[S]
Safety first
Learner wellbeing before organisational outcomes.
// free resource
The SAFE Learning Design Framework
A framework for ethical learning design when working with sensitive content.
This is how we design sensitive content for you, and you can use it too.
Download the framework (PDF, 100 KB)
Includes a self-assessment checklist. CC BY 4.0.
Instructional designers working with sensitive content, such as domestic and family violence, mental wellbeing, First Nations cultural responsiveness and communities across a range of intersections, carry an ethical responsibility our field has not yet formalised.
The SAFE Learning Design Framework offers five principles drawn from over a decade of practice, to help designers build learning that informs and uplifts whilst minimising harm.
It is not a resource for DFV specialists and sector experts who lead the way and already carry this knowledge. It's for the learning designers who work alongside that expertise, in conventional workplace and organisational contexts, and need a structured ethical approach to get it right.
The five principles
[A]
Agency by design
Learner choice and control, not prescriptive experiences.
[F]
Fidelity with care
Realism serves learning rather than fostering tension.
[E]
Expertise in the room
Genuine co-design, not tokenistic consultation.
when learning ends
Signposting support
Signposting support, built-in self-care.
Who it's for
Instructional designers, learning experience designers and L&D consultants commissioning sensitive content, or used in-house by L&D teams.
domestic and family violence / First Nations cultural responsiveness / DEI and justice / mental health and suicide prevention / child protection and out-of-home care / sexual harassment and workplace bullying / financial hardship