The evolution of men’s health policy and practice in Australia over the past 25 years: What have we learned and what are the global implications?
1
Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, Flinders University, Darwin, Australia
Popul. Med. 2026;8(Supplement Supplement 1):
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Men have shorter life expectancies and higher rates of mortality than women in almost every country in the world. In tandem, global discourses on gender and health predominantly focus on gender equity or gender justice from a women’s health perspective. Australia is one of few countries considered to be a global leader in men’s health, largely due to its research, policy and practice investments in men’s health over the past 25 years. In this presentation I will map key sectoral developments, practice innovation, research advancements, and policy development that has enabled the Australian boys and men’s health agenda to thrive.
METHODS:
Using an auto-ethnographic methodology and a reflexive lens, I will adopt a strengths-based focus to highlight how the collective efforts of many men’s health and healthy masculinities advocates, practitioners, and scholars have contributed to advancing the national boys and men’s health agenda in Australia. I will position this within a broader global men’s health context.
RESULTS:
I will refer to emerging men’s health research; past national men’s health conferences; the development and implementation of state-based men’s health strategies, the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Male Health Framework, and National Men’s Health Policy/Strategy (2010/2020); insights from Ten to Men (the Australian Longitudinal Study on Men’s Health); establishment of parliamentary friends groups; and the emergence of dedicated men’s health organisations, charities and peak bodies, to explain how and why momentum in men’s health has been maintained. I will also describe how an explicit focus on men’s health equity and priority populations, intersectionality, and healthy masculinities have helped shape contemporary understandings of best-practice in boys and men’s health in Australia.
CONCLUSIONS:
I will conclude by providing insights and recommendations about how to sustain a progressive boys and men’s health and masculinities discourse in Australia, and globally, over the coming years.
Men have shorter life expectancies and higher rates of mortality than women in almost every country in the world. In tandem, global discourses on gender and health predominantly focus on gender equity or gender justice from a women’s health perspective. Australia is one of few countries considered to be a global leader in men’s health, largely due to its research, policy and practice investments in men’s health over the past 25 years. In this presentation I will map key sectoral developments, practice innovation, research advancements, and policy development that has enabled the Australian boys and men’s health agenda to thrive.
METHODS:
Using an auto-ethnographic methodology and a reflexive lens, I will adopt a strengths-based focus to highlight how the collective efforts of many men’s health and healthy masculinities advocates, practitioners, and scholars have contributed to advancing the national boys and men’s health agenda in Australia. I will position this within a broader global men’s health context.
RESULTS:
I will refer to emerging men’s health research; past national men’s health conferences; the development and implementation of state-based men’s health strategies, the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Male Health Framework, and National Men’s Health Policy/Strategy (2010/2020); insights from Ten to Men (the Australian Longitudinal Study on Men’s Health); establishment of parliamentary friends groups; and the emergence of dedicated men’s health organisations, charities and peak bodies, to explain how and why momentum in men’s health has been maintained. I will also describe how an explicit focus on men’s health equity and priority populations, intersectionality, and healthy masculinities have helped shape contemporary understandings of best-practice in boys and men’s health in Australia.
CONCLUSIONS:
I will conclude by providing insights and recommendations about how to sustain a progressive boys and men’s health and masculinities discourse in Australia, and globally, over the coming years.
| eISSN: | 2654-1459 |
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