History of Life Education Australia

In 1964 Reverend Ted Noffs began working at the Kings Cross Methodist Church Parish Mission, in Sydney. Ted encountered his first overdose victim and was shocked at the lack of services and expertise in drug and alcohol treatment. Within the first months he renamed it "The Wayside Chapel". Ted helped addicts in his crisis centre, which became famous worldwide. After many years dealing with addicted people he realised equal emphasis needed to be put into prevention, through education. The seeds of Life Education were then born.

In 1974 “The Life Education Centre” (LEC) was set up by Rev. Ted Noffs and his wife Margaret, after seeing first-hand the enormous potential and demand for reduction and preventative strategies. In his decision making Ted always asked himself: “Will this build a better world for the children?”

Ted was supported by Dick Smith along with many young educators, nurses and doctors.  As the success of LEC spread, many helpers got caught up in the explosion and hype and forgot the original principle. Ted made pleas to his fraternity to remember the 3 dynamics of Life Education:

1. To teach every child how special and unique they are, to make every child comfortable with their identity. In the whole world there will never be another you. Nearly every segment of the entire original programme emphasised this point time and again. Ted would repeatedly demonstrate that it is OK to have freckles, be tall or short, have big ears, nose, different coloured skin, hair. Just keep reinforcing to little children "you are very special".

2.  To show children the magnificence of the human body, and all its systems - digestive, circulatory, sensory - using technology to demonstrate how mysterious these functions are, and stressing the body's needs for food, oxygen, water. He would then ask where do these things come from? Mother Earth and so he encapsulated a beautiful picture of our planet and all its ingredients and how we must look after the environment.

3.  The third message of Life Education derives from the first two. If I am unique then so is the person sitting next to me. If I am so special so are my school mates. If my body systems are miraculous then so are theirs, therefore if I learn to respect myself, I have to respect others. He concluded that our happy existence on this planet depended on our respect for each other.

Most youngsters in trouble had fused into their brain the belief that they were worth nothing. Low self esteem, caused by all the ravages of prostitution, destitution, and corruption, had most times seeded in early life, and Ted concluded we must get to children from their very first lessons. Ted Noffs worked on every health issue and succeeded in getting his programs into health curricula with the assistance of his doctor and nurse friends.

He realised that the delivery of his programs would hinge on educators, who had charisma, commitment, and competence, and would need an ability to create mystery and drama in the classroom. Equally as important were committed hard working trustees, who would support their educator and help raise the funds to support the entire project. Many times he stated the essential requirement of unity, and everyone working together in a national structure, with a common philosophy.