in the real world. "

The Albanese Government has invested $4 billion in women's safety initiatives. To specifically address gender-based violence and respectful relationships, this includes:

• $6.5 million for a pilot of age assurance technology to protect children from harmful content, such as pornography and other age-restricted online services.
• $3.5 million for Teach Us Consent to develop and distribute social media resources for young people aged 16 years and above about consent, sexual harm and healthy sexual relationships.
• $8.3 million to design, deliver and evaluate multiple small-scale trials to prevent sexual harm and violence.
• $40 million for the National Consent campaign which aims to reduce the incidence of sexual violence in Australia by improving community understanding and attitudes on consent and respectful relationships.
• $3.5 million for a Healthy Masculinities Trial and Evaluation (Healthy MaTE) to help provide school-aged boys with greater understanding of ways to have healthy relationships with masculinity and to better equip this cohort to develop healthier and more satisfying relationships.
• $83.5 million for the Consent and Respectful Relationships Education measure which aims to ensure that students from Foundation to Year 10 receive age-appropriate education on positive, respectful relationships and consent.
• $100.4 million to Our Watch over 2022-2027 to continue its important work as the national leader in primary prevention. This includes funding for The Line - Our Watch's primary prevention social marketing campaign.