❓ Mr. Cowper inquires about government assistance to the WA Men's Shed Association, highlighting its importance in combating isolation. Dr. Hames confirms funding of $65,000 per year for three years to support the association's administrative functions, justifying it as a valuable mental health service.
AnsweredQoN 818Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
MEN’S SHED ASSOCIATION — GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE
I understand that the Liberal–National government has provided some financial assistance to support the Western Australia Men’s Shed Association. This is great news for people in my electorate where isolation, particularly in their retirement years, can take a heavy toll on men and their families. I formally invite the Minister for Health to accompany me to the Australind men’s shed that is soon to be opened in Leschenault. Can the minister please provide the house with more details about the assistance that this government is providing? Dr K.D. HAMES
I understand that the Liberal–National government has provided some financial assistance to support the Western Australia Men’s Shed Association. This is great news for people in my electorate where isolation, particularly in their retirement years, can take a heavy toll on men and their families. I formally invite the Minister for Health to accompany me to the Australind men’s shed that is soon to be opened in Leschenault. Can the minister please provide the house with more details about the assistance that this government is providing? Dr K.D. HAMES
AnswerView source ↗
I will only answer half that question! It does seem a strange fit to members in this house, I am sure, for the Department of Health to have an association, particularly a financial association, with the Western Australia Men’s Shed Association. Sometime ago I went to the Minister for Sport and Recreation’s electorate in Katanning for a regional cabinet meeting. I am sure that members of the former government had meetings with local communities at which inevitably the communities asked for something, usually quite reasonably. I must admit that when the men’s shed group came to see me as Minister for Health, I had the word “no” on my lips already prepared in advance, as one does. There are 55 men’s sheds throughout the state and a lot of them are funded through different sources. Some have received considerable funding through royalties for regions to construct sheds and some have received funding through Lotterywest to get the equipment needed to run the sheds. The men’s sheds provide a fantastic service. The chairman of men’s shed, Mr John McDougall, told me that one of the great problems the association has is coordinating information across men’s sheds, arranging meetings and making sure that they have a proper administrative structure in place to help put in applications for funding for new men’s sheds. John asked me for a relatively modest amount of money to employ someone to do that role. He requested $65 000 a year for three years and made the point that men’s sheds provide an enormously valuable health service. The people who go to the men’s sheds are often men who are on their own. Sometimes they are widowed and often they are sitting at home lonely and depressed, but they have great skills that they want to use. From a mental health and community aspect, I believe that it is appropriate for the Department of Health to fund that service. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Where is the money coming from? Is it coming out of your budget? Dr K.D. HAMES : Yes, it is coming from my budget. From my budget we fund a whole range of non-government organisations. The main ones are Silver Chain and Royal Flying Doctor Service, but we also fund the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Australia, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Motor Neurone Disease Association of Western Australia, Cystic Fibrosis Western Australia and Epilepsy Action Australia. We fund a range of things, including drug and alcohol shelters and the like. A package of funding that is held within Health often covers about three different ministers that I have the pleasure of administering. It was really good to find those additional dollars—$65 000 a year—and although that is not a big amount, it has enabled the men’s shed association to employ someone to properly supervise the management of the men’s sheds.
Dr K.D. HAMES replied: I will only answer half that question! It does seem a strange fit to members in this house, I am sure, for the Department of Health to have an association, particularly a financial association, with the Western Australia Men’s Shed Association. Sometime ago I went to the Minister for Sport and Recreation’s electorate in Katanning for a regional cabinet meeting. I am sure that members of the former government had meetings with local communities at which inevitably the communities asked for something, usually quite reasonably. I must admit that when the men’s shed group came to see me as Minister for Health, I had the word “no” on my lips already prepared in advance, as one does. There are 55 men’s sheds throughout the state and a lot of them are funded through different sources. Some have received considerable funding through royalties for regions to construct sheds and some have received funding through Lotterywest to get the equipment needed to run the sheds. The men’s sheds provide a fantastic service. The chairman of men’s shed, Mr John McDougall, told me that one of the great problems the association has is coordinating information across men’s sheds, arranging meetings and making sure that they have a proper administrative structure in place to help put in applications for funding for new men’s sheds. John asked me for a relatively modest amount of money to employ someone to do that role. He requested $65 000 a year for three years and made the point that men’s sheds provide an enormously valuable health service. The people who go to the men’s sheds are often men who are on their own. Sometimes they are widowed and often they are sitting at home lonely and depressed, but they have great skills that they want to use. From a mental health and community aspect, I believe that it is appropriate for the Department of Health to fund that service. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Where is the money coming from? Is it coming out of your budget? Dr K.D. HAMES : Yes, it is coming from my budget. From my budget we fund a whole range of non-government organisations. The main ones are Silver Chain and Royal Flying Doctor Service, but we also fund the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Australia, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Motor Neurone Disease Association of Western Australia, Cystic Fibrosis Western Australia and Epilepsy Action Australia. We fund a range of things, including drug and alcohol shelters and the like. A package of funding that is held within Health often covers about three different ministers that I have the pleasure of administering. It was really good to find those additional dollars—$65 000 a year—and although that is not a big amount, it has enabled the men’s shed association to employ someone to properly supervise the management of the men’s sheds.
