About Us

Men's Health Australia is Australia's primary source of information about the social and psychological wellbeing of men and boys. It is maintained in partnership with the Australasian Men's Health Forum (AMHF).

History

Men's Health Australia commenced in November 2007, with the employment of researcher, media liaison and webmaster Greg Andresen. Mr Andresen was contracted one-day-a-week by the South Australian Men’s Health Alliance (now Men’s Health SA) and its collaborative partners, the Men’s Health Information & Resource Centre (MHIRC) and the Australasian Men’s Health Forum (AMHF). In July 2010, a fourth partner came on board to support the project – The Men’s Advisory Network (MAN) from Western Australia.

Activities

Men's Health Australia carries out four main categories of work:

1. Media watch

This involves the critique, analysis and, when appropriate, challenging of mass media statements and commentary and other forms of institutional, academic and government literature and media that:

• depict men or boys or masculinity in an unfair, negative or disparaging way
• are misleading, inaccurate, or prejudicial towards men and boys
• detract from a general positive affirmation of men, boys, and masculinity
• undermine the endeavour to approach men and boy’s health and issues in an intelligent, respectful, positive, equitable and constructive way.

Print press, advertising, websites, publications, TV, movies and radio, are regularly scanned for inaccurate and misleading representations of men, boys and gender issues. When such material is identified, four main methods are employed to challenge these inaccurate and misleading representations:

• direct contact with the media outlet involved
• letters to the editor
• official complaints to bodies such as the Australian Press Council, Australian Communications and Media Authority, and the ABC’s Independent Complaints Review Panel
• media releases (followed, if successful, by media appearances).

Much of Men's Health Australia's media watch activity can be found in the Mythbusters section of the website. 

The media watch role also involves writing accurate male-positive articles and media releases, and taking part in interviews and media discussions from an accurate male-positive standpoint.

2. Lobbying and networking

This involves talking and writing to politicians, government bureaucrats, NGOs and other organisations and individuals to convey a factual, male-friendly point-of-view on issues of concern to males. It involves both pro-active networking and lobbying politicians about existing issues.

3. Taking part in government inquiries and consultations

This involves both written submissions to government inquiries and taking part in face-to-face government consultations.

4. Circulating men’s health information of interest

This involves circulating men’s health information of interest, via the Men’s Health Australia website, email lists, occasional e-newsletters and via Twitter and Facebook.

Reports

Two reports on the work of Men's Health Australia have been published to date. The first was published in May 2009, and is available here. The second is to be published in October 2011, and will be available here soon.