Men's health policy development and implementation – the Australian perspective

Australia, like the USA, is a federation of states and territories. In 1999 the government of the state of New South Wales (NSW) became the first government in the world to promulgate a men's health policy. Called Moving Forward in Men's Health this policy had a strong focus on the social determinants of male health and challenged health services to be more accessible to men, what is now referred to as being “male friendly”. It also proposed a structure for ensuring male health concerns are integrated into health service planning and delivery. In 2009 the Commonwealth (Federal) Government began a process of developing a national men's health policy, which involved direct consultations with men and health providers as well as input from appointed “Men's Health Ambassadors”. In 2010 the National Male Health Policy was launched, significantly sub-titled Building on the Strengths of Australian Males. Like its NSW predecessor this national policy also drew on the social determinants of male health and encouraged more “male friendly” health services. Both of these policies have contributed to a positive change in the discourse around men's health in Australia, moving away from blaming men for poor health outcomes. The first author of this paper was one of the Men's Health Ambassadors and this paper draws together the history of both the NSW and National Men's Health Policy as well as reflecting on the pragmatic and practical resource and structural constraints that have prevented the development of a more “male friendly” approach within health services.