ABC Radio National spotlights International Men’s Day
ABC Radio National marked International Men’s Day 2025 with a focus on a rare show of bipartisanship in federal politics, highlighting the launch of a new Parliamentary Friends of Healthy Masculinities group.
Speaking on Radio National Breakfast, presenter Sally Sara was joined by Independent Senator for the ACT David Pocock and Labor MP and Special Envoy for Men’s Health Dan Repacholi, as the pair discussed men’s mental health, positive role models and the role of men in addressing broader social challenges.
Introducing the discussion, Sara said MPs and senators from across Labor, Liberal and the crossbench were “teaming up with preventative health charity The Man Cave to bring some awareness to mental health issues and to empower boys to become better men”.
Repacholi said his involvement went beyond his formal portfolio.
“Even besides my portfolio this is so important,” he said. “Young men and boys out there, we need to make sure they’re learning the right levels of respect and masculinity, to be able to treat women, to be able to treat their friends with respect and to be able to get on and be fantastic people in society later on.”
“If we teach this right to young men and boys, we’re going to have fantastic men into the future,” he said.
Senator Pocock said parliamentary friendship groups provided a practical way to tackle difficult issues.
“I think parliamentary friendship groups are a great, nonpartisan way of actually tackling hard issues,” he said, noting that men needed to be “part of the conversation, part of the solution” when it came to violence against women.
Pocock said the initiative was also about recognising existing efforts. “I really want to acknowledge and support all the amazing work that has been done by women over many, many decades in this space,” he said.
He added that the conversation needed to include “what it is to be a positive role model, what does healthy masculinity look like”, alongside addressing “the mental health issues that boys and young men are really struggling with across this country”.
Sara also raised concerns about behaviour within Parliament House itself, asking whether change needed to start closer to home.
“We need to do both at the same time,” Repacholi responded. “We should be showing levels of respect in this place because what we do here is mirrored outside in the outside world as well.”
“That’s why I’m so proud to be here with Dave and Aaron Violi as well and running this parliamentary friendship group,” he said.
On mental health within politics, Pocock described Parliament as “a pretty brutal workplace” and said there could be reluctance among MPs and senators to admit they were struggling.
“There is just such a need to be chipping away at these damaging stereotypes of what it is to be a man, to always have things together and never show weakness,” he said.
Pocock said creating spaces where boys and young men could talk openly was critical. “Actually creating spaces where boys and young men can talk about the things that they’re grappling with… and connect with healthy role models who can say, ‘yeah, I went through that too’.”
Addressing parents listening to the program, Repacholi urged families to have open conversations with their children.
“Check in with them, ask them how they’re going, have real and meaningful conversations,” he said. “Make sure that you let them know that it’s OK to show some vulnerabilities.”
He added: “It is really, really hard to talk about what your issues are but that is such a strength as well.”
Pocock pointed to research from The Man Cave showing “one in two boys say that mental health is the biggest challenge they face”.
“That clearly is a huge problem across society,” he said, describing The Man Cave’s work in schools as “a real game changer”.
“We have a model here that works,” he said. “We need more of this if we’re actually going to see this cultural change.”
FURTHER READING
Governor General Supports International Men's Day
Parliamentary Friends of Healthy Masculinities Launched