Dan Repacholi’s bright TradeMutt suit brings TIACS men’s mental health message to Parliament House

newy.com.au – Special Envoy for Men’s Health and Federal Member for Hunter Dan Repacholi has worn a bold TradeMutt suit in Federal Parliament today to highlight men’s mental health and promote free counselling service TIACS.

The colourful outfit, designed by social enterprise workwear brand TradeMutt and tailored by Urbana is intended as a literal conversation starter, drawing attention to This Is A Conversation Starter (TIACS), a not-for-profit text and call counselling service that has already supported more than 50,000 conversations with workers doing it tough. In Australia, official data shows more than three-quarters of people who die by suicide are men, with suicide remaining one of the leading causes of premature death.

Wearing the suit in Parliament, Repacholi said he wanted to challenge stereotypes about what it looks like for men to ask for help. “I am wearing this suit because too many blokes are still doing it tough in silence, and if a bright suit gets one man talking or one mate checking in, it’s worth every bit of attention,” he said.

Repacholi also drew on his own experience as an elite shooter who has missed Olympic teams and struggled with his mental health afterwards, saying he knew “how hard it is to reach out, which is why services like TIACS are so important”. “Talking isn’t weakness, it’s strength, and TIACS makes it simple for men to pick up the phone or send a text when they need it,” he said. Repacholi told Parliament that if Australia wants to stop “losing seven men a day to suicide”, conversations about mental health need to be as normal as talking about footy or work, and that every time a bloke reaches out “it strengthens families, workplaces and whole communities”.

TradeMutt was launched in 2018 by carpenters Dan Allen and Ed Ross after Allen lost a close mate to suicide, with the pair deciding to use bright, patterned work shirts to make mental health a more approachable topic on site. The Brisbane based social enterprise makes hi-vis and casual workwear “by tradies for tradies”, with “This Is A Conversation Starter” embroidered across the back and, on many garments, a QR code that links directly to TIACS. TradeMutt donates 50% of its profits to TIACS and has been recognised with the 2019 Queensland Men’s Health Award and a 2024 Australian Good Design Award for its social impact.

TIACS, which stands for This Is A Conversation Starter offers free, professional counselling by phone or text for tradies, truckies, farmers, miners, apprentices and other blue collar workers, as well as the families and mates who support them. The service operates Monday to Friday between 8am and 10pm AEST and provides up to eight sessions with the same counsellor, aiming to remove cost, wait times and referral hurdles that can stop people seeking help. TIACS stresses it is not a crisis line and directs anyone in immediate danger to call 000 or contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 for urgent support.

Allen said he and Ross were “incredibly proud” to have built a model “meeting workers needs head on”, but warned “there are still so many more out there who are struggling in silence that deserve to be supported”. He said TradeMutt and TIACS had already delivered “incredible outcomes” but needed to keep growing so “no blue collar worker ever has to go it alone”, describing tradies, truckies, farmers and blue-collar workers as “the cornerstone of this country”. Fellow co-founder Ross said having the Federal Member for Hunter stand in Parliament wearing a custom TradeMutt suit and sharing their story was “an incredible moment for both businesses”, adding, “It tells us we are doing something right.”

Repacholi was elected Member for Hunter in 2022 and in May 2025 became Australia’s first Special Envoy for Men’s Health, with a brief to advise the federal government on improving men’s health and suicide prevention. In the role he has repeatedly argued that services must meet men where they are, at work, in sports clubs and community spaces and be designed in ways men feel comfortable using.

In recent weeks Repacholi has addressed the ACT Men’s Shed Health Muster in Canberra, calling for more investment in community-based men’s health programs, extra training for Men’s Shed volunteers and stronger partnerships between sheds and local health services, saying Men’s Sheds are “saving lives every day”. He has also travelled to the Northern Territory for a men’s health roundtable and the first NT Men’s ShedFest, meeting community leaders and service providers and emphasising that “men’s health is about more than doctor’s visits” and must include mateship, connection, purpose and community.

Closer to home, Repacholi recently urged Hunter business leaders at a Business Hunter luncheon in Newcastle to “break the silence” on men’s mental health, warning that the region’s concentration of workers in construction, mining, manufacturing, energy and FIFO or DIDO roles increases local risk. He encouraged employers to make help visible, train supervisors to spot warning signs and treat fatigue, isolation, bullying and impossible workloads as workplace hazards like any other, telling attendees the Hunter could become “the gold standard for bloke-friendly workplaces”.

Repacholi has told men’s health advocates he will keep pushing in Canberra for more funding for local, practical programs and research, and for services that men feel comfortable walking into. For more information on TradeMutt or TIACS visit www.trademutt.com or www.tiacs.org, and for mental health support call or text TIACS on 0488 846 988.