The Department of Social Services (DSS), in collaboration with BMF, has launched a national campaign addressing consent by transforming perceived complexity and inexperience into an opportunity to learn.

Titled 'Consent Can't Wait', the campaign aims to encourage influencers of young people to educate them on sexual consent, with the goal of removing fear and judgement surrounding conversations about the topic.

The campaign features a diverse range of real Australian couples, highlighting the various internal thoughts and questions many Australians silently hold about consent. The campaign was launched on May 26th and spans TV, cinema, online video, social, and Out Of Home (OOH) platforms.

“Consent is a culturally loaded word, fraught with connotations, systemic inconsistencies, and media rhetoric. It’s also a personal and private topic, so people don’t talk about it unless they “need” to. But all across Australia, people are engaging in consent-relevant momentsm. Studies show that one in two of them are confused about consent and harbour questions about the topic that they keep to themselves. And, as long as we continue to hold our questions about consent silent – as long as we don’t know the answers – the next generation will too," said Chief Strategy Officer at BMF, Christina Aventi.

"We know consent is hard to define, but kids are learning more than we think, and we can’t leave it to chance and hope for the best. So, the first step is to educate ourselves and get to a shared understanding. Because before we can teach young people what’s right and wrong about consent, we need to get clearer ourselves.”

In addition to the campaign film, BMF and DSS have launched www.consent.gov.au, a website where Australians can check their understanding of sexual consent and challenge what they think they know about the topic. The website includes resources, conversation guides, and first nations resources.

“From casting real couples to an intimacy coordinator on set, to wardrobe autonomy, to consent over how the scenes were set; consent was integrated into every facet of the campaign process. It was critical to us that our campaign didn’t just talk the consensual talk but walked the consensual walk. After all, if we can’t act with consent, how can we expect the Australian public to?" said Associate Creative Director at BMF, Kiah Nicholas. "Revolver’s director, Dani Pearce, carried out the campaign idea and brought it life with the utmost consideration, collaboration, and respect. We were in awe of the level of craft and care that Dani and her team members put into the project.

"We hope this campaign inspires all Australians to take action and help make change possible by getting up-to-speed on, and improving their understanding of, consent. We can’t hold our questions about consent silent a second longer. Because if we don’t know the answers, how will our kids? – Learning, understanding, and talking about consent can’t wait.”

The campaign was created with a focus on consent in every aspect, from casting real couples to having an intimacy coordinator on set, to wardrobe autonomy, to consent over how the scenes were set.