OFFICIAL
DAN REPACHOLI MP
FEDERAL MEMBER FOR HUNTER
SPECIAL ENVOY FOR MEN'S HEALTH
SPEECH
SPEECH TO THE ACT MEN'S SHED
HEALTH MUSTER
RAIDERS CLUB BELCONNEN
18 November 2025
G'day everyone, it is really great to be here with you today as all the Men's Sheds from across the ACT come together for a day of talking, listening, learning and supporting each other.
I'm Dan Repacholi, the Federal Member for Hunter and Australia's first ever Special Envoy for Men's Health, and I cannot tell you how bloody proud I am to hold that title and to stand in front of a room full of blokes who are doing so much for men's wellbeing every single day.
Being given this role means something important for men right across the country because it shows that men's health is finally being treated as a serious issue, not an afterthought or something we deal with only when things go wrong.
I want to thank every Shed represented here today for the incredible work you do because Men's Sheds have become one of the most powerful, practical and successful men's health movements in Australia, and you have built that from the ground up through mateship, consistency and genuine care.
Every Shed I visit, whether it's in a big city, a regional town or a tiny community out the back of nowhere, has the same warmth, the same sense of purpose and the same ability to lift blokes up when they are going through tough times.
You all deserve to be recognised, not for one program or one event, but for the everyday impact you have on the lives of thousands of men who walk through the door looking for connection, support, a chat or even just a distraction.
I want to quickly thank Gordon and his team for making today happen. When I met with Gordon during the last sitting week in Parliament I could tell that this was a bloke who genuinely cares about the people around him. If every men's organisation had a Gordon, we'd be in a much better spot when it comes to men's health.
Before I dive into the research happening here in the ACT, I want to talk about why the Special Envoy role was created in the first place, because the truth is that men in Australia are not tracking well when it comes to our health.
On average, we die six years earlier than women, we are more likely to die from preventable conditions, we put off going to the doctor for far too long, and we make up around three quarters of all suicides in this country.
These are not statistics you can ignore because behind every number is a real man who should still be here, and behind that man is a family, a set of mates and a community trying to understand why things ended the way they did.
The hardest part is that most of these problems do not come from weakness or lack of effort; they come from the way men are taught to deal with pressure, pain, stress and emotion.
For generations, blokes were told to bottle things up, keep quiet, push through and get on with it, and while that attitude might help you get a job done on a tough day, it absolutely destroys your health when it becomes a way of life.
I have done it myself, I have ignored symptoms, brushed off injuries, told myself I was fine and delayed going to the doctor because I didn't want to make a fuss, and I reckon just about every bloke here has done the same thing at some point.
This is exactly why Men's Sheds matter so much.
You give men a place where they dont have to pretend everything is fine, where they can be themselves, where they can talk if they want to or stay quiet if they need to, and where they can be around other blokes who understand what life throws at you.
In a world where too many men are isolated or worn down or unsure of where to turn, the Shed becomes a safe, comfortable and welcoming space that cuts through the barriers that normally stop men from reaching out.
It doesn't take a psychologist to know that sometimes a cuppa, a project on the bench and a simple "How are you travelling, mate?" is enough to turn someone's whole week around.
And the beauty of it is that you do all of this without making it complicated or intimidating.
There are no forms to fill out, no long consultations, no pressure to talk about anything personal unless you want to; it's just a shed full of good people doing good work together, and that in itself becomes a natural support system that many men have never had anywhere else in their lives.
That is why the Shed model works, because it matches the way men actually connect, not the way someone in an office thinks we should connect.
Now, I want to talk about the research project happening right here in the ACT, because it has the potential to change the way Men's Sheds are supported across the whole country.
Belconnen Community Men's Shed has teamed up with the Australian National University, a dedicated medical student and the head clinical psychologist from Canberra Hospital to run a deep and detailed study into the wellbeing of Shed members.
This is not a quick survey or a token piece of paperwork; this is serious, professional research aimed at understanding exactly how the Shed helps with mental health, loneliness, PTSD, dementia, carer stress and the broader sense of connection that is so important to keeping men mentally strong.
For years, everyone involved with Sheds has known from lived experience that the model works, but what we have struggled with is getting the sort of solid data that governments and organisations need when they are making decisions about funding, training or long term support.
This research fills that gap by collecting real evidence about how men feel when they join the Shed, what changes over time, what support they receive, and how those positive effects flow through to their families, their friendships and their whole community.
It means that when you tell governments that Sheds save lives, you will be able to show them exactly how and exactly why.
One of the most important parts of this project is the focus on the volunteers and Shed leaders, because these are the people who often become the first point of contact when a bloke opens up about something heavy.
The research is helping us understand what kind of support Shed leaders need so they can feel confident in their conversations, recognise when a mate might be struggling and know what steps to take if someone needs extra help.
This is not about turning volunteers into counsellors; it is about giving them the skills and information they need to feel safe and supported in those moments when someone quietly says, "Mate, I'm not doing too well."
What excites me even more is that this is not a one off project; the plan is for ANU medical students to continue this research year after year, building a long term evidence base that gets stronger, deeper and more powerful over time.
That means you will finally have the kind of proof that decision makers cannot ignore, and that puts Sheds in a much stronger position when you talk about funding, expansion and long term sustainability.
I want to give a hu