Premier Jacinta Allan announced Frankston MP Paul Edbrooke to the role last week, declaring that we “can’t deny that there has been societal change with the way we support young boys, to become good strong men.”

A former teacher, Edbrooke is also the state’s first minister for renters as well as the minister for cost of living.

He said there had been a “definite change in how young boys become men”.

“… and I think this portfolio is firmly focused on how we make young boys into healthier men,” he added.

“That has so many repercussions across our whole community – whether it be family violence, whether it be suicide rates – there’s a lot of work to be done there.”

Researchers and commentators have been warning of rising misogyny in Australian classrooms.

Last month EducationHQ reported that commercially-motivated influencers within the manosphere are indoctrinating boys across the country, effectively teaching them to reject the authority of teachers and the ‘woke’ school system.

Research has also shown that boys are falling prey to a ‘regressive masculinist supremacy’ espoused by notorious male figures such as Andrew Tate, with teachers reporting disturbing shifts in their behaviour and attitudes towards women. 

Interviews with teachers have revealed a horrifying spread of brazen misogyny and sexism amongst young boys, with female teachers reportedly the target of blatant sexual harassment and frequent intimidation tactics. 

Some school leaders have also been found to be engaging in ‘institutional gaslighting’, effectively silencing and victim-blaming women teachers who report instances of sexual harassment by students.

Meanwhile, a recent study found one in four girls in secondary schools feel unsafe due to behaviour influenced by the manosphere.

Monash University’s Dr Stephanie Wescott, who has led research in this space, has welcomed the creation of the new Men and Boys portfolio.

 ”[It] is a clear and necessary acknowledgement of the growing influence of the manosphere on the attitudes and behaviours of boys and young men in Victoria.

“The harms to girls and women are already being experienced in our schools and communities. This move signals that the Allan Government recognises the urgency of the issue and is prepared to take it seriously,” Wescott said.

Also a former teacher, Wescott said the move “invites cautious hope” that the state will see sustained and evidence-informed action that tackles the key drivers of the misogyny that’s playing out.

However, there is a risk the new ministerial role could ‘deepen existing tensions‘ if it is not carefully designed, the researcher flagged via The Conversation.

That is, improving boys’ mental health should not be overstated as the solution to gendered violence, Wescott’s colleague Professor Steven Roberts warned.  

“Responses that treat boys’ and men’s mental health as the key factor in violence against women ignore the complexity of the evidence.

“Abuse of women and girls is present across all socioeconomic demographics and among those with or without mental ill-health,” Roberts argued.

“To make real progress, responses must be grounded in evidence and firmly focused on achieving the principles of gender justice.”

Dr Stephanie Wescott is cautiously optimistic about the impact the newly-created portfolio will have. 

Roberts – who has undertaken research alongside Wescott investigating the manosphere’s impact in schools – said the new portfolio was, however, a welcome step towards a stronger focus on boys’ and men’s mental health and wellbeing.

 ”…there is a growing concern about the influence of the manosphere, both on how it affects boys and men, but also how it inspires them to dominate and harm women, girls and gender diverse people,” he said.

 ”There is an opportunity for the Minister to lead the way in treating men’s health and gender-based violence as related but separate issues.

“Improving wellbeing is important, but it won’t, on its own, address the gendered drivers of harm.”

Rather, gender inequality, norms around masculinity, and power dynamics between men and women must be central to the conversation about curtailing misogyny and gender-based violence, he noted.

Dr Naomi Pfitzner, director of the Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Hub and leading research investigating the manosphere’s rising influence amongst young people, recently told EducationHQ that the reports emerging from schools are alarming.

She suggested the new ministerial portfolio offers an opportunity to equip boys and young men with the resilience to reject manosphere narratives.

“Gender-based violence requires urgent action as we continue to see the devastating impacts in our community, where lives are lost on a nearly weekly basis…

“If the Victorian Government wants all children and young people to live lives free from violence, we must challenge and disrupt traditional gender roles and stereotypes at every age.”

Experts have said that schools are a key site for preventing gender-based violence, and that this work is most effective when it is “whole-school, properly supported and built into systems and curricula”.

“This means proper funding and meaningful support for Respectful Relationships Education, stronger teacher training in violence prevention, and a curriculum that helps young people think critically about gender, power and online influence,” they propose.

Prevailing myths promoted by the manosphere, such as the boys and men are ‘falling behind’ or are victims of feminism and gender equality are dangerous and must be “strongly refuted” in the Minister’s work, they added.

“The new minister’s policy response must also explicitly name misogyny as an increasingly mainstreamed ideology. This means recognising that it’s a predictor of all forms of violence,” they concluded.

Writing for Women’s Agenda, PhD candidate Rita Nasr has argued that a “more ambitious and genuinely progressive policy position would be a ‘Minister for Gender Equality and the Prevention of Family Violence’’“, which carries an explicit mandate to address the drivers of gendered violence ‘at both ends’.

“Transforming the conditions that produce violent men, and dismantling the inequality that makes women and children vulnerable to them, are not separate problems. They are two expressions of the same patriarchal logic,” Nasr stated. 

“Andrew Tate does not have tens of millions of followers in a society that has achieved gender equality. Boys are not being radicalised into misogyny in communities where women hold equal economic, social and political power.”

Meanwhile, Edbrooke said he had been “very impressed” with Education Minister Ben Carroll’s system-wide reform agenda for schools. 

If you are experiencing family violence, call 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) or Safe Steps on 1800 015 188. For mental health support, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.