As an Aboriginal man, a Healthy Male Board director and member of Healthy Male’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Male Health Reference Group, I am proud to introduce our first Reconciliation Action Plan.
At Healthy Male, our vision is for ‘generations of healthy Australian men’ and in striving for this vision at a national level, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are a key target group. Statistics show the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males is significantly worse than any other group in Australia. The life expectancy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men remains about 10 years less than non-Indigenous men. We see the gap across almost every health condition, and I see it every day through my work as a rural GP.
Healthy Male recognises the intergenerational impact of Australia’s history — a history that had meant that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have not had access to the same quality of health and support services as non-Indigenous people. As leaders in male health, we are working to improve access to culturally appropriate health information, and to help shape health system reforms so that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and boys receive the quality health care they need, and deserve.
Healthy Male has been dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and boys since its inception as Andrology Australia in 2000. We have always seen reconciliation as an important part of this work, and are proud to formally recognise this through our Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan — a plan which will push us to do even more.
Dr Keith Gleeson
FRACGP; B. Med; B. App. Sci
Biripi/Daingutti Man
