WA Respectful Relationships Teaching Support Program

As part of our commitment to creating a future free from violence against women and children, Starick undertakes primary prevention work through delivering respectful relationships programs. Respectful relationships programs have been shown to create generational change by breaking the cycle of family and domestic violence and stopping violence before it starts.

Primary prevention approaches like respectful relationships programs work on a whole population level. They seek to change attitudes, behaviours and practice, to stop what is driving or causing the issue. Research has identified that gender inequality is the main driver of family and domestic violence, so it is gender equality that respectful relationships programs focus on promoting and creating.

Starick delivers two respectful relationships programs – The WA Respectful Relationships Teaching Support Program, and the WA Respectful Relationships Sport and Recreation Program.

About Respectful Relationships Education

Respectful Relationships Education (RRE) is a whole-of-school approach to creating and maintaining a culture of respect within school communities. It supports students, staff and the wider community to build healthy and safe relationships based on mutual respect, non-violence and gender equality.

RRE is an evidence based, primary prevention approach delivered through schools to create generational and cultural change. It engages schools as places of learning, as community hubs, and as workplaces to address the drivers of gender-based violence and create a future free from violence.

The WA Respectful Relationships Teaching Support Program

Starick delivers the Western Australian Respectful Relationships Teaching Support Program (WARRTSP) to primary and secondary public schools across Western Australia.

The WARRSTP uses a whole-of-school approach to support staff in delivering appropriate respectful relationships education through the school curriculum and across the broader school environment. The program’s aim is to give staff the skills they need to support students to build relationships that are non-violent, equal, mutually respectful and trusting, and includes:

- professional learning for teachers and school staff.
- information, tools and resources to teach students about respectful relationships and gender equality,
- support for schools to implement a whole-of-school approach to violence prevention.

WARRSTP is funded by the Department of Communities with in-kind support from the Department of Education. The program is a State Government election commitment to prevent family and domestic violence, and a key initiative within Path to Safety: Western Australia’s Strategy to Reduce Family and Domestic Violence 2020-2030.

The following video features schools that have participated in the WA Respectful Relationships Teaching Support Program. It identifies key initiatives they have implemented which have delivered positive outcomes for students, teachers and the broader school community. It demonstrates how generational change is taking place within their school communities as a result of the program.