Tuesday, 9 December 2025

 Tim RICHARDSON (Mordialloc) (17:18): (1486) My adjournment this evening is to the Minister for Prevention of Family Violence, and the action I seek is an update on the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence and how these events support communities in the Mordialloc district to end gendered violence in a generation. We have seen Victorians and Australians come together for 16 days of activism like we have never seen before. 11,000 people marched through the streets only a little while ago, and it was great to see so many men and boys turning out, because we know that ending gendered violence starts with men and boys in our community. To see a march in my local constituency in Greater Dandenong, seeing so many people from a range of different communities come together – faith-based organisations, sporting clubs, municipalities – was really inspiring. But a big shout-out has to go to people who are working in this sector each and every day. It is a really hard bit of work, and it is a recognition of everything that they do. We pause as well during the 16 days of activism to reflect on those who have been lost to femicide and on the kids that we have lost to gendered and family violence. Every bit of purpose to the work that we do is about recognising the horrific toll of their loss of life, the ripple effect this has and the trauma it causes, which is intergenerational, and that every waking moment to try to end gendered violence in our community is on the back of them. And we reflect on the huge toll that family violence and intimate partner violence has on our communities.

It was great to be part of the Kind of Man launch that was part of Respect Victoria’s What Kind of Man Do You Want to Be? campaign. In the words of men and boys in our community, the pressures and the rigid gendered stereotypes around how boys are raised, the pressures that men feel and how the Man Box work has been done by Jesuit Social Services and Respect Victoria are really the evidence base we have to then drive forward change.

I give a big shout-out for the Adolescent Man Box report that was launched recently at the National Press Club, with Kate Fitz-Gibbon and Matt Tyler, two amazing Victorians and Australians who are leading work in primary prevention in this space. The 16 days of activism started, I remember, with the magnificent former minister Fiona Richardson, who was an absolute champion in this space, someone that this Parliament dearly misses, and it never forgets the sacrifices that she made in sharing her lived experience. We give a big shout-out to Fiona’s legacy. She would be, I hope, very proud of everything that has been achieved today. To the Minister for Prevention of Family Violence: Respect Victoria would not exist without you, Nat. You are an absolute superstar. For everything that you have done in the prevention of family violence, the work that you have done over the 16 days of activism, the rolling action plan and everything that you have done with treaty, thank you. I will give you one last question. It might be work for the next minister, but I thank you for all your service and legacy on behalf of Victorians.