Speaking at a Pride Week event in Melbourne, Ward implied the number of young gay people is under-reported and “it’s more like 40 to 50 per cent of young people who are not exclusively attracted to the opposite sex.”

Former director and co-founder of Safe Schools , Roz Ward, has come under fire for saying half of young people are gay.

Safe Schools itself teaches 10 per cent of people are likely to be attracted to their own sex – something Ward now calls a “joke”.

The academic stepped down as director of Safe Schools amid public backlash in Victoria over whether the program was promoting gender as “fluid” instead of focussing solely on anti-bullying.

Councillor Matt Rogers, who specialises in the LGBTI community, told 3AW’s Neil Mitchell he’s not heard this new figure quoted before.

“I’d really like to know what research she’s based that on. The figures that I saw reported in the Safe Schools material were between the 5-10%, this a new thing I’ve heard Roz say.”