Life Education Australia (Life Ed) is the largest and most recognised health education provider in Australian schools. [1] Life Ed reaches on average 700,000 children annually where qualified educators present evidence-based preventative health and wellbeing education, along with Healthy Harold, the giraffe puppet and mascot who is the face of the organisation. [2]
Life Education Australia began in 1979, in The Wayside Chapel in Kings Cross by Reverend Ted Noffs, who used his experience with religion to focus on an action-based approach as opposed to preaching. [3] In 2016, the program began to teach topics of illicit drug use like methamphetamine, in response to rising narcotics usage rates in Australia. [4] In 2017, the Australian government announced plans to defund the program, but this was not implemented after public backlash. [5] [6] The in-person program was temporary halted and moved online due to restrictions placed by the Australian government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but resumed on October 13, 2020. [7] [8]
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