Supporting Young People to Understand Affirmative Consent Program (2022 - 2025)
Good People Act Now is one of the 13 projects created as part of the Supporting Young People to Understand Affirmative Consent (SYPTUAC) Program. The SYPTUAC program aims to empower and educate young people and their key influencers to strengthen their understanding of affirmative consent and healthy relationships.
Good People Act Now
Developed by Banksia Gardens Community Services
Good People Act Now (GPAN) is a project of Banksia Gardens Community Services, and is a youth-led action group working to promote gender equality and prevent gender-based violence in Hume and surrounds. GPAN focuses on peer-to-peer bystander action, equipping young people with tools to safely challenge harmful beliefs and attitudes that proliferate a culture of disrespect.
Each year, GPAN offers a free six-week training course to local young people. In the training course, ‘GPANers’ cover topics such as:
the link between gender inequality and violence against women
respectful relationships
intersectionality
gender stereotypes
responding to disclosures of gender-based violence
influencing peers
how to manage backlash.
Participants are equipped with the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to be active bystanders in promoting gender equality and preventing gender-based violence in their communities. To date, we have trained more than 350 local young people through annual training and thousands others through our bespoke workshops. We estimate that all our trained GPANers have had an impact on over 5000 other local young people.
The ‘GPAN’ Youth Action Group continues to meet fortnightly to plan actions to raise awareness across Hume and mobilise the community in actively promoting gender equality. These actions include: outreach at local events, GPAN School Hubs, workshops on respectful relationships with other community groups and sporting clubs and using social media platforms to reach a wider audience.
Follow the project on Instagram (@goodpeopleactnow)
Body Safety Australia
Image-based Autonomy: Creating Digital Upstanders
A project that aims to capture young people’s experiences and perspectives around their use of digital technology, with a particular focus on image taking, sharing and editing. It will pilot effective approaches to meaningful online safety education.
Centre Against Sexual Assault Central Victoria
Young People as Agents of Change
A collaborative education project between young people and project partners across the Macedon Ranges, working together to grow young people’s understanding of consent and how to build healthy relationships through a consent workshop and activities.
Drummon Street Services
BeSure
A program that delivers engaging, community-based workshops designed to help young people, carers, and key workers understand Victoria’s affirmative consent reforms. Workshops are delivered in TAFEs, youth programs, community organisations, and adult migrant education settings.
The Supporting Young People to Understand Affirmative Consent Program is supported by the Victorian Government.
Accessing sexual violence support
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, there are specialist sexual assault services across Victoria that provide free and confidential counselling and advocacy support for people of all ages.
You can find your local service by using the Specialist Sexual Assault Service Map.
If you have experienced a recent sexual assault, you can call the Sexual Assault Crisis Line (SACL) on 1800 806 292.
SACL operates between 5pm - 9am on weeknights and throughout weekends and public holidays. During office hours, the line will divert to your local specialist sexual assault service.
