Sex education has become a political football. Credit:Penny Stephens "There's a lot of kowtowing to right-wing activists at the moment and you'd have to say that defunding of YEAH is part of that agenda too," Anne Mitchell, emeritus professor at La Trobe University and one of Australia's leading authorities on sexual health and education, said. "This is an organisation that over a long period of time has worked with young people in sexual health, particularly in HIV prevention, and has been effective. The fact that it's been defunded so suddenly suggests there must be some political pressure coming from somewhere." Professor Mitchell is on the steering committee of the Safe Schools Coalition – a national program designed to make schools safer for LGBTI students. It was gutted in March, against the recommendations of an independent review, following a push from the Australian Christian Lobby and the Liberal party's right-wing, who claimed it was sexualising children and promoting the "homosexual agenda". A spokesman for Health Minister Sussan Ley would not comment on why YEAH had been defunded. In a statement he said: "The Australian government is funding new approaches for tackling HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and STIs to move towards achieving the targets specified in the national Blood-borne Virus and STI strategies."

Applications for funding under the strategy were strongly contested and selection of successful applicants was based on merit, he said. "Applications were also assessed for value for money, innovation and the applicant's track record in delivering effective BBV and STI prevention and education activities" Adolescent psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg also believes the demise of YEAH after 11 years is linked to the "hysteria" around Safe Schools. He said axing the program, which also reached 900,000 young people through its online program in 2015, was illogical. "There is a clear view that if you teach kids about sex they'll have more of it and that is just not backed up by science," Dr Carr-Gregg said. "The reporting rates of chlamydia alone – which causes infertility – tells us as a society that we need to do more because if we don't in a few decades' time we'll have one of the most infertile generations in Australia." Seventy per cent of sexually transmitted infections occur in people aged 15 to 29, with chlamydia the most commonly reported. While rates have stabilised, in 2013 there were 82,000 new diagnoses. Gonorrhoea diagnoses continue to soar, with rates increasing by 80 per cent over the past five years.

The latest National Survey of Australian Secondary Students and Sexual Health in 2014, found that almost half of year 10 to 12 students said sex education in schools was irrelevant to their lives and used "scare tactics", focusing too much on biology instead of issues such as the emotional challenges of relationships, sexual pleasure and consent. Tamsin​ Peters, a 22-year-old volunteer peer educator for YEAH, said their approach was much more relevant to young people. "Nobody feels comfortable asking their maths teacher about blow jobs. But it's fine if a 20-something comes into the school, they seem much more accessible, cool and you don't feel ashamed to ask them questions," she said. "Young people are going to have sex regardless, you may as well equip them with the information they need to do it safely and consensually and to engage in healthy relationships." YEAH chief executive Alischa​ Ross – who lost her mother, sister and stepfather to HIV/AIDS – said the government had been satisfied with the return on its investment and they had been given no warning that funds would be withdrawn.

The conservative push against sex education in schools was misguided, she said. "If parents don't want their child to end up having lots of risky scenarios and ending up with all sorts of sexual and physical health problems then the best thing you can do to help your young person avoid that is to make sure that they have access to information." jstark@fairfaxmedia.com.au Follow Jill on Facebook Follow Jill on Twitter