OFFICIAL

DAN REPACHOLI MP

FEDERAL MEMBER FOR HUNTER

SPECIAL ENVOY FOR MEN’S HEALTH

SPEECH

SPEECH TO BUSINESS HUNTER LUNCHEON

BREAKING THE SILENCE: MEN’S MENTAL HEALTH & LEADERSHIP

NOAH'S ON THE BEACH NEWCASTLE

17 November 2025

Before I get started, I want to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land we are meeting on today, the Awabakal and Worimi peoples, and pay my respects to Elders past and present. I also extend that respect to any First Nations people joining us. It is a privilege to live and work on this beautiful country.

G’day everyone. Thanks for the invite, and thanks for taking time out in the middle of the day. If you are anything like me, a good lunch is right up there with a good chat. Today we are doing both, and we are doing it about something that really matters: keeping the blokes in our lives with us and keeping them healthy.

I’m Dan Repacholi. I’m the Federal Member for Hunter and Australia’s first Special Envoy for Men’s Health. I am also a five-time Olympian and a three-time Commonwealth Games gold and bronze medalist. I’ve spent plenty of time in workshops, around mine sites, in sheds and in sporting clubs. Unlike a lot of politicians, I come from a trade background. I have been on the tools. That gives me a pretty good feel for the things we are talking about today. I love my job, I love this region, and I am here because men’s health, especially mental health, is not a side issue. It is a family issue. It is a workplace issue. And it is a bottom-line issue for every business in this room.

Now, that title Special Envoy for Men’s Health might sound a bit fancy. What it really means is this: my job is to make sure blokes are not forgotten when it comes to health. For too long, men’s health has been treated like an afterthought. We are expected to be the rock, the steady one, the problem solver, the bloke who just gets on with it. But the truth is, a lot of us are doing it tough and a lot of us are doing it quietly. My job is to help change that—to make sure men are seen, heard and supported, and that Government is awake to their issues.

Now, when you invite a big bloke like me in to talk about mental health, you might be thinking, “Righto Dan, is this going to be a lecture?” Do not stress. I am not here to sing Kumbaya and make you share your deepest feelings in a circle. I am here to talk about blokes, the places we work, the things that get in the way, and the things leaders like you can do to make a change.

So I want to start with a simple question: what is happening with our blokes? Let us start with the big picture. Australian men and boys are among the healthiest in the world. We live in a country with great health care, but we still die earlier than women. And we still turn up late to the doctor, or not at all. We put off check-ups. We miss the early warning signs. We try to tough it out until the wheels fall off.

We don’t treat our cars like that. If the oil light comes on, we don’t say, “She’ll be right for another ten thousand k.” We pull over. But with our bodies and our minds, we drive on.

Here are a few realities we should all have at our fingertips: men live on average five years less than women; about seventy-one percent of Aussie blokes are overweight or obese; we are more likely to have type two diabetes and heart disease than women; and we are over-represented in a whole list of chronic diseases and cancers that are very treatable if we act early.

A good example is prostate cancer. Almost 4000 men die each year from prostate cancer. If that disease is caught early, it is often highly treatable. But you have to book the appointment. You have to get the test. And it’s no longer a finger in the arse, guys—it’s just a simple blood test. Now I know some people will be disappointed about that, Brendan Brooks, I’m looking at you. Last year we ran a prostate testing day in Parliament. I lined up with a heap of other blokes. A few of them got high readings and are still seeing specialists now. Those simple blood tests will save lives. That is the difference between doing something and doing nothing.

Then there is the mental health side. Let me put it straight. Every day in Australia, seven men die by suicide. Seven sons, dads, brothers, mates, workmates—gone. The median age is mid-40s, right in the middle of careers and raising kids. Suicide is the leading cause of death for men aged 15 to 44. Not shark attacks. Not some extreme sport. Just blokes like the ones in this room, struggling quietly.

