Ethics classes in NSW public schools are delivered by Primary Ethics, a not-for-profit organisation. They run during the same time slot as SRE lessons and are open to students in Years K–6 who are not enrolled in a religious SRE program. The classes use structured dialogue and philosophical inquiry to help children think carefully about moral questions.
What Are Ethics Classes?
What Do the Lessons Cover?
Topics range from the personal (is it ever okay to lie? what makes something fair?) to the societal (what do we owe to strangers? is it wrong to waste?) to the philosophical (what is a person? do animals have rights?). The program uses age-appropriate dilemmas and Socratic questioning to help students develop their own reasoning rather than arriving at prescribed answers.
Ethics vs. SRE: Key Differences
The most important distinction is that Ethics classes are not religious instruction. They do not teach from a particular worldview or ask students to adopt any beliefs. SRE, by contrast, is explicitly faith-based — the goal is to share and explore the Christian faith with children from that tradition.
For parents, the choice often comes down to: do you want your child to be formed in the faith of your family, or do you want them to develop moral reasoning skills within a secular framework? These goals are not mutually exclusive, but the lesson content is quite different.
