Respectful relationships are not only at the core of Catholic values and teachings, but are a necessary element of a proper functioning society. Developing young men and women who respect each other’s fundamental rights is central to our aims as a school community at Mount Lilydale Mercy College.
Issues of consent, sexual assault and gender inequality are critically important. Our school, in partnership with parents, has an important role to play in addressing this significant social issue.
MLMC stands against gendered violence. The testimonies provided by current and former school students across the country reinforce the need to support students to build and manage safe and respectful relationships.
Catholic schools utilise a range of programs to help form appropriate interpersonal behaviours and respectful attitudes among the student cohort, as enshrined in gospel values.
We are committed to teaching respectful relationships education as part of the Victorian curriculum, which focuses on building students’ social and emotional skills by supporting them to recognise and regulate emotions, develop empathy for others, and build and manage safe and respectful relationships (including understanding consent). Our school provides sexuality education as part of the Health and Physical Education curriculum.
As a Child Safe School, MLMC takes sexual assault allegations very seriously. We respond to any disclosures in an appropriate and supportive manner. Any allegations are acted on quickly by following our procedures for responding to allegations of abuse and assault. We report allegations of sexual assault to Victoria Police and DHHS Child Protection in accordance with cross-sector education protocols documented within:
and
PROTECT: Identifying and Responding to Student Sexual Offending.
MLMC will provide support, be it through the College Counselling team or a trusted staff member, to any students who are victim-survivors of sexual assault. The wellbeing of our students is at the centre of all we do.
As a parent or carer, if you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault and needs support, please contact 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit https://1800respect.org.au
You can also access help through:
Parentline on 13 22 89
Lifeline on 13 11 14
Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636.
Students can access help through:
Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800
Headspace: https://headspace.org.au
All of us, from parents as first educators, to school teachers and leaders, to system and sector leaders, must work together to do all we can to address this issue and prevent future harm to any young person.
Critically, we must empower the young people in our care to participate in what must become an ongoing conversation on the efficacy of existing school respectful relationships programs, and the priority they are given in schools and among school communities.
As a Catholic school, we take these matters extremely seriously and will work with students, parents and our local community to support education programs in this critical area of student safety.
If you have any questions or concerns, or wish to discuss something that has happened, please contact me, Mr John Rodgers, Deputy Principal — Pastoral Care, on 9735 4022 or via email to jrodgers@mlmc.vic.edu.au