We also know men are less likely to reach out, more likely to wait, more likely to tell themselves to toughen up until something snaps. Six in ten men wait more than a week to see a doctor after symptoms show up. A third wait more than a month. Almost one in four say they would not seek help from anyone if they had a personal problem. What are we doing here, guys? For every suicide, it is estimated that around 135 people are affected—family, friends, workmates, first responders, health workers. Kids who lose a parent to suicide are three times more likely to die by suicide themselves. The economic cost runs into the tens of billions each year. But the real cost is empty chairs at the dinner table and vacant lockers at the work site.

Here in the Hunter, we have a high number of workers in construction, manufacturing, mining and FIFO or DIDO roles. These are exactly the industries where risk is higher because of isolation, long hours and a culture of “just get on with it.” Men in these industries have much higher rates of suicide and mental health distress.

This is not about lecturing men. Most of us were brought up to be stoic, to shut up and get on with it. That attitude helped build our industries. But in 2025, some of those old ideas about what it means to be a real man are costing us our health, our relationships and sometimes our lives. And it does not help your teams or your bottom line either.

The Hunter is a proud region built on doing tough jobs well. We look after our gear, we tag out dodgy leads, we isolate hazards, we do the pre-starts. But we still have work to do when the hazard is between our ears and in our hearts.

Here is the good news: we can change this. And when we do, everyone wins—families, teams and your businesses. Fewer injuries, fewer days lost, lower turnover, better morale, and more men who get to go home safe and well.

So what does this look like in real life? When we think mental health, we often picture sadness or tears. But for many men, the signs look different. It can look like mood changes, especially anger and irritability; losing interest in the things that used to fire you up; avoiding your mates or staying late at work because home feels hard; headaches, gut aches, not sleeping, eating rubbish and pretending it is normal; performance sliding, more near misses, more mistakes, or just grinding through in second gear.

Another big one is loneliness. About one in twenty Aussie men say they don’t have a close friend. We are social creatures. Even the “I’m fine, leave me alone” types need connection—whether it is a Men’s Shed, a fishing trip, a lunchroom chat, or a toolbox talk that is not just about bolts and bandsaws.

We also know there are trigger points that increase risk: the loss or breakdown of a family unit; financial or legal pressures; big changes to life or health; problems at work like bullying, redundancy, conflict or injury. Too often the signs that someone is not ok are missed or hidden. How many times have we heard, “I had no idea,” or “he was the last person I would have expected”? You never know what someone is going through unless you ask. And work is a great place to have those conversations.

So let us talk about work. Many of you lead mainly male workplaces. These workplaces can be brilliant—strong teamwork, good banter, pride in a job well done. I have seen that on sites and in teams all over the country. But they can also create silence. If the culture says the toughest bloke is the quietest bloke, you will end up with a lot of quiet blokes carrying very heavy loads.

So what stops men from getting help? In plain language, here are five common blockers: the “I’m fine” reflex—we say it without thinking, we don’t want to be a burden, but it can be deadly when we are actually drowning; low trust and high banter cultures—if the only rule is “take a joke or you’re weak,” pain gets pushed underground; practical barriers—rosters, travel, FIFO and DIDO, cost, long wait lists, no services in the bush; not knowing the signs—for a lot of men, depression looks like anger, drinking more, pulling back or dropping the ball at work; and systems that are not built with men in mind—if the doorway doesn’t feel like it is for you, you do not walk through it.

This is not about blame. It is about design. We can design better workplaces, and we have to.

So what next? How do we break the silence without turning your workplace into a therapy room? You all wear a lot of hats—running businesses, leading teams, juggling tight margins, rules and rosters. You do not need a brand new problem. You need practical things that work.

Let me boil it down to a simple plan for workplaces. Make help visible, normal and bloke-friendly. Pick one program that fits your workforce and back it in for a year. Do not just hang a poster. Put names, numbers and a regular rhythm behind it—toolbox talks, check-ins, short sessions. The days of EAP details hiding on page nine of the induction booklet should be over.

