Scott Ryan (Victoria, Liberal Party, Special Minister of State) Share this | Hansard source

If I could just add to the comments I made in response to the last question—it is not unheard of for men across a whole range of services, including health and mental health, to not be inclined to go forward and seek assistance. I think we could all say, when it comes to this issue as well as many others, we would encourage any and every Australian who is aware of someone suffering violence to actually take action or to encourage someone to take action and seek support. I am not aware of the claims that you have made there, Senator Leyonhjelm. White Ribbon Australia encourages men to highlight the role they can play alongside women to stop violence against women based on the understanding that the majority of men are not violent. It is not compulsory to participate and I am not necessarily always in favour of everything that happens in our schools, Senator Leyonhjelm. What I will say, though, is that raising awareness and voluntary participation in such activities is, I think, important to the issues you raised in your first two questions, and that is encouraging people to seek assistance when they need it.