Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men are dying younger than non-Indigenous men, and live more years with ill-health. The rate of premature death among Indigenous men in 2020-2022 was more than double that of non-Indigenous men, and the gap has increased in recent years.
That’s why we started the Real Talk series, in partnership with Movember, to raise awareness and have candid conversations about the state of men’s health.
Throughout this series, we’ve spoken to variety of mental health experts, influencers and athletes to discuss topics involving Indigenous people’s struggle with navigating the healthcare system, suicide, depression, and the impact this has on their loved ones.
For our third instalment, we spoke with Indigenous Australian football player Samuel Stubbs about growing up in the Wangkatha tribe from Kalgoorlie in Western Australia and how mental health is approached in the Indigenous community.
“I’ve been to way more funerals than weddings, and most Aboriginal people are the exact same. I think that weighs a lot on bringing you down, not helping you feel good. And then different people use different methods to try get through those hard times,” Sam told PTV.
Sam has been an advocate for improving Australia’s education of Aboriginal culture, and to remove biases within healthcare so that Indigenous men can get the healthcare they need without feeling ignored or prejudiced against.
A new report by Movember – The Real Face of Men’s Health found that 70% of Indigenous Australian men have around 70% higher odds of experiencing barriers to health service use than non-Indigenous men. When compared to men overall, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men report being more likely to feel ignored (35% compared to 14%) and disempowered (34% compared to 13%) after their first visit to their health provider.
“In our culture, men are really leaned upon and we always just sort of shrug it off. And in terms of support networks and things like that, we probably don’t have the best. A lot of our mob live in remote communities and stuff like that. I know it’s a bit different for people on the East Coast but where I come from, a lot of our mob are hundreds of kilometres away from resources.”
Sam also shared his experience navigating the healthcare system and the small steps Australia should take to best support Indigenous men’s health.
“We can’t just go from zero to a hundred real fast. There’s gotta be small steps. And like each community is a little bit different in different areas with what they need. For community, by community. That’s the biggest thing. They know their community. They know what they need. So, they need to be involved in the conversations to make those steps to go forward.”
You can read more of Sam’s story here on our Instagram.
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