Special projects & advocacy

Special projects

From the conditions they face, to the healthcare system they navigate, to the policies that shapes their wellbeing — Healthy Male has a unique insight into the state of men’s health in Australia. This gives us the opportunity to collaborate with other organisations and offer our evidence-based expertise on a range of special projects.

Department of Veterans’ Affairs community support advisors

Spanner in the Works?
Promoting male health in the criminal justice system.

Department of Health and Aged Care
Project
Management Services to Improve Men’s Health Knowledge of Health Professionals

City of Kingston: ‘Break Down the Barriers’ community workshop

Department of Home Affairs webinar series

Advocacy

Advocacy is an important part of Healthy Male’s mission to improve the health outcomes for men and boys. We take a diverse range of approaches to achieving a stronger focus on men’s wellbeing in Australia, from connecting with policymakers to collaborating on legislation. We’re proud to see tangible results from our work towards recognition, inclusion and change across the health sector.

Parliamentary Friends of Men’s Health Group

Bipartisan support for male health is critical, which is why we were so passionate about the formation of the Parliamentary Friends of Male Health Group.

The Group connected for the first time in Canberra on 31 May 2023, and the meeting provided an exceptional opportunity to highlight the challenges facing the wellbeing of Australian boys and men, and how we can approach them, to all sides of politics.

It could not have occurred without the drive and support of the Hon. Dr Michelle Ananda-Rajah MP, Member for Higgins, and co-chair of the group, who worked tirelessly to make this group a reality. Our thanks also go to the Hon. Mr Sam Birrell, MP, Member for Nicholls, for agreeing to be the other co-chair.

We are eager to continue working with the group to ensure decision-makers in Canberra understand and address the critical health concerns of Australian boys and men, for the benefit of our whole community.

PBS support for Ovidrel use in males

Human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) is used to treat hypogonadotropic hypogonadism. Since the leading formulation, Pregnyl, was withdrawn from the Australian market in mid-2021, the most convenient alternative has been the Ovidrel multidose pen system. This is widely used in female fertility treatment and was subsidised for use in women and children. Although Pregnyl received Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) subsidy for specific use in males, Ovidrel did not.

Our advocacy efforts, with the support of the Endocrine Society of Australia (ESA), the Australian Paediatric Endocrine Group (APEG), Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand (USANZ), and the Fertility Society of Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ), has resulted in PBS support for the use of Ovidrel in males.

Submissions to Government

This year, we have worked on several submissions to governments at the Federal and State level to provide critical insights on men’s health and shape policy-making in this important area.

National Strategy to Achieve Gender Equity (Prime Minister and Cabinet, April 2023)

A Roundtable discussion leading up to this consultation acknowledged that the solution to achieving gender equality does not lie in the exclusion or marginalisation of men. However, the process of developing the National Strategy to Achieve Gender Equality, and the Discussion Paper itself, did just that. We suggested that a process run by the Office for Women, in consultation with the Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce and reporting to the Minister for Women, does not include sufficient involvement of men and others of diverse genders (or their representatives) to properly address gender inequality. Underrepresentation is illustrated by only two instances in the Discussion Paper where LGBTIQ+ people were mentioned, along with other minority and marginalised groups. There were occasional mentions of inequalities between groups of women, but intersectionality was largely overlooked. Circumstances in which men are disadvantaged compared to women were either rationalised (e.g., underemployment), dismissed (e.g., secondary education completion, tertiary qualification) or incorrect (e.g., health). We believe that this will prevent the development of an effective strategy that will “make Australia one of the best countries in the world for equality between women and men”.

Early Years Strategy (Department of Social Services, March 2023)

In this submission, we emphasised the need to include pre-conception health of both men and women in the strategy. The evidence clearly shows our health system does not proactively engage men as they start and care for a family. This reduces their ability to make positive contributions to the development of their children.

Universal Access to Reproductive Healthcare (Senate Inquiry, October 2022)

The key message of our submission was that universal reproductive health care should be viewed through a family-centred, father-inclusive lens. We were concerned that the scope of the Inquiry, with no mention of fathers or other non-birthing parents, limited its ability to influence the development of best-practice health care.

Measuring What Matters (Treasury consultation, January 2023)

We made 10 recommendations for Australia’s first national wellbeing framework that will track our progress towards a more healthy, secure, sustainable, cohesive and prosperous Australia. Our key advice is that we must monitor the wellbeing of all Australians, particularly that of priority population groups and how they are affected by the social determinants of health, to ensure we have a robust economy.

Special projects & advocacy