STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

Ms STEGGALL (Warringah) (13:36): We hosted the inaugural Warringah Men's Stronger Together Breakfast at Queenscliff Surf Life Saving Club, bringing together boys and men of all ages. Manly Sea Eagles head coach Kieran Foran spoke with extraordinary openness about his own mental health struggles, gambling and substance abuse, suicide attempt and the devastating loss to suicide of a close family member.

Kieran urged us to dig deeper when checking in on our mates and men in our lives. His message was powerful: Don't stop at 'Are you okay?' Create the space for the real answer. Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death for Australian men.

Construction workers are nine times more likely to die by suicide than from a work health and safety incident. Support can start with something as simple as going for a walk, digging deeper when a mate seems off or creating the space for a young person to talk. A huge thank you to all the organisations who joined us from fathers' walking groups to men's sheds, from peer mentoring to activity based social groups, and local mental health services and community building programs.

The overwhelming message was that we are all stronger together. It is so important to be good role models, be able to acknowledge weakness and vulnerabilities, and share your mistakes. The message overwhelmingly was that no one mistake defines you, and everything can be rebuilt.

So reach out for help to all of these organisations.