1/ Investment in men’s communities
The Australian Government has made a $75,000 investment into a men’s community, Mr. Perfect - which host community BBQs. It’s a not-for-profit, with a mission to connect more men together.
I love this for many reasons. It meets many men where they’re at, around an activity that is typically seen as quite “masculine”, but with an inherent focus on community-building. It would have been easy to put this money into, say, training more male therapists, but I think it’s appropriate that it goes into something where there’s a lower barrier to entry for getting men involved.
And for a government to be specifically investing in men’s initiatives, rather than broadly “mental health”, is a very promising sign.
2/ Paternity leave laws are changing
Paternity leave laws aren’t up to scratch in many countries around the world, particularly the UK. 2026 has seen laws change around men getting “day one” paternity leave rights, where previously they had to have given sometimes half-a-year, or even a year’s service to a business before being eligible.
This is important, because so much of masculinity and paternity leave is tied up in this silly notion that men must always be the breadwinners, and so only get the right to be a father after having worked for a certain period of time. These two things should be treated separately.
There’s plenty of noise still happening around paternity leave laws, so watch this space.
3/ Prostate cancer screening getting better
The most common cancer in men is prostate cancer, and yet testing and access to testing has been below par for a long time. Welcome news here that screening has improved and is now deemed to be as good as breast cancer screening.
We have to come at the conversation around masculinity from all angles, and one of those important angles is health.
4/ Canada’s first ever men’s health strategy
Canada’s government has begun work on their first ever men’s health strategy, tipped to be released in the autumn of this year. The UK announced its first last year. This is good news all round, governments placing a particular focus on men’s health in their strategies.
The question does have to be asked why it’s taken so long for there to be targeted strategies at both men and women, to be honest. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that the respective sexes will face their own unique challenges and problems throughout life.
But anyway, the past is the past. At least we’re making progress now.
No stories there which completely set the world on fire - nothing absolutely groundbeaking. But lots of little steady progress in different areas, small steps, small progress, conversations we haven’t been having for too long.
Laws, health, investment in men. This is what we need to see more of.
What have you seen recently that’s good for men and masculinity?
Let us know in the comments.
George and James x