Conversation, connection, community

About Healthy Male

Healthy Male is a provider of information for men’s health. We facilitate action on men’s health in collaboration with others, advocate for change, empower men and boys to prioritise their health, build the capabilities of the health system and workforce, and focus our efforts on closing the health and wellbeing gaps in specific groups.

Ultimately, we are working towards our vision of generations of healthy Australian men. We promote health and wellbeing in all aspects of life, with an evidence-based approach that originated with andrology and now encompasses associated chronic and other health issues.

As an active facilitator of action on men’s health, we engage with our audiences through key campaigns and initiatives, including:

As a trusted source of information, we collaborate with various groups to focus on health promotion and education. Our aim is to empower men and boys through education and information that will support them to act on their health.

By strengthening our existing partnerships and building new ones, we extend our reach and enable collective action. As advocates of men’s health, we act as the voice of men from all walks of life and aim to influence policy and practice that impacts them.

We work closely with health professionals to proactively engage with and meet the needs of boys and men to reduce system-level barriers to best care. Through focused efforts on priority population groups, we work to co-create solutions and facilitate collective action to close the health and wellbeing divide.

Supported by the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care, we collaborate with Australia’s leading scientific and medical researchers to fill the gaps in preventive health, health promotion and education needs as part of the Australian Government’s National Men’s Health Strategy 2020-2030.

Our values

From the Chair

The health and welfare of men is vital to our community. The Treasurer, the Hon Jim Chalmers, wrote in the February edition of The Monthly, “Healthy economies rely on healthy people and communities”. Measures that enable our boys and men to live with sound mental and physical health are of paramount importance in their own right. However, it’s also clear that the health and wellbeing of our communities are also affected by the welfare of the men within them. The bottom line is that there is much work to be done to ensure that generations of Australian men can maintain optimal mental and physical health.

Our aim this year has been to continue to provide community and health professional education around an expanding range of relevant issues, advocating for boys and men, and trying to find a more sustainable funding model. We continue to work within our strategic plan, largely based around the National Men’s Health Strategy 2022-2030. Whilst there have been many successful outcomes, satisfactory funding remains elusive.

Once again, we have had our contract with the Australian Government rolled over for just one year, making forward planning and providing staff with certainty, problematic. Our staff at Healthy Male, including our CEO Simon von Saldern, all have to accept short-term contracts and I applaud them for the enthusiastic manner in which they undertake the work of Healthy Male in these difficult circumstances.

The organisation continues to flourish under Simon’s direction and continues to support health professionals and the community with a host of educational initiatives and strong advocacy. Our Men’s Health Week campaign around loneliness was a prime example of our approach. With information obtained from our What’s in the Way survey, it was clear that a surprising number of men of all ages experienced loneliness, and our widely viewed campaign issued a strong call to action.

One major step forward has been the pivotal role we have played in the establishment of the parliamentary Friends of Men’s Health group that met at Parliament House on May 31, 2023. Simon and I spoke at this meeting outlining the issues in the men’s health sector. We thank the co-chairs of the group, the Hon Michelle Ananda-Rajah MP (Member for Higgins) and the Hon Sam Birrell MP (Member for Nicholls) for their enthusiasm in forming the group. We were also grateful to the Minister for Health and Aged Care, the Hon Mark Butler (Member for Port Adelaide and Hindmarsh), for his opening remarks and support of the event.

Our board continues to provide governance and advice, and it’s been good to be able to meet face-to-face several times this year. I’m grateful to all for their support and willingness to contribute. I would particularly like to thank Mark Bernhard for chairing the Board’s Audit and Risk Committee, and Prof Ben Smith for chairing our Management Committee. A major strength of Healthy Male is the many experts who volunteer their time and skill as members of our advisory groups and as Clinical Advisors. They play a critical role in our work, for which I am most appreciative.

This coming year will be important for the men’s health sector. To make inroads into the opportunities outlined within the National Strategy, a significant boost in funding and support will be required. We will be doing our best to ensure a more secure future for Healthy Male.

On a personal note, I will be stepping off the Board during this coming year. It’s been a privilege to be Chair of this important organisation, a position that I have greatly enjoyed. I will continue to take a keen interest in Healthy Male and help where I can.

From the CEO

I’m proud to reflect on how Healthy Male has made a difference in the wellbeing of Australian boys and men in 2022-2023.

One of our standout achievements this year has been the continued success of the Plus Paternal: A Focus on Fathers project, which advocates for a more inclusive approach to parenthood. We expanded on this valuable resource for health professionals with a new language guide, which provides practical tips for improving communication with fathers and non-birthing parents. It’s pivotal in breaking down communication barriers and fostering engagement with dads, to ensure they receive the care and support they need. Further to this, we’re thrilled to see progress in areas like paid parental leave, recognising that these decisions profoundly impact men’s health and benefit the whole family.

This year our Men’s Health Week campaign focused on loneliness, off the back of our What’s in the Way research, which showed the pervasiveness of the issue amongst Australian men. Loneliness is a public health crisis that is only just beginning to be understood, but it was heartening to see the enormous success of the campaign in growing awareness and acceptance of this problem with extensive digital content and media coverage.

Our content for both consumers and health professionals has gone from strength to strength. This year we saw over three million visitors to the Healthy Male website, seeking evidence-based, engaging and trusted content on a range of men’s health concerns. For health professionals, we expanded our clinical summary guide offering to include new conditions such as body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), which has provided invaluable insights from leading experts and guidance on best clinical practice for this under-recognised condition. Our live and on-demand webinars for health professionals have been increasingly popular, with topics ranging from healthy ageing to sexual health.

Our insights and expertise in men’s health continue to be recognised with our inclusion in critical research projects such as DNA Screen — which is investigating the feasibility of providing population-based genetic screening to identify people at risk of certain cancers — and Men And Infertility over the Lifecourse (MAIL) – the review and update of existing male fertility management guidelines

While we celebrate our achievements, it is essential to acknowledge the challenges that persist. Funding remains a critical concern, and recognition of the urgency of men’s health issues is not improving as rapidly as we would like. Indigenous males continue to be the most at-risk population group in Australia, with significant and seemingly unchanging gaps in key health markers and life expectancy. Healthy Male is dedicated to working with the community to improve these health outcomes. 

None of our achievements would be possible without the dedicated efforts of our expert advisors, committees and reference groups, partner organisations and our Board. We’d also like to thank the men who have shared their stories and experiences for the content we create as they’re critical in communicating with men about health issues. I am also immensely grateful for our dedicated team who work tirelessly to make a difference in the lives of men every day.

As we look ahead, Healthy Male is committed to broadening and strengthening its offering for men and the people who care for them with a holistic approach that encompasses all aspects of health, from all avenues.