The Men’s Leadership Forum was held last July and led to talks about a potential Men’s Health Centre being set up in the region. Photo: Supplied.
Wagga Wagga could soon be home to the district’s first Men’s Health Centre, after Wagga Wagga City Council (WWCC) endorsed a report noting key findings about a potential centre being established.
The topic of a men’s health centre has been on WWCC’s agenda for almost a year following a Wagga Wagga & Surrounds Men’s Leadership Forum in July 2024.
After the forum, which the Wagga Women’s Health Centre organised, the local Men’s Consultative Group launched a petition requesting that a Men’s Wellness Centre be established in Wagga Wagga.
The petition garnered 939 signatures from community members and led to Councillor Richard Foley submitting a notice of motion during an October 2024 council meeting, requesting WWCC to produce a report looking into the possibility of a centre being created.
While WWCC concluded it would not be the organisation that established the centre, it agreed to share its findings with the Men’s Consultative Group, run by local men’s health leader Rhys Cummins.
WWCC staff will now provide the Men’s Consultative Group with the report’s findings and initiate an expressions-of-interest (EOI) process, in partnership with the group, to establish a community-led working group to develop the Riverina Men’s Health Centre.
Wagga Mayor Dallas Tout said he was proud to see community members come together to support each other. He said he was 100 per cent behind moves to establish the centre.
“There’s a lot of work to be done by men in the community,” Cr Tout said.
“That forum [in July last year] was the first in the country, as far as we’re aware. So, to come out of it with this Men’s Health Centre discussion is quite a welcome outcome.
“A lot of it is about early intervention and working with people to be aware of what’s inappropriate, what’s not right, and move forward as a community with a new standard of behaviour in that particular space.
“There were over 900 people on the petition. It’s the first step in something happening.
“To me, that indicates that there are a large number of people who are passionate about that issue.
“From that group of 900 people, I don’t know all the skill sets, but I would dare say there are a large number of people who have a mixture of either passion, skill set and/or both.
“And from that, and other interested community members, in the future, I’m sure there will be enough people for a working Men’s Health Centre.”
