Australian mother to take legal action after teen daughter exposed to "disturbing" sex ed content

At a school in rural South Australia, Year 9 girls, including Nicki’s daughter Courtney, were removed from regular lessons and placed into an unsupervised presentation facilitated by external personnel. During this session, the girls report being shown sexually explicit material and hearing graphic references that left them distressed and confused.

The presenters made reference to practices including bestiality, telling the girls “don’t Google it though”. The presentation also included people who have sex with siblings, with presenters using the terms “sister love” and “brother love”.

During the lesson, which emphasized themes of diversity and acceptance, images were put on the screen to show the children “trans bodies” – displaying bodies from the waist-up, where scars from double mastectomies were visible.

The school did not inform parents ahead of this session, nor did they provide any opportunity to consent or withdraw their children.

Following the incident, Nicki Gaylard withdrew her children from the school, stating that she could not risk their exposure to unsupervised and inappropriate sexual content within the school environment.

Despite having presented the content across multiple schools, third-party education provider, “headspace”, has refused to allow Nicki access to view the PowerPoint.

Nicki Gaylard said: “I am strongly considering taking this case forward because I’m seeking justice for my daughter, who was deeply affected by what she saw that day. Her childhood was shortened through exposure to completely inappropriate material that Headspace won’t even let me see. How can they be happy to show to children what they are ashamed to show to adults? Let children be children.

“I’m also taking this forward for the sake of other kids across the country who shouldn’t have to go through what my daughter went through; and for all the parents who should never be sidestepped in this way. That is, after all, our right and our duty as parents – and school authorities should respect our authority to determine what’s appropriate for our kids.”

Robert Clarke, Director of Advocacy for ADF International, supporting Gaylard’s case, said: “Parents send their children to school expecting an education and them to be kept safe, not exposure to explicit sexual content. Yet that basic trust was broken. No parent should be kept in the dark about what their child is being taught, and no child should be placed in an unsupervised session dealing with adult themes.”

“Sadly, Nicki’s case is an example of a larger pattern. Increasingly, parents are discovering that radical approaches to sex education – often shaped by internationally-developed curricula and promoted by activist groups at the national level – are being quietly rolled out. This case is about drawing a firm line: parental rights matter, transparency matters, and safeguarding children is not optional.”

The Department for Education has acknowledged procedural failures, confirming that parents were not notified; required vetting processes were not followed; no teacher was present; and an investigation is underway into the third-party presenter.