Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (18:03:18):
My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Prevention of Family Violence. It could have been equally directed to the Minister for Crime Prevention or the Minister for Mental Health as it relates to the Jesuit Social Services Men’s Project and the response to recommendations from the family violence royal commission.
The Jesuit Social Services’ Men’s Project has, not surprisingly to anyone, recognised and identified that we have a problem, and we have a problem with our men and boys. It is not all of them by any means, but nine out of 10 of our prisoners are male; on average, every 4 hours a male commits suicide; and 95 per cent of victims of violence experience that from a male perpetrator.
But, most importantly, these issues are completely connected to men’s attitudes to masculinity. This men’s project did a very interesting report into this. They basically found that men in the ‘man box’, and this actually accounts for 20 per cent to 30 per cent of the people that they surveyed—who agree or agree strongly that men should act tough, figure out their personal problems themselves and use aggression to get respect; that a man should never say no to sex; and that men should bring home the money, not women—are far more likely to perpetrate bullying, be involved in traffic accidents, perpetrate physical violence or sexual harassment and, given that it is World Suicide Prevention Day, have suicidal ideation.
When they looked at these men, 75 per cent of them were having suicidal ideation or suicidal thoughts. What Jesuit Social Services are asking for is a solution to this, and the solution to male suicide is to address masculinity attitudes.
The action tonight that I seek tonight is that the government explicitly recognise the influence that men’s attitudes towards masculinity can have on family violence and that the minister, in acting on the recommendations of the Men’s Project, develop a coordinated response to adolescent family violence pursuant to recommendations 123 to 128 of the royal commission.
Fiona Patten MP
Leader of Reason
Member for Northern Metropolitan Region
Adjournment matter raised 10/9/19
Answer
Ms WILLIAMS (Dandenong—Minister for Prevention of Family Violence, Minister for Women, Minister for Youth):
The Government is committed to strengthening responses to adolescent family violence.
In the 2018-19 Budget the Government committed $1.35 million over two years to strengthen and expand services that are working to reduce adolescent family violence. The investment responds to key recommendations made by the Royal Commission, including recommendations 123 and 128.
The investment has included:
• Expanding adolescent family violence services to more young people and their families in the Barwon and Bayside Peninsula areas where Orange Door sites have been established.
• The design and delivery of an Aboriginal specific service for adolescents who use violence in the home and within community in Mildura.
The 2019-20 Budget invested $85 million over four years and $22.4 million ongoing to community-based perpetrator interventions to over 5500 people each year.
People who use violence over the age of 18 are eligible to participate in a Men’s Behaviour Change Program, Perpetrator Case Management or trial programs that target particular cohorts including Aboriginal, CALD and LGBTIQ communities, women who use force and men with acquired brain injuries. These interventions incorporate a range of practice approaches including challenging gender stereotypes and promoting gender equality.
I have had the chance to hear directly from Jesuit Social Services and the excellent work they have done in this space through The Men’s Project and the Man Box. I was proud at the end of last year to launch OurWatch’s Men in Focus report which looked at masculinity. This report was informed by research from the work done by Jesuit Social Services through the Man Box.
