Victoria has its first minister for men and boys. Part of a cabinet reshuffle, the role was given to Frankston MP Paul Edbrooke.
It comes with an explicit dual focus: on one hand, boys’ and men’s own wellbeing, and on the other, the harms boys and men perpetrate.
The role has also been signalled as being a response to the influence of online misogynistic cultures, including the manosphere.
Edbrooke’s new role represents the only formal cabinet-level “minister for men and boys” in Australia.
There have been calls from some men’s health advocates for such a role to be established federally. For example, Dan Repacholi was appointed by the federal government to be Australia’s first Special Envoy for Men’s Health in 2025.
Victoria has previously included a Parliamentary Secretary for Men’s Behaviour Change. The Coalition in New South Wales also announced earlier this year the establishment of a new portfolio dedicated to men’s health ahead of the 2027 state election.
But Victoria is the first government to identify “men and boys” as a distinct policy category, signalling that the influences shaping misogynist attitudes requires focused attention.
Source: A new minister in Victoria will tackle the manosphere. Here’s what they should do
The Dirty Dozen List is an annual campaign that calls out twelve mainstream entities for facilitating, enabling, and even profiting from sexual abuse and exploitation. Since its inception in 2013, the Dirty Dozen List has galvanized thousands of individuals like YOU to call on corporations, government agencies, and organizations to change problematic policies and practices. This campaign has yielded major victories at Google, Netflix, TikTok, Hilton Worldwide, Verizon, Walmart, US Department of Defense, and many more.
Source: Dirty Dozen List 2026 – NCOSE
The protection order system in each state and territory is slightly different. The orders have different names, the definitions of family violence that underpin them is different, the orders made can have different durations from months to years, and they apply to different relationships.
Protection orders are part of state and territory law. The family law system is part of the federal law system. This state/federal divide can be a problem.
State and territory magistrates have the power to include children as protected people on protection orders across Australia. Magistrates can also vary family court orders, where they think people are unsafe.
However, victim-survivors report some magistrates are reluctant to include children on protection orders. It’s also rare for magistrates to vary orders coming from the family court. This may be because some magistrates see the family law system as responsible for making orders about children.
This state/federal divide often requires victim-survivors to navigate two separate court systems to seek protection and resolve parenting or property disputes.
The disconnect between systems also facilitates systems abuse with respondents playing off systems against each other, delaying legal cases, forcing ongoing contact and further abusing victim-survivors.
In 2017 laws were changed so that a protection order made in one state or territory can be enforced by police in another state or territory. This ensures victim-survivors do not need to apply for a new protection order when they move interstate.
However, the presence of a protection order does not guarantee safety for victim-survivors. In 40% of cases where a woman was killed by a current or former partner, she had a protection order.
In some cases, police misidentify victim-survivors as the violent person and take out a protection order against the wrong party.
Source: Family violence protection orders can be a lifeline, but the system needs reforming
All entries on Feminist Legal Clinic’s News Digest Blog are extracts from news articles and other publications, with the source available at the link at the bottom. The content is not originally generated by Feminist Legal Clinic and does not necessarily reflect our views.
According to the terms of reference, Victoria’s “Legal and Social Issues Committee will investigate and report by 1 September 2026, on the scale and scope of anti-LGBTQIA+ hate crimes occurring in Victoria.”
Influencers, social media, and digital platform owners are a key focus.
For example, the inquiry will put special emphasis on “those creating and sharing online content steeped in [so-called] racism, misogyny, transphobia, homophobia, far-right ideology and unhealthy [toxic] masculinities.”
Joining Moira Deeming in voting against the inquiry, the Libertarian Party’s David Limbrick was suspicious of the timing and agenda.
Limbrick suggested that Labor was jumping the gun.
New anti-vilification laws haven’t yet come into effect, and yet the Victorian Greens, with support from Labor want an inquiry about whether more “anti-hate” laws are needed.
They’re not waiting to see whether those new laws have any impact.
Source: Victorian Labor Agrees to Greens-Led “Hate Crime” Hunt – The Daily Declaration
