Melissa Parke (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Fremantle Men’s Community Shed was the first of its kind in Western Australia and it is an example of how we can find and create new ways of building community spirit. Recently I had the pleasure of launching their shed open day and community garage sale. The Fremantle men’s shed does a lot more than simply provide the tools and workshop space for tinkering with and building stuff. It is a place where men can talk and draw strength from one another’s experiences and skills, where young men can learn from older men and older men can receive the great boon that comes from feeling connected, from being heard and respected.

The shed’s members have assisted with the community projects, including building the roof for a greenhouse at South Fremantle Senior High School and conducting toy workshops for children and a computer skills course. The shed has recently completed a project in conjunction with the Fremantle Hospital mental health unit aimed at assisting men with clinically diagnosed mental health conditions. The shed is also working with the Hilton PCYC and youth at risk in the Fremantle area, targeting kids who have dropped out of school. Often when these kids make something at the men’s shed, it is the first sense of achievement they have ever felt. It enhances their self-esteem and gives them some hope for the future. It is no wonder that on Australia Day this year, the Freo men’s shed received the Premier’s Active Citizenship Award.

As part of its operation, the shed has links with services and support structures that enhance men’s health and wellbeing, and this is critical as health outcomes for men in Australia are significantly poorer than for women in a number of areas, not least life expectancy. Recent research shows the clear health benefits of providing men with social and support networks. Indeed, Freo men’s shed members have told me of a number of suicides that have been prevented because of the shed. Just as women have benefited enormously from community health and social programs directed at the particular needs of women, it is also the case that men are responding very positively to the men’s shed concept that caters specifically to the needs of men. For all these reasons, I am very pleased that the Fremantle men’s shed received $2,500 in the latest round the Rudd government’s community volunteer grants. I am hopeful, moreover, that, in view of the very real and practical role that community men’s sheds play in advancing men’s health and wellbeing, they will formally be incorporated into the government’s health and social inclusion agenda.

I acknowledge the fantastic work of the volunteers who run the Freo men’s shed, particularly Bill Johnstone, Alan Gowland, Alex Marshall, Paul Whitfield, Rob Hornbrook, Bob Fleming and Joe Gaffney. I have been happy to provide funds to assist some of the shed members to attend the Australian Men’s Shed Association conference being held in Hobart in August this year. I commend the work of the Australian Men’s Shed Association, which provides advice and assistance to nearly 300 men’s sheds across Australia. A real sense of community is building at the Fremantle men’s shed and I will be working to ensure that not only the Fremantle men’s shed but men’s sheds across Australia receive the support they need to continue providing these valuable community and health outcomes, which I have been fortunate enough to see firsthand in Fremantle.

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