Portfolio — 26 March 2026

The Assistant Minister for Social Services and Assistant Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence, Ms Kearney, used a parliamentary statement on 26 March to recognise the Tough Guy Book Club, framing it as a community-level response to a documented and worsening problem of male loneliness [TA-260326-house-acd3ee5310f1:s103]. The hook was a Healthy Male survey finding that 43 per cent of men are impacted by loneliness, set against a long-term decline in close male friendships — evidence Ms Kearney used to establish the scale of the problem before turning to the initiative's track record [TA-260326-house-acd3ee5310f1:s103].

The Tough Guy Book Club was founded in 2012 by Shay Leighton, who started it with a single friend after both experienced loneliness despite outward success. It has since expanded from two people at a Collingwood pub to more than 1,300 regular attendees across 140 locations in eight countries, with over 5,000 meetings held to date [TA-260326-house-acd3ee5310f1:s103].

Ms Kearney noted that the club operates locally within her own electorate of Cooper — in Preston, Reservoir, Northcote, Thornbury and Alphington — grounding a national story in her constituency.

The ministerial framing linked men's mental health directly to the prevention portfolio. Ms Kearney argued that reducing stigma around help-seeking, strengthening positive relationships and building safer communities are interconnected outcomes — positioning community-based male connection programs as a downstream contribution to family violence prevention. That argument runs across both of her ministerial roles, using the Social Services portfolio's concern with wellbeing and loneliness to support the Prevention of Family Violence portfolio's interest in behavioural change and community safety.

No policy instrument or government funding commitment was announced; the statement was recognitional rather than programmatic.