South Australian Government Launches Parliamentary Inquiry into Men's Health and Suicide Rates

The South Australian government will launch a parliamentary inquiry into men's health challenges, aimed at tackling "staggering" rates of suicide and the harmful role of social media algorithms.

Health Minister Blair Boyer said the joint house committee would seek to improve men's access to services and address the stigma and barriers to seeking help.

Mr Boyer said suicide was the leading cause of death for people aged between 15 and 44 in SA, with men three times more likely than women to die by suicide.

"To consider that to still be the case in 2026 is really, really alarming," Mr Boyer said.

He said the focus on men's mental health had been brought into sharp focus by the death of Jaryd Dawson — the brother of Adelaide Crows' captain Jordan Dawson — earlier this year.

"It's hard not to have a tear come to your eye when you hear him [Jordan] talk about that, but these things are still happening out there," Mr Boyer said.

He said he hoped the inquiry would result in a "tight and powerful set of recommendations" and would examine the role of sporting clubs, social groups and men's sheds.

"We now also see the rise of the manosphere and stuff that's going on online, people like Andrew Tate," he said.

"Young boys … are the ones who are more likely perhaps to slip into those kinds of negative views of not just women but also their own health and their own place in the world."

'Men's lives at stake'

Labor MLC Hilton Gumbys will be appointed to chair the committee, and members will include Member for Port Adelaide Cheyne Rich, Member for Elizabeth Ella Shaw, Family First MLC Sarah Game and Greens MLC Robert Simms.

Mr Gumbys, who has spent nearly 40 years working as a tradesman, said while attitudes towards men talking about their mental health had improved, suicide rates remained a generational problem.

"Throw into the mix in these modern times the algorithms that guide vulnerable young blokes who might be lacking good, strong role models in their life looking for advice somewhere undesirable," he said.

Mr Gumbys said he anticipated a motion would be moved in parliament this week to establish the committee.

"We haven't got time to waste on this; young people's lives are at stake," he said.

Ms Game, who has been a proponent for the inquiry, said she would like to see better outcomes around diagnosing depression and anxiety in men.

"We also know that boys at school are much more likely to be suspended and excluded from school, much more likely to underachieve," she said.

"Any strategies we can have to make sure boys are thriving at school and feeling good about themselves, that would be a good outcome as well."

'Don't cry, man up'

A co-founder of SA-based men's support group Good Better Best Men, Luke Di Sessa, has welcomed the inquiry as a "step in the right direction".

The not-for-profit runs workshops and courses to encourage men to share their lived experience and build healthy relationships.

Mr Di Sessa said for some men, seeking out medical and mental health support could be "frightening".

"I was told as a young man, 'don't cry, man up, just get up and get on with it' — all of these sorts of things that young boys were told and that sits in our mind for the rest of our life," Mr Di Sessa said.

"The awareness, the government support and the communication of it is very long overdue."