Use peer power and train your leaders. Programs like MATES in Construction show that when workers are trained to spot the signs and ask “Are you ok mate?”, people get help earlier. Every supervisor and leading hand should be able to spot the signs, start a conversation and know where to refer. Treat it like first aid—mental health first aid.

Bring the conversation to where the blokes are. Do not wait for men to come to a seminar at six at night when they are exhausted and the kids have sport. Take ten minutes in a toolbox talk or start the monthly safety briefing with a quick check-in. You talk about hazards all the time. Add the hazard between the ears.

Give workers the time and privacy to get help. If someone needs a telehealth appointment or to see a doctor, make it as normal as getting a tyre repaired on the work car. Confidentiality builds trust. If blokes think they will be punished or gossiped about, they will not speak up.

Fix the risk, not just the person. Fatigue, isolation, bullying, impossible deadlines—these are psychosocial hazards. Treat them like any other hazard: identify, control, review.

Build connection by design. A lot of men will not sign up for a feelings workshop, but they will sign up for barbecues, fishing comps, Men’s Shed projects, mentoring apprentices or a crew breakfast. The activity is the hook. The conversation happens along the way.

Lead with your own story. If the boss can say, “I have had a patch where I wasn’t ok and here is what I did,” it changes the whole place.

In the Hunter, we are lucky. We have organisations that are experts in this space. We have world-class researchers and services right here, so use them. If you do not know where to start, contact my office. We will point you in the right direction.

So what is the Government doing? It is not all on you. Government has a role, and I am proud to be part of one that is investing in this space. Through the National Suicide Prevention Leadership and Support Program, the Government is funding practical support for men, including MATES in Construction for industries with lots of blokes and FIFO or DIDO workers; The Men’s Table—regular structured catch-ups for men; and Parents Beyond Breakup, Dads in Distress—for men going through separation.

We are also funding digital mental health services—crisis lines, webchat, online programs and peer forums. These help cut through distance, shift work and cost. For employers, there are tools like SMS4Dads from the University of Newcastle—free text messages that support new dads—and DadBooster, online support for dads doing it tough. We also support groups like Movember, Healthy Male, the Black Dog Institute, Lifeline and Beyond Blue. Think of these as tools in the toolbox. You still have to pick them up and use them.

After today’s lunch, I want you to ask yourself what you can do to improve your workplace. Here is what success looks like. Here is what I am asking from you: commit to a simple mental health plan for your workplace that makes sense for blokes; train your leaders to have the hard chats; choose one workplace risk and fix it, and ask your staff what it should be; plug into existing programs rather than starting from scratch; and measure what matters and listen to honest feedback. If you want help getting started, my office will connect you with the right people.

Before I wrap up and take questions, a quick word to the blokes in the room. Fellas, if you have been white-knuckling it lately, if you are not sleeping, if you are angry all the time, if you are drinking more than you used to, if work feels like wading through wet cement, please say something—to your GP, to a mate, to your supervisor, or to me after this if you like. You do not have to do it alone. I have spent a lot of time in high-pressure environments, in elite sport, in politics and in communities doing it tough. One thing I have learned is this: strength is not silence. Strength is knowing when to shoulder the load and when to share it.

So to wrap up. We started by talking about silence. Let us finish by breaking it. Seven men a day is seven too many. The Hunter does not wait for someone else to fix things. We roll up. We get on the tools. We look after our own. If any region can show the rest of the country how to make men’s mental health part of everyday business, it is this one. Let us make the Hunter the gold standard for bloke-friendly workplaces.

And remember: if you notice something, say something. If you need something, ask. If you can do something, do it. That is how we keep our mates safe, our families whole and our workplaces strong.

Thanks for having me. Look after yourselves, look after your crews, and if you need to talk to someone today, talk to me, talk to a mate, talk to an expert. I am happy to take questions and hear what is working and what is not in your businesses.

Cheers.

ENDS