I will only answer half that question! It does seem a strange fit to members in this house, I am sure, for the Department of Health to have an association, particularly a financial association, with the Western Australia Men’s Shed Association. Sometime ago I went to the Minister for Sport and Recreation’s electorate in Katanning for a regional cabinet meeting. I am sure that members of the former government had meetings with local communities at which inevitably the communities asked for something, usually quite reasonably. I must admit that when the men’s shed group came to see me as Minister for Health, I had the word “no” on my lips already prepared in advance, as one does. There are 55 men’s sheds throughout the state and a lot of them are funded through different sources. Some have received considerable funding through royalties for regions to construct sheds and some have received funding through Lotterywest to get the equipment needed to run the sheds. The men’s sheds provide a fantastic service. The chairman of men’s shed, Mr John McDougall, told me that one of the great problems the association has is coordinating information across men’s sheds, arranging meetings and making sure that they have a proper administrative structure in place to help put in applications for funding for new men’s sheds. John asked me for a relatively modest amount of money to employ someone to do that role. He requested $65 000 a year for three years and made the point that men’s sheds provide an enormously valuable health service. The people who go to the men’s sheds are often men who are on their own. Sometimes they are widowed and often they are sitting at home lonely and depressed, but they have great skills that they want to use. From a mental health and community aspect, I believe that it is appropriate for the Department of Health to fund that service. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Where is the money coming from? Is it coming out of your budget? Dr K.D. HAMES : Yes, it is coming from my budget. From my budget we fund a whole range of non-government organisations. The main ones are Silver Chain and Royal Flying Doctor Service, but we also fund the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Australia, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Motor Neurone Disease Association of Western Australia, Cystic Fibrosis Western Australia and Epilepsy Action Australia. We fund a range of things, including drug and alcohol shelters and the like. A package of funding that is held within Health often covers about three different ministers that I have the pleasure of administering. It was really good to find those additional dollars—$65 000 a year—and although that is not a big amount, it has enabled the men’s shed association to employ someone to properly supervise the management of the men’s sheds.
Mrs M.H. Roberts : Where is the money coming from? Is it coming out of your budget? Dr K.D. HAMES : Yes, it is coming from my budget. From my budget we fund a whole range of non-government organisations. The main ones are Silver Chain and Royal Flying Doctor Service, but we also fund the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Australia, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Motor Neurone Disease Association of Western Australia, Cystic Fibrosis Western Australia and Epilepsy Action Australia. We fund a range of things, including drug and alcohol shelters and the like. A package of funding that is held within Health often covers about three different ministers that I have the pleasure of administering. It was really good to find those additional dollars—$65 000 a year—and although that is not a big amount, it has enabled the men’s shed association to employ someone to properly supervise the management of the men’s sheds.
Dr K.D. HAMES : Yes, it is coming from my budget. From my budget we fund a whole range of non-government organisations. The main ones are Silver Chain and Royal Flying Doctor Service, but we also fund the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Australia, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Motor Neurone Disease Association of Western Australia, Cystic Fibrosis Western Australia and Epilepsy Action Australia. We fund a range of things, including drug and alcohol shelters and the like. A package of funding that is held within Health often covers about three different ministers that I have the pleasure of administering. It was really good to find those additional dollars—$65 000 a year—and although that is not a big amount, it has enabled the men’s shed association to employ someone to properly supervise the management of the men’s sheds.
