Research into young people's understanding of healthy relationships, boundaries and controlling behaviours.
Research from The Line
Many young people say they understand healthy boundaries – but few feel confident applying them.
Our research shows that while many surveyed young people report a strong understanding of healthy boundaries and controlling behaviours, the data reveals a significant gap between perceived knowledge and actual confidence to apply it in real-life situations.
In March 2025 Our Watch commissioned research into young people’s understanding of healthy relationships, boundaries and controlling behaviours. The study was nationally representative and surveyed 1,000 Australian young people aged 14–20 years old.
The research found:
- the majority of young people claim to understand what healthy boundaries and controlling behaviours are
- however, more than a quarter confuse controlling behaviours as signs of healthy boundaries (27% thought being told you cannot walk away from an argument was a healthy boundary, and 29% thought forcing physical touch out of love was a healthy boundary)
- a third of surveyed young people misidentified unhealthy relationship behaviours as healthy. For example, 31% identified ‘I have a right to know where my partner is most of the time’ as a healthy relationship behaviour, and 27% identified ‘it’s okay to be jealous because it means I care about my partner’ as a healthy relationship behaviour
- close to half (49%) of surveyed young men aged 14–17 are unsure, or don’t know what makes a relationship healthy
- over half (54%) of surveyed young people believe that if a guy wants to have sex with a girl, it’s up to the girl to make it very clear she doesn’t want to.
Many young people say they can recognise controlling behaviour, but most aren’t sure how to respond.
While many young people say they can recognise what controlling behaviour looks like, few feel fully confident in responding to it, highlighting a clear gap between awareness and action. This underscores the need for more practical support that builds young people’s confidence to act.
- Only 29% of surveyed young people feel completely confident communicating their boundaries.
- Just 22% feel completely confident knowing what to do when they feel uncomfortable, disrespected and/or unsafe in a relationship.
- Only 24% feel completely confident taking action in resolving it.