Roger Jaensch,
Minister for Community Development,
The Hodgman majority Liberal Government is committed to ongoing investment in Tasmanian men's health and wellbeing, especially toward issues that have a disproportionate impact on men.
Launched in 1999, and now celebrated in more than 80 countries worldwide, International Men's Day is going from strength-to-strength. The theme for IMD 2019 is "Making a Difference for Men and Boys."
One of the key strategies for supporting men in the Tasmanian community has been reinforcing our network of about 60 Men's Sheds.
Tasmanian Men's Sheds provide a safe outlet for men to meet and share information while working on community projects. This has been shown to improve health outcomes through increased physical activity and increased awareness of mental health issues like anxiety and depression.
During the 2018 election, the Hodgman majority Liberal Government committed to formally recognising the Tasmanian Men's Sheds Association (TMSA) as the peak body for the sector increasing funding to $110,00 annually.
In addition to this, the Government committed to providing funding of $125,000 per annum for three years for the Tasmanian Men's Shed Association grants program, which allows Sheds to apply for funding towards capital works and men's health and wellbeing programs.
Direct funding of $296,000 has also been provided for nine projects around the State in order to purchase new equipment, upgrade facilities and construct new Men's Sheds bringing the total funding amounts to more than $1 million over three years.
The Hodgman majority Liberal Government is the strongest supporter of Tasmanian Men's Shed and today, on International Men's Day, we are proud to fund a new awareness campaign that profiles the valuable work of our Men's Sheds.
The TMSA awareness campaign can be viewed at this address:
https://spaces.hightail.com/receive/s8QTHb35uF/d2VuZHlrZW5uZWR5cHJvZHVjdGlvbnNAZ21haWwuY29t
