There is still a lot to be learned about those bizarre consent videos and associated content released last week. The Good Society website, which hosts more than 350 resources to teach school-aged kids about sex, consent and relationships, cost an eye-watering $3.79 million, funded by the Department of Education, Skills and Employment (DESE). It took up more than half the funding allocated to Respect Matters launched in 2015.
Many have speculated on the site’s strange Americanisms, potential links to religion, and damaging contradictions — leading campaigners to demand the site is redesigned, this time with consultation with the sector. DESE has refused to say who was consulted, other than saying it was created by experts and reviewed by a resource review group of subject matter experts. Organisations that provided initial advice, including Our Watch, have distanced themselves from the final product. The company contracted to make the site, Liquid International, hasn’t responded to Crikey’s request for comment.
Americanisms
Much of the content on the site is from the US: there are videos by Vox, Beyonce and The School of Life.
Even videos produced by The Good Society are oddly American, as many on Twitter have pointed out: the now-removed video makes references to “the end zone”, an American football term. One example of consent is “can I touch your butt?” instead of the more Australian “bum”. One of the videos has a briefcase full of US dollars instead of colourful Australian notes. The menu lists a peanut butter milkshake (instead of the more kosher Blue Haven). Worksheets use the word “math” instead of “maths”.
Crikey has ascertained at least one of the scriptwriters for the series was Canadian, though the scripts appear to have been originally produced.
Religious links
Another video that appears on the site features blatant victim-blaming rhetoric, whereby a young woman blames watching porn for being raped at age 13. The video was produced by the US-based public charity Fight the New Drug, an organisation whose founding members are all Mormons and whose facts are based on Mormon principles. The accompanying study guide can be bought in Catholic or Evangelical versions.
Religious US-based think tank Acton Institue also has a series of free, short, sharable films also called The Good Society which explores the “economic, moral, political, social, and theological foundations of a flourishing society” hosted by Reverend Robert Sirico. The organisation wouldn’t respond to Crikey’s questions about possible ties to the Australian site.
The institute’s research fellows have discussed purity and the dangers of “hookup culture“, written on the “man-made disaster otherwise known as the Sexual Revolution“, and have argued transgender rights will undermine women’s participation in society and that students being tested for HIV presented a “moral crisis“.
The organisation’s director Samuel Gregg is Australian, finishing his Master’s degree in Political Philosophy at Melbourne University before working as a research scholar at libertarian think tank The Centre for Independent Studies*. Gregg speaks and writes on topics such as the economic ideas expressed in Pope Francis’s writing, why Australia’s conservatives won, threats to religious liberty, and how being rich promotes virtue.
Minister for Education Alan Tudge, who would have approved the DESE’s The Good Society website after being appointed the portfolio in late 2020, is also a regular guest speaker at The Centre for Independent Studies.
The actors
The actors who appeared in videos produced by The Good Society were recruited by an unnamed production company from different casting agencies. They were asked to appear in an e-learning video series about relationships for school-aged children, which were filmed in Melbourne in 2018. Each has signed a non-disclosure agreement and were unable to speak to Crikey on the record.
Content contradictions
Some of the content on the site isn’t bad, discussing feelings and checking in with emotions. Other parts are horrendous — and have quietly been removed amid backlash.
Notably, two videos — including the milkshake video wherein the female is the abuser and is given help instead of the victim, and another comparing STDs to sharks which showed a boy pointing a speargun at a young girl — have been removed and the changes announced by the DESE.
Other changes have been made more slyly: one page on consent used to state: “It’s okay to persuade someone to change their mind” and “sometimes we go along with what other people want and that’s okay”, which has since been removed. Another page gave an example in which a girl tried to get her boyfriend drunk to get him to have sex, “thinking that might make a difference”.
Liquid Interactive
The company — a subsidiary of Liquid Animation — was founded by three brothers Michel, Geoff and Steve Viner along with Michael Burke. The creative director of Liquid Interactive is Andrew Duval, while the marketing director is Samantha Pearce.
There’s a US-based Liquid International that offers similar services, however, it’s not known if the companies are linked.
DESE secretary Michele Bruniges said the website was designed to be fluid, and that content would be added, removed and modified as the department engaged with experts to evaluate the material (though it seems a little late for that).
*The original article has been updated: the Centre for Independent Studies says Samuel Gregg is not a regular speaker at its events. The CIS says it is not connected with The Good Society.
