There is a lack of knowledge around developing and navigating healthy relationships amongst queer youth. This is due to a variety of reasons, but the primary reason is lack of knowledge around navigating . The lack of knowledge around non-cisgender and/or non-heteronormative relationships leads to an increased risk of abuse, as these young people have not been brought up in a way that allows them to easily differentiate between heteronormative relationships between two cisgender people, and non-hetero/cis-normative relationships. 
 
This issue has developed to the point in which knowledge around the topic has regressed to a point where it has reached a lower level of education than it has ever been before. The attainment of marriage equality in Australia did lead to changes in the education system; schools became less safe for queer students. These regressive changes occurred because of the fear-mongering campaigns by the opponents of marriage equality (the greatest being the Coalition), who claimed that marriage equality would lead to the introduction of “radical sex and gender programs” in schools. 

These campaigns were successful in persuading governments to defund the Safe Schools initiative. Safe Schools was an LGBTIQA+ specific anti-bullying program started in Victoria in 2010, in response to “the need identified by school communities, parents and teachers for greater support for LGBTIQA+ students, who are at higher risks of bullying and suicide and to ensure that schools create safe and inclusive environments.” 

The opponents to marriage equality may not have succeeded at preventing the bill from passing, but by defunding the safe schools initiative, they succeeded at  reducing knowledge, which places youth at higher risks, whilst hiding the attack behind the guise of 'protecting the children'