Accessible Consent Education

Co-Creating Consent: Embedding Inclusive, Trauma-Informed Standards in Higher Education

Connection and collaboration are essential to higher education, and to understanding and teaching consent. This presentation introduces eight standards for best-practice consent education, developed through discussions with experts in disability and relationship and sexuality education. These standards offer a framework for embedding cultures of care, accessibility, and ethical engagement across academic contexts.

Consent is all around us, all the time, in ways we often do not notice. This presentation, designed for higher educati on staff, explores how consent best practice can be applied in teaching, and informed consent processes – supporting student wellbeing, relational safety, and inclusive learning environments. It also reflects on the co-design methodology, highlighting how cross-sector partnerships and lived experience leadership can drive cultural change in universities. Practical applications include curriculum development, professional learning, and ethical research engagement, with attention to accessibility adaptations and multimodal knowledge translation.

This work invites higher educators to reimagine consent as a collaborative, justice-oriented practice that affirms dignity, agency, and belonging. By embedding these standards, we can foster transformative cultures of care and connection – where consent becomes a shared responsibility and a foundation for inclusive excellence.

POWERPOINT TO COME LATER.