“Morality” and Religion causes far more harm than it thinks it protects. Sanctimonious hypocrites!
Amber this is a really good article. Great work.
I didnt realize that the site has videos created for other countries, and as long as our educators are able to pick and choose, then I think its AWESOME that different countries are pooling their creative efforts rather than reinventing the wheel and wasting tax dollars. [I made such a suggestion about this a couple of weeks ago here in Crikey before this blew up].
Its important that we applaud the good stuff rather than just highlight the crap, which you have done.
As a scientist I bristle when religious groups poison children’s minds with Creationism, and I feel the same here when they do this with sex/relationship education. This goes not just for Christians but ALL religious fundamentalists. But as they aren’t breaking any laws, the gov does need to cater for their world views.
Note that some Australian kids also say ‘math’ because of the Victorian (where the film as shot) subject ‘Mathematics Methods’ sounds awkward when truncated to ‘Maths Methods’ and Math Methods is used instead.
To those that are down voting me, can you clarify why? The Creationism thing???
Agree great article! I just voted you up not sure why the voting down. Ooh I always said Maths Methods (but that was in the 90’s). I think the site was created just for Australia, its just mimicking american (canadian?) cultural queues and seems to be inspired by the mormons (god help us!). When they said the ‘end zone’, I thought they said ‘N zone’ as in the ‘No’ zone. So these things are important and really lazy to get wrong. No Aussie says end zone. The whole things is just so disappointing given the money spent on it.
“Much of the content on the site is from the US: there are videos by Vox, Beyonce and The School of Life.” Hence i thought some of it was being reused.
A key here is to ensure the contract allows the purchaser to have rights to the IP so that it can be modified without re engaging the supplier. Then it can be improved and maybe resuscitated.
I didnt expect to find Creationists here to be honest.
I just voted you up. No up vote appeared, but the down votes went from -2 to -1.
The Good Society – Walter Lippmann – 1937. Liberalism/neoliberalism/socialism etc Good read for thinkers/bad read for mad or bad scientists.
Liberal Civil Society with religious creationist concepts forming the codes of ethics and morals around thought and behaviour for the masses without the explicit truth. The ordinary person has not the capacity to understand the complexities of things overall is the motto.
I liked the concept of civil society but now I see the problems in real world terms.
Full audiobook at https://youtu.be/vX1eEQVDdjA
Is that the Response? Well no wonder we wander in the Netherlands!
Sorry, i havent read the book. Can you give a precis?
https://hillsong.com/netherlands/jesus/
Cs Lewis
New Christians- can I be any more obvious.
How ironic. “…website was designed to be fluid”. However, any “fluidity” in gender identity is frowned upon by members of the Government which produced this material.
OH! Heaven spare us with too much fluidity in education! There may already be just too much, aside from the wet teachers, and in too many of the wrong places, not to mention directions. And also, it just could be interpreted in too many ways, especially in education. Let’s be more concrete. And many thanks to Amber Schultz for her “highlighting of the crap.” She certainly knows her business! Besides, it’s where most seem to look first, including health-inspectors and social-workers, and some visitors. These types just do know their shit! & it’s no coincidence the first thing that seems to go in when building a new house is the sewage! It seems more important even that a roof, which of course can so easily get blown away at the first cyclone. Even with no roof, one still needs to “go.”
And Conservatives are always banging on about the supremacy of the individual, unless of course that individual isn’t like them. that is, straight, white, Male and “Christian”! Sanctimonious hypocrites!
I still remember needling my university’s Christian Student society to explain why Im going to hell for being brought up in a different faith and being an otherwise model citizen…given their often stated ‘hes a loving God’. Apparently I had till i was 12 to see the errors of my ways.
You must have been a prodigy to be at uni before you were 12!
Important, Amber, and being ignored by MSM. It can’t be said too often, Morrison prefers soft American evangelical porn (suitable for Kids Program at Horizon) not frank evidence-based communication (suitable for young Australians negotiating power and desire).
Why have so many male ministers and staffers behaved so badly or committed sex crimes? Because they’ve been carefully trained to be ruthless and ignorant. And Chief Paterfamilias wants to keep it that way.
The organisation wouldn’t respond to Crikey’s questions about possible ties to the Australian site.
More ambiguity from Crikey. It would be nice o know if the organisation refused to respond or just failed to. Because you know, details.