1. For a full list of references for the statistics on this page, and any others across the website, please visit the references page and search through the relevant category.

Our work with men

Australian men generally have lower rates of mental health literacy, help-seeking behaviour and face numerous barriers to help-seeking, such as stigma. In Australia, men account for 75 per cent of deaths by suicide.1

We encourage men to take action against depression, anxiety and suicide, and to reduce stigma through a collaborative approach to programs, knowledge building and policy.

Find out more about our work

Programs

Beyond Barriers

In 2010, the Australian Government announced the Taking Action To Tackle Suicide initiatives. Beyond Blue was contracted by the Australian Government to develop a multiplatform health promotion campaign targeting men to improve men’s help-seeking behaviour around anxiety and depression, and ultimately suicide. 

Beyond Blue subsequently established the Beyond Barriers Strategy between 2012 to 2014 to encourage men to take action against depression and anxiety through reducing barriers to seeking support.

Healthy Dads

Informed by research commissioned by Beyond Blue in 2015 into men’s experience of psychological distress in the perinatal period, the Healthy Dads project aimed to support the mental health of men during the transition to fatherhood. This led to the creation of the Dadvice campaign and a suite of new resources.

Social connectedness program

This program aimed to demonstrate how depression, anxiety and suicide can be prevented through early interventions targeted at enhancing social connectedness for men and pioneer a preventative, wellbeing-focused approach to mental health interventions.

Beyond Blue commissioned research and a literature review in 2014 into social connectedness in men in their middle years and social isolation in older Australians that outlined the extent of the issue and barriers to seeking support.

In October 2015, the Movember Foundation and Beyond Blue launched the Social Innovators Challenge to challenge creative and forward thinking people to propose innovative, outside the box concepts that could lead to game changing products or services and increase levels of social connections and feelings of belongingness for men.

New Roots

Operating between July 2014 and December 2016 the New Roots project promoted good mental health of males recently settled in Australia through a humanitarian visa from the Arabic, Farsi-Dari and Tamil speaking communities. The project developed three outputs: a smartphone application for the community, an online toolkit for case managers, and a community leader training package. 

Reducing stigma in men

The Stigma Reduction Interventions: Digital Environments (STRIDE) Initiative was a research program reflecting Beyond Blue's interest in the effectiveness of 'real world' interventions and prioritising research partnerships between the community and academics. In 2013, six research projects were commissioned with thanks to funding from the Movember foundation:

  • Better Out Than In, led by the AFL Players Association
  • Contact + Connect led by Incolink
  • Out of the Blue: Pete & Dale, led by VAC
  • Tell Your Story, led by UNSW Refugee Trauma & Recovery Program
  • The Ripple Effect, led by the National Centre for Farmer Health
  • Y Fronts, led by CGA Consulting

The Shed Online

The Shed Online was a public health initiative developed by Beyond Blue with the support of the Australian Men’s Shed Association (AMSA). The dedicated website, active from 2010 to 2016, was designed to help men meet, contribute, learn from and support other men across Australia. 

Our research relating to men

Research projects

Beyond Blue funds a variety of research which contributes to the understanding and knowledge of depression and anxiety in men, and regularly evaluates its projects targeting men.

Resources 

Beyond Blue offers a free catalogue of resources on depression, anxiety, and suicide for people, partners, family and friends, and for health professionals who work in mental health.

Partnerships

Movember Foundation

Beyond Blue was a men’s health partner of Movember and a grateful recipient of Movember funds from 2006–2016. Projects funded throughout this time include:

  • ‘Have The Conversation’
  • Healthy Dads Initiative
  • New Roots
  • NewAccess
  • Reducing stigma in men
  • Research projects
  • Social connectedness program
  • Suicide prevention program
  • Wingmen Project

Young and Well CRC

Beyond Blue partnered with the Young and Well Cooperative Research Centre to enable a range of projects, funded through support from the Movember Foundation, to reduce the impact of depression and anxiety among young men and promote help-seeking behaviour using digital technology. 

Andrology Australia

Andrology Australia manages a program of activities to enhance the reproductive health of males through community and professional education programs and building the evidence-base and research capacity in male reproductive health.

Beyond Blue and Andrology Australia work collaboratively through the sharing of information to the benefit of the community. 

More information on men

Beyond Blue works to equip men with the knowledge and skills to maintain their own good mental health and wellbeing, and recognise symptoms in people close to them, in order to prevent the development of a mental health condition.

Read more information, advice and personal stories of men's experiences with depression, anxiety and suicide.

Find out more