Establishing a National Men's Health Strategy for 2020 to 2030

Overview

Australian males generally enjoy better health and a longer life expectancy than males in most other countries in the world.  Yet, on average, Australian males have a shorter life expectancy than Australian females, and some population groups of males, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males, have significantly shorter life expectancy than others.

On 13 June 2018, the Minister for Health, the Hon Greg Hunt MP announced the commencement of a process to establish a National Men's Health Strategy for 2020-2030 to be undertaken by updating the National Male Health Policy that was released in 2010.

The Strategy will take into account changes in the policy environment, identification of gaps and emerging issues so that health system resources at the national and jurisdictional levels are directed at efficiently addressing male health issues.

The Strategy will build on the National Male Health Policy 2010 to identify what is required to improve health outcomes for men and boys and provide a framework for action.

Who is developing the Strategy?

The Strategy is being developed by the Australian Government Department of Health with assistance from Andrology Australia.

What consultation has taken place to inform the development of the Strategy?

A National Men's Health Forum held on 9 August 2018 brought together key men's health stakeholders, organisations that represent disadvantaged poptulation groups, policy makers and other medical bodies to identify gaps and emerging issues and to present recommendations for action that could be implemented to help address the issues that affect men and boys.

Five key areas for consideration were discussed at the Forum:

• Mental health
• Chronic disease and preventive health
• Injuries and risk-taking behaviour
• Conditions predominantly affecting males
• Healthy ageing

A summary of the outcomes of the National Men's Health Forum is available below.

Has there been a review of the evidence?

The Department commissioned an evidence review to inform the development of the Strategy and a copy is available below.  The evidence review focused on Minister Hunt's five areas for consideration (listed above) and provides an overview of the health and wellbeing of Australian men.

Why your views matter

The purpose of this consultation is to seek broader stakeholder and community feedback on the National Men's Health Strategy 2020-2030.

The diverse perspectives, experience and knowledge of all stakeholders and health care professionals, researchers, community and non-government organisations, all levels of government, industry and business, and key priority populations are informing the development of the Strategy.

Your contribution is greatly appreciated.

How to give us your views

Interested parties are invited to provide comment on the National Men's Health Strategy 2020-2030 via an online consultation questionnaire, which can be accessed through the Department of Health's Consultation Hub.

The public consultation period closes at 11:59pm AEST on Monday 5 November 2018.

The online questionnaire covers:

• Section A: Demographics
• Section B: The structure of the Strategy
• Section C: Strategic goal, objectives and action
• Section D: Final comments

The survey will step you through each part of the draft Strategy so it may be helpful to have an electronic or paper copy available when answering the survey.

NOTE: the DRAFT National Men's Health Strategy 2020-2030 is attached for your reference below the survey link.

Please provide your email address if you would like a PDF of your response to be automatically emailed to you after you submit your response.

Please keep your responses concise and within the question word limits.

The survey may be completed over more than one session.  Please retain your login details if you wish to complete the survey at a later time.

How we will use your responses

Your response is being provided to the Australian Government Department of Health to inform the finalisation of the Strategy.

The responses received to this online consultation process may be made available to designated experts, contractors or consultants who are contributing to the finalisation of the Strategy.

Please note: All responses will be treated as confidential, and no personally identifying information from your responses will be released.

The final Strategy will be released in early 2019.

Contact details

If you have any questions, please email your enquiry to preventive.policy@health.gov.au