Dr K.D. HAMES replied: I will only answer half that question! It does seem a strange fit to members in this house, I am sure, for the Department of Health to have an association, particularly a financial association, with the Western Australia Men’s Shed Association. Sometime ago I went to the Minister for Sport and Recreation’s electorate in Katanning for a regional cabinet meeting. I am sure that members of the former government had meetings with local communities at which inevitably the communities asked for something, usually quite reasonably. I must admit that when the men’s shed group came to see me as Minister for Health, I had the word “no” on my lips already prepared in advance, as one does. There are 55 men’s sheds throughout the state and a lot of them are funded through different sources. Some have received considerable funding through royalties for regions to construct sheds and some have received funding through Lotterywest to get the equipment needed to run the sheds. The men’s sheds provide a fantastic service. The chairman of men’s shed, Mr John McDougall, told me that one of the great problems the association has is coordinating information across men’s sheds, arranging meetings and making sure that they have a proper administrative structure in place to help put in applications for funding for new men’s sheds. John asked me for a relatively modest amount of money to employ someone to do that role. He requested $65 000 a year for three years and made the point that men’s sheds provide an enormously valuable health service. The people who go to the men’s sheds are often men who are on their own. Sometimes they are widowed and often they are sitting at home lonely and depressed, but they have great skills that they want to use. From a mental health and community aspect, I believe that it is appropriate for the Department of Health to fund that service. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Where is the money coming from? Is it coming out of your budget? Dr K.D. HAMES : Yes, it is coming from my budget. From my budget we fund a whole range of non-government organisations. The main ones are Silver Chain and Royal Flying Doctor Service, but we also fund the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Australia, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Motor Neurone Disease Association of Western Australia, Cystic Fibrosis Western Australia and Epilepsy Action Australia. We fund a range of things, including drug and alcohol shelters and the like. A package of funding that is held within Health often covers about three different ministers that I have the pleasure of administering. It was really good to find those additional dollars—$65 000 a year—and although that is not a big amount, it has enabled the men’s shed association to employ someone to properly supervise the management of the men’s sheds.
I will only answer half that question! It does seem a strange fit to members in this house, I am sure, for the Department of Health to have an association, particularly a financial association, with the Western Australia Men’s Shed Association. Sometime ago I went to the Minister for Sport and Recreation’s electorate in Katanning for a regional cabinet meeting. I am sure that members of the former government had meetings with local communities at which inevitably the communities asked for something, usually quite reasonably. I must admit that when the men’s shed group came to see me as Minister for Health, I had the word “no” on my lips already prepared in advance, as one does. There are 55 men’s sheds throughout the state and a lot of them are funded through different sources. Some have received considerable funding through royalties for regions to construct sheds and some have received funding through Lotterywest to get the equipment needed to run the sheds. The men’s sheds provide a fantastic service. The chairman of men’s shed, Mr John McDougall, told me that one of the great problems the association has is coordinating information across men’s sheds, arranging meetings and making sure that they have a proper administrative structure in place to help put in applications for funding for new men’s sheds. John asked me for a relatively modest amount of money to employ someone to do that role. He requested $65 000 a year for three years and made the point that men’s sheds provide an enormously valuable health service. The people who go to the men’s sheds are often men who are on their own. Sometimes they are widowed and often they are sitting at home lonely and depressed, but they have great skills that they want to use. From a mental health and community aspect, I believe that it is appropriate for the Department of Health to fund that service. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Where is the money coming from? Is it coming out of your budget? Dr K.D. HAMES : Yes, it is coming from my budget. From my budget we fund a whole range of non-government organisations. The main ones are Silver Chain and Royal Flying Doctor Service, but we also fund the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Australia, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Motor Neurone Disease Association of Western Australia, Cystic Fibrosis Western Australia and Epilepsy Action Australia. We fund a range of things, including drug and alcohol shelters and the like. A package of funding that is held within Health often covers about three different ministers that I have the pleasure of administering. It was really good to find those additional dollars—$65 000 a year—and although that is not a big amount, it has enabled the men’s shed association to employ someone to properly supervise the management of the men’s sheds.
Mrs M.H. Roberts : Where is the money coming from? Is it coming out of your budget? Dr K.D. HAMES : Yes, it is coming from my budget. From my budget we fund a whole range of non-government organisations. The main ones are Silver Chain and Royal Flying Doctor Service, but we also fund the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Australia, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Motor Neurone Disease Association of Western Australia, Cystic Fibrosis Western Australia and Epilepsy Action Australia. We fund a range of things, including drug and alcohol shelters and the like. A package of funding that is held within Health often covers about three different ministers that I have the pleasure of administering. It was really good to find those additional dollars—$65 000 a year—and although that is not a big amount, it has enabled the men’s shed association to employ someone to properly supervise the management of the men’s sheds.
Dr K.D. HAMES : Yes, it is coming from my budget. From my budget we fund a whole range of non-government organisations. The main ones are Silver Chain and Royal Flying Doctor Service, but we also fund the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Australia, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Motor Neurone Disease Association of Western Australia, Cystic Fibrosis Western Australia and Epilepsy Action Australia. We fund a range of things, including drug and alcohol shelters and the like. A package of funding that is held within Health often covers about three different ministers that I have the pleasure of administering. It was really good to find those additional dollars—$65 000 a year—and although that is not a big amount, it has enabled the men’s shed association to employ someone to properly supervise the management of the men’s sheds.
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