Alison Byrnes (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

His Boy Elroy is a local burger bar in my electorate owned by Lachlan Stevens, veteran of two Afghanistan tours with the Australian Army. While dealing in burgers, beers and sport, Lachlan noticed men having deeper conversations at the bar. With this, the Barstool Brothers, a men's mental health charity, was formed. They invited men in the community down for a free burger at His Boy Elroy, with a simple goal in mind: to provide an opportunity and environment for men to connect. The group grew to 1,400 members, and a deeper issue was uncovered—the poor level of mental health amongst hospitality workers.

After talking with industry leaders, the Barstool Project was created, with the goal of training hospitality staff in a mental health awareness and communications course. The project is about to launch a 12-month pilot in New South Wales, with the goal of training 50,000 hospitality staff in a course that they consider to be as important as numeracy and literacy. Currently, similar courses are being monetised for up to $250 per person. The Barstool Project plans to deliver this education package for under $10 per person, with the aim of making it accessible to any business or employee, with sustainability at the forefront of their plans to expand nationally.

Lachlan is here in the gallery today, along with Daniel Chin, General Manager of Barstool Brothers, and they should be proud of the impact they are making in the hospitality industry at a local and national level. I'm even more excited by their latest local campaign, 'Palms in holes, not up poles', featuring the 'palm up a pole' burger. I can't wait for the keto salad!