Sex And Sexuality In Australia

Since the arrival of the first fleet, Australia’s overall societal view on topics surrounding sex have become increasingly liberal and pre-marital sex has become the norm. However, in every society there is a large spectrum of attitudes and degrees of acceptance vary. People from different religions, backgrounds or experiences may have a variety of views on these topics and with Australia being home to religions ranging from Zoroastrianism to Catholicism, there is a lot of diversity.

In the Catholic religion there are many teachings concerning pre-marital sex and chastity. Many of these teachings come from ideas surrounding the sacrament of marriage. They consider it the most intimate of human relationships, a gift from God, and a sacred institution.

According to generalised statistics, 87% of us accept premarital sex compared to below 50% in the 1970s as religious affluence on society has diminished. Furthermore, when looking at popular films like Juno, No Strings Attached and Friends with Benefits, there is no controversy surrounding storylines where unmarried people are having sex, it’s just the norm. In saying this however, it is important to look at who ‘we’ really are. We are a nation of diversity; religiously, culturally, with different priorities and different upbringings. A generalised Australia has liberal views on sex and sexuality, but the nation’s views can’t be concluded on statistics alone. It differs between individuals and families due to their own personal values and beliefs. Even statistics on Australia’s religions don’t show the full picture as many people’s opinions don’t reflect the views of religious organisations, even if they are religious. Compared to issues like teen pregnancy and abortion however, premarital sex is quite widely accepted. By law, there is only an age limitation as to when a person can have intercourse, 16 in most states and 17 in Tasmania and South Australia. Nowhere does it state premarital sex is

With relation to premarital sex, religions like Catholicism teach that it is wrong as it devalues the sacrament of marriage and a person’s sexuality. From a modern Australian societal view, the only unlawful act is having sex before the age of 16 or 17 and, generally, as seen in TV, film and statistics, the popular idea is that pre-marital sex is not that big of a deal. Just 50 years ago this opinion was greatly different as many more people had traditionalist views and strictly followed religious teachings. Now, a great deal of modern Australian life proceeds as if the question of faith did not matter. We have passed from a society where faith and public manifestations of faith were the norm, to a society which is apprehensive of public visibility of faith. Furthermore, Catholic views are much more adamant on bounding relationship in comparison to secular society where many people engage in “no-strings attached” relationships. It is important to note, however, that there are similarities with Catholic teachings as numerous individuals also value being in a respectful, loving relationship before engaging in sexual activity. For these individuals this may not necessarily mean marriage, but the concept still holds similar values to that of the Catholic