E&OE TRANSCRIPT
HOST, FIONA POOLE: The other side of the issue is making sure that we have healthy men and healthy boys. Right? And the Federal Government is going to hold talks around the country to support that. They're doing a big tour. They're aiming to strengthen relationships between men and support services. And they also want to get lots and lots of information to inform future government policies about what healthy men look like and how we can help have lots and lots of healthy men in our community. Ged Kearney is the Federal Assistant Minister for Social Services and Prevention of Family Violence, and she spoke with the ABC's Hamish MacDonald.
GED KEARNEY: Well, we recognise that many men and boys face lots of pressures about, well, from life. They're dealing with stress, loneliness, pressures to meet strong expectations about what it means to be a man. And we understand that they might experience these pressures different to women and girls, but they are less likely when they're feeling pressured or they got questions or they don't quite understand where to go, they're much less likely to seek help and they might fall down the trap of, you know, turning to online voices and extreme views that can be quite divisive and harmful and that can really drown out good Australian values of respect, responsibility and equality. And I think, you know, there's been a lot of conversations about things like the manosphere and harmful stereotype promotion, et cetera. We're trying to find out how we can better promote help seeking from young men, how we can let them know that there are supports out there, how we can counter harmful ideologies and really highlight what it means to be healthily masculine in 2026. There are lots of great programs happening out there. The government's funding quite a few of them. And I'm pleased to announce that we will be increasing funding to the Healthy MaTE program, which is one of these great programs that are out there working with boys in particular, because, you know, if we can encourage a social change and a cultural change amongst our men and boys, then I think all of the communities will benefit, particularly around the issues of positive relationships and help seeking.
HAMISH MACDONALD: Yeah, I mean, I do want to talk about the specifics of what the government is doing and what this tour involves in practice. But if we're using this term healthily masculine, what does that look like? How do we define that today?
GED KEARNEY: Well, that's a very good question and that's, I think, what we are embarking on this conversation, this national conversation, to do that. For example, today I will be meeting with experts, academic experts, who are talking about this very thing with the Australian Institute of Family Studies. I want to know, what does that mean? I want to know how we promote that. I mean, how do we talk to young men and boys about what that means? We all have different views about it, I guess. But what we do know, Hamish, is that there are some very strong views about what it means to be a man that isn't necessarily healthy. For example, you know, 63 per cent of girls and boys expect teenage boys to be strong and manly at all times and not show any signs of vulnerability or what they see as weakness. For example, seeking help if they need support. Is that a weakness? We want to change that attitude, and we want to make sure that, you know, that they understand what a healthy relationship is.
HAMISH MACDONALD: In terms of the specifics of what you're rolling out, I know you've mentioned some of the programs you're partnering with, some of the names, but what will actually happen? Where are you going into? What - is it schools? Is it universities? Where will this be happening?
GED KEARNEY: Yes, well, all of the above. So, it's going to be a mix. Like today, we're meeting with academics, we're going to meet with Movember, we will be going into schools, talking to school children. We will be travelling around the country in a - well, we're hoping to hold things like town halls so just interested people can come along and, and listen and talk to us about what it is that we're trying to do. And just, you know, I met with a group of 16-year-old girls last night, just a youth action group in my own area and they said they raised this whole issue of the manosphere with us and they said, you know, nobody's talking. You're not talking about it Ged, politicians aren't talking about it. And I thought, well, it's time we did. And so, you know, there will be a whole range of things. We'll be talking to experts, teachers, parents. We'll be, for example, tonight I'm going to a Tough Guy Book Club, which is a wonderful organisation that's set up to help men just have somewhere to go and socialise and talk about a book, you know, that might raise other issues and themes that come out of the book. I think the books are carefully chosen. I did a great thing last night. Dan Repacholi and I went to a Dadfit program.
HAMISH MACDONALD: Okay, what is that?
GED KEARNEY: A Dadfit program. It's amazing. They invite new dads to come along, they do an hour of physical exercise and then they sit around afterwards, have a drink and they talk to each other about what being a dad means to them, and it was lovely.
HAMISH MACDONALD: I sometimes wonder, you know, obviously we see things like Louis Theroux makes the Manosphere, or we watch Adolescence and they're kind of terrifying, right, and kind of overwhelming, because it's hard to know how you tackle something like that. And then I was talking about it with, with some family the other day. You know, I, on a Saturday, we go, I go for coffee with the boys after the gym. You know, it's pretty boring. We talk about pretty dull stuff, we whinge about the week. But when I don't do that, I really notice that I miss it. And I wonder if some of the solutions to these things are maybe more simple than we think.
GED KEARNEY: Absolutely. I mean, you know, a huge part of this is loneliness and isolation and, you know, feeling that nobody cares, and nobody understands. And some of the stories that the dads told last night, for example, was just sitting around saying, “Oh, my god, that happens to you too?” I can't believe, and they, they share things and, you know, a problem shared is a problem halved. But you're right, having somewhere regular to go. I know with the book club, people have told me that they know that that hour and a half, going to the pub, talking about something, they've got a conversation starter. It means the world to them. You know, it's a time for them and them alone to be with their friends and to socialise. So, yes, you're quite right. It could be something as simple as that.
FIONA POOLE: That's Ged Kearney, Federal Assistant Minister for Social Services and Prevention of Family Violence, who is going to start holding those talks around the country to support the health and wellbeing of men and young boys.