Yakuway meets with Minister Dan Repacholi as part of Men’s Mental Health listening tour

On Wednesday 18 September 2025, representatives from Yakuway Indigenous Corporation met with Minister Dan Repacholi during his listening tour across the Hunter.

The Minister has recently been appointed to a brand-new portfolio as Australia’s first Minister for Men’s Mental Health – a role created to listen, learn, and shape initiatives that better support men and their families for generations to come. 

As part of his listening tour, Minister Repacholi shared that his focus over the next 12 months is to meet with stakeholders and community groups to hear directly what people want and need, and to explore opportunities for better alignment of government services.

One of the Minister’s goals is to encourage everyday Aussie men to take a proactive step towards their health by booking an annual doctor’s appointment, ideally around their birthday. His vision is to make this a simple habit that could help create lasting generational change for men’s health and wellbeing. 

As Special Envoy for Men’s Health, Dan’s health message is simple: go to the doctor, and tell them the real reason you’re there.

“Don’t just talk about the rash on your leg from yesterday. Be honest. If something’s been bugging you for weeks, speak up. The doctor can’t help if they don’t know. We need to make health conversations normal. Like we service our cars, we should be servicing ourselves.” 

Minister Repacholi recommended a number of organisations for Yakuway to approach regarding potential support for programs and infrastructure and future opportunities to work with the government on improving mental health and wellbeing for indigenous community.

The importance of Uncle Bill Smith’s legacy and the vision his children are carrying to continue driving change this generation was also a topic of conversation. The aim to continue walking together towards wellbeing and ensuring that what we create today will leave things even better for our children and grandchildren.

Yakuway will continue to share our vision and story with the Minister and his team, as we work together to improve health and wellbeing outcomes in our local communities.