About 9.5 percent of Australians between the ages of 16 and 24 now identify as gender or sexuality diverse. Some research puts that figure closer to 20 percent in the 18 to 24 age group. Despite those numbers, a new survey suggests most Australian high school students are not receiving any classroom education on gender or sexuality diversity at all.
According to a report by Phys.org, a 2026 La Trobe University survey asked more than 4,000 high school students across Australia, ages 14 to 18, about their experiences in sex education and school-based relationships classes. Just 23 percent said they had learned about gender or sexuality diversity in those settings.
An earlier survey found the gap even wider among students who identified as gender or sexuality diverse themselves. In 2021, researcher Jacqueline Ullman surveyed nearly 2,400 gender and sexuality diverse high school students across the country. Fewer than 10 percent reported learning about gender or sexuality diversity within their health and physical education classes.
The findings come on Wear it Purple Day, an initiative that began in 2010 to support gender and sexuality diverse young people in the face of discrimination and bullying. Schools and workplaces are invited each year to wear purple clothing in recognition of the community. But the survey results suggest the gesture has not translated into consistent curriculum changes.
Research on the consequences of that gap is clear. Discrimination can lead gender and sexuality diverse young people to experience shame, isolation, and loneliness. Those outcomes are linked to higher rates of self-harm and suicide. Schools that create inclusive environments have been shown to increase students' sense of belonging, while school cultures that treat being straight and cisgender as a default can make those environments hostile.
A 2021 national study found that gender and sexuality diverse young people overwhelmingly reported that homophobic language was common at their high schools and that school staff did not proactively respond to it.
Part of the problem may be structural. Australia does not have a standardized national approach to including gender and sexuality diverse people, issues, or topics in school policies or curriculum. That absence has produced widely different approaches across states, school sectors, and individual schools. What a student learns, or does not learn, about gender and sexuality diversity may depend entirely on which school they attend and in which state.
Researchers argue that education on these topics is not just a matter of inclusion but also a tool for changing discriminatory attitudes. Teaching all students about gender and sexuality diversity, the research suggests, can normalize those identities and reduce the conditions that lead to bullying and isolation. Without a standardized framework requiring schools to address these topics, that outcome remains inconsistent across the country.
