Making an Impact: AMHF and the men’s health sector
It's been a busy year for AMHF. From hosting men’s health gatherings, to championing work to improve the lives and health of men and boys via the Men’s Health Awards; shouting loud and proud about Men's Health Week and International Men's Day and advocating for governments to tackle the social factors that shape men's health.
As 2019 draws to a close, AMHF is pleased to release its 2019 Impact Report, which documents who we are, what we stand for, what we are doing and the effect we are having on the men’s health sector in Australia.
As well as capture the progress AMHF has made in recent years since its role as the peak men’s health body was affirmed with Health Department backing, the Impact Report sets out key areas where the organisation intends to make good its mission to create a healthier future for men and boys and, as a consequence, ‘a healthier future for everyone’.
These include:
- Working with the men’s health sector to increase awareness of men’s health issues.
- Working with governments and policy leaders at all levels to develop men’s health policies.
- Building a stronger health sector.
- Sharing knowledge to help services get better at working for men.
- Getting Australia talking about men’s health with our calendar of events.
- Advocating for a community of individuals and organisations working to improve the lives and health of men and boys.
As the Impact Report notes, the men’s health sector is filled with dynamic and diverse groups. AMHF represents more than 60 member organisations and individuals across Australia, and beyond our core membership, thousands of allies, partners and supporters with an interest in men and boys’ health.
What unifies us is the firm belief that men’s health is more than a medical issue.
“It is shaped by a range of factors such as education, relationships, our working lives, our experiences of fatherhood and our access to male-friendly services,” says the Report.
“The issues our sector works to address include physical health, mental health, relationship issues, social isolation, violence, boys’ transition into manhood and the challenges of fatherhood.
“What unites us is a belief that improving men’s health is good for everyone and developing male-friendly approaches to working with men and boys is one of the best ways to achieve this.”
Since 2013, AMHF has highlighted some of the best approaches to working with men and boys through its National Men’s Health Awards. In 2019, 3000 people took part in the Awards, run during Men’s Health week when we also released nine state and territory-based Health Report Cards (one National), detailing the state of men’s health in Australia across 10 key issues.
We urged people to ‘Know Your Man Facts’ and put a KYMF toolkit in the hands of anyone who wanted to speak about men’s health via their own groups and workplaces. Launched in 2018 with half a million people touched by the campaign online, AMHF has continued to work with a range of partners to build this resource and make it freely available.
The Impact Report emphasises the importance of developing a calendar of men’s events, from academic symposia to BBQs for socially isolated blokes and everything in-between. In 2019, AMHF promoted 100 of these events; in 2020 it will host the Men’s Health Gathering in Melbourne, building on 2018 Gathering in Parramatta, NSW, which attracted 200 delegates from across Australia and overseas.
Another proud achievement has been AMHF’s contribution to the development of National and State (WA and NSW) men’s health policies. It is a key goal to see health strategies emerge in every State and Territory, and to put men’s health on the policy agenda across every level of government.
“The success of the National Men’s Health Strategy 2020-2030 will inevitably be limited by a range of factors including the level of funding committed to the Strategy,” states the Report.
As we welcome a new president, Greg Millan, in 2020 and a dynamic Board of Directors working alongside CEO Glen Poole, AMHF is excited about creating far-reaching Impact in its quest to improve the lives and health of men and boys.
TAKE ACTION FOR MEN’S HEALTH
Download AMHF 2019 Impact Report
Read: 12 months in the life of men's health (AMHF)
Read: AMHF President's personal report card (AMHF)
Help us improve the lives and health of men and boys: donate today (AMHF)