A re-elected Albanese Labor Government is strengthening Medicare, today announcing an additional $32 million to support men's health and break the stigma around seeking support.

Movember statistics show as many as two in every three men are foregoing health support due to gender sterotypes – and around half believe avoiding health check-ups is normal.

Australian men are three times more likely to take their own life than women, and are significantly less likely to seek mental health support.

Labor will deliver $11.3 million for Movember to provide men’s health care training to primary health care workers, and to develop a campaign to encourage men to visit the doctor. 

Training will be based on Movember’s existing Men in Mind program for mental health workers and will help over 60,000 doctors and nurses support men to get the health care they need.

Labor will also invest $20.7 million for grassroots initiatives that support men’s mental health and wellbeing in community settings, including:

• $8.3 million to support another two years of Men’s Shed Initiative’s National Shed Development Program, providing grants of up to $10,000 to individual Men’s Sheds. It will also support the Australian Men’s Sheds Association to deliver new health promotion and prevention programs.
• $7.4 million to Movember to expand the successful Ahead of the Game program, delivered in partnership with the AFL, that equips boys and young men in sporting environments with emotional resilience and teaches them to seek help when they need it.
• $3.0 million to Healthy Male to support the delivery of Plus Paternal Initiative, a program that helps men prepare for fatherhood and supports the development of good parenting skills during the perinatal period.
• $2.0 million to the Black Dog Institute to research men’s mental health and suicide prevention at the Danny Frawley Centre for Health and Wellbeing – supporting St Kilda Football Club’s annual AFL ‘Spud’s Game ‘at the MCG, which raises community awareness to fight men's mental ill health. 

This builds on Labor’s $11.6 million investment in men’s health in the 2024-25 Budget, and our $8.5 billion investment to strengthen Medicare with more bulk billing, more doctors and nurses and delivering cheaper medicines, cutting the maximum price of PBS scripts to only $25.

It also builds on our $1 billion commitment to strengthen mental health. A re-elected Labor Government will deliver more Medicare Mental Health Centres, expand headspace services and train more mental health professionals and peer workers.

This is in stark contrast to Peter Dutton, who was voted the worst Health Minister in Medicare’s history by Australia’s doctors, after he cut $50 billion from public hospitals and tried to end bulk billing with a fee for every GP visit.

Consistent with past practice, election commitments will be delivered in line with the Commonwealth Grants Rules and Principles.