Mr BAYLEY (Clark) – Honourable Speaker, I rise tonight to talk about men’s mental health and the importance of blokes talking to each other to share stories, vulnerabilities, fears, and aspirations.
Spoke to a Bloke is a men’s mental health charity. Its origin story on the website articulates its genesis clearly. Spoke to a Bloke started when our brother and mate sadly took his own life whilst going through some mental health issues. Unfortunately, he felt he had no other option and, much to our shock and disappointment, no one to talk to. Spoke to a Bloke runs a number of projects that are all about giving men the tools they need to reach out and seek help, be it clinical or collegiate.
Men in Need of Digital Support (MINDS) brings together a wide range of mental health experts, knowledgeable individuals and everyday blokes to create 24/7 help content aimed at supporting adult and younger men. Let’s Get Men Talking is a partnership with Mental Health First Aid International that is all about offering subsidised Let’s Get Men Talking sessions in the communities where there is an engaged constituency and local advocates who can drive this program forward.
These training pathways will help increase mental health knowledge and support at a grassroots level in communities. Mental health first aid is a growing discipline being rolled out in communities across the country. Offering training at a community level for mental health first aid is as critical and lifesaving as physical first aid. The ability to recognise and support a mental health crisis is increasingly important.
One‑to‑One is a Spoke to a Bloke initiative that delivers direct, professional help through a network of specialised psychologists for blokes in financial hardship but in need of expert assistance. Money should not be a hurdle for blokes who would benefit from direct professional help, so Spoke to a Bloke steps in. Eligibility for subsidised mental health services under the Medicare Better Access to Mental Health Care might not be adequate depending on circumstances. While critical, the Medicare services might not always be available, easily accessed or enough. Spoke to a Bloke can step in with its One‑to‑One program where a partnership with selected psychologists who specialise in men’s mental health can be offered at subsidies or no cost to the blokes that need it most. All this is supported by fundraising.
While Spoke to a Bloke works with corporates to help fundraise for its programs, its grassroots efforts are important and a critical element in this effort is the annual Walk for a Bloke. In some ways, Walk for a Bloke started well before Spoke to a Bloke was even created. Nick, the bloke who passed and inspired the charity, organised an annual 25‑kilometre mental health walk in Sydney from the Spit Bridge in Manly to the Watsons Bay Hotel. Originally it was a chance for mates to get together to do some exercise, but also to check in with each other over a long walk followed by a few beverages.
The first walk was four guys in 2019, followed by six in 2020 and then a whopping 110 from all around Australia in 2022. Two weekends ago I signed up for Walk for a Bloke, the inaugural walk in Lutruwita. Together with 40 other blokes, we gathered in the darkness at Blackmans Bay, got acquainted and briefed, and set off for a 25‑kilometre walk to the Botanical Gardens, as much as possible via the coast.
The simple act of walking in solidarity and with blokes you do not know is a tonic for the heart and soul. For sunrise we were at Boronia Beach and morning tea at Taroona. En route, the generosity of Robbie Browns at Kingston saw us stop in for a juice and a breather. While I had to peel off at Taroona to get to another event, I reconvened with the group when they made it to the gardens, sweaty, sore but successful.
Globally, 2428 men walked for the common cause of men’s mental health and suicide prevention across 29 locations. With 150 volunteers pulling the events together, the walk was a cracking success, not only raising dollars and awareness but joining blokes together and stimulating connections, storytelling and a solid foundation for future support, should it be needed. Here in Tasmania, there were events in Launceston, Devonport and nipaluna/Hobart.
I acknowledge the work of the team in Hobart. Thanks to Al and Dave as the key organisers and Karen for her support in the morning. Also to Dave No 2 – there was a sum total of about five Daves on the walk, and Dave No 2 provided the physical first aid support for the walk.
Thanks to all the blokes for stepping out in solidarity with each other and supporting brothers struggling in their own skins. I will be back in 2026 because men’s mental health issues are not going anywhere and the more we can do to promote and normalise the seeking of help and raise money to fund it, the better off blokes will be.
