ADJOURNMENT

Senator WHITTEN (Western Australia) (19:49): I'd like to acknowledge the work of Kristie Johnson in preparing and presenting a petition to the House of Representatives calling for the establishment of an office for men. The point of this petition and an office for men is not to take anything away from anybody; it is not playing a zero-sum game. Supporting men does not diminish support for women.

Improving the lives of men is good for women, good for children and good for the country. Stronger husbands, fathers, brothers and sons make stronger families. Stronger families make a stronger society.

That is why I've called, and will keep calling, for a dedicated office for men. Every day, my office receives messages from men who are at breaking point—fathers who feel they have been ground down in the family law system, veterans who say they cannot get the care they were promised after they served, men who believe they have been abandoned by the institutions that were meant to help them.

These are not isolated complaints, and I can guarantee every single person in this place has received the same cries for help. We are failing men and boys in so many areas, and we have become far too comfortable looking the other way. Men make up three-quarters of suicides in Australia.

That is more than 2,500 men every year, or one man every three hours. Suicide remains the leading cause of death for men aged 15 to 44. Fathers have primary care of their children in around 10 per cent of separations.

Ninety-five per cent of work related fatalities are male. Ninety-two per cent of the adult prison population is male. Only 38 per cent of university commencements are men.

Boys under 18 are three times more likely to be prescribed ADHD medication. These are the disparities staring this parliament in the face. We have diagnosed the problems.

We can see the wounds. But we have failed to act. There is a special envoy for men's health, and I acknowledge the work that role can do, but an envoy and a social media page are not a national strategy.

Depressed? Go to social media. Family breakdown?

Social media. Struggling with suicidal thoughts? Social media.

That is not good enough for a problem that affects half the population. If people in here are genuinely concerned about the so-called manosphere and negative influences on young men, then the answer is not to lecture boys as if they are the problem; the answer is to promote good influences. Let's encourage our boys to become good men.

Show them what they can be if they strive to reach their potential: decent, responsible, capable and needed. You do not raise better men by badgering them. You raise better men by expecting something of them and standing with them while they strive to be their best.

But we must also make sure the systems themselves are fair. We have to stop demoralising young men by treating ordinary male struggle as misogyny and slapping the label of toxic masculinity on anything that does not fit a fashionable script. Men have so much to offer this country, but too often they are being shut out, talked down to and pushed towards dark places because our culture offers precious little encouragement.

An office for men would not be a slogan. It would place the onus on government to address the issues that are impacting men and their families—suicide prevention, family law, veterans care, education, workplace deaths, imprisonment. It would look at the strategies that work around the world and work towards a system where men can reach their full potential.

I thank all those who have worked tirelessly in advocating for men. I thank Kristie Johnson for launching this petition and for her work alongside Daniel Bettinelli in organising the International Men's Day event 'The Ripple Effect' on the Gold Coast. This event is an opportunity for men to gather, support one another, hear one another's stories and know they are not alone.

I will keep up this fight for men who feel the system has let them down. We know the issues. We have the statistics.

We have the petition lodged in the lower house. What we do not yet have is a government willing to treat the problems facing men as a national priority rather than an awkward afterthought. It is time to act.

Thank you to everyone supporting this work. I will continue to be a voice in this place for you.