Tammy Tyrrell (Tasmania, Jacqui Lambie Network) Share this | Hansard source

Men's sheds are important to our communities. They're a place for men to build friendships and find a shoulder to lean on. I've visited many of the ones across Tassie, and I'd like to give a shout-out to my Uncle John and Ulverstone men's shed. I know first hand the good work that they can do.

I recently visited Huon Valley, where a group of women are working hard to set up a she shed in the area. A lot of these women are in a similar age group to me. Some of them are women who have had relationship breakdowns later in life, women who live alone and women who have experienced domestic violence. The she shed gives them a safe place to call their own and to develop a support network. It focuses on upskilling women—things like learning how to use power tools, do basic home maintenance and how to change a tyre. The Huon Valley group has had almost 700 women register their interest in being a member of the shed, which shows the demand for a space like this in Huon Valley, but the shed can't take on numbers and can't open unless there are spaces fit for purpose, and because they're a she shed, and not a men's shed, they're unable to access the same grant funding to get the shed ready. I think that whether it's a men's shed, a she shed or a community shed, there should be equal opportunity for funding. It's a lot of sheds, isn't it?

I don't want the pool of funding for men's sheds to decrease—they do important work in the space of men's mental health and wellbeing, a space I think we often ignore—but the Tasmanian government should ensure that equal access is available to grants for all sheds.

The she shed project in Huon Valley is going to be a lifeline for many women. They should have the same opportunity to make it happen as the men's sheds, and I'm going to join a she shed when we've got one in Ulverstone.