Shaping the MOVEment for men's health
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TRIGGER WARNING: THIS ARTICLE DISCUSSES SUICIDE.
November is one of the busiest times of the year for consultant urologist Dr Sanjeev Bandi. Not only is he busy in his practice and in his role as AMA Queensland Council Capricornia Area Representative but each November he also kicks into fundraising mode, as a community ambassador for ‘Movember’ the men’s health awareness month.
Currently, Dr Bandi is Australia’s second-highest individual Movember fundraiser and eighth worldwide, having individually raised over $759,633 since 2008 (and walked 800 km to raise funds). He has secured a whopping $55,245 in donations so far this Movember (up to 27/11).
This is no small feat for a doctor who lives in the regional city of Mackay. His team, the MOV-ing Mackay Cricket Club, have collectively raised $70,834 to date this year, and $1,041,586.16 since their first campaign in 2011.
As a urologist, Dr Bandi’s motivation is to improve men’s health, including prevention of prostate and testicular cancers. Alongside this is a strong focus on mental health and suicide prevention.
With the Foundation’s 2025 Christmas appeal to support increased services for mental health and suicide prevention underway, Dr Bandi was the perfect person to talk to during November. We asked him about the issues around mental health and suicide, particularly as they impact men.
For Dr Bandi, Movember is personal.
According to Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data released this month, 3,307 deaths were by suspected suicide in Australia in 2023-2024. Of those deaths, 2,529 (75.6%) were men.
While the median age of people who died by suicide is 46 years, it is the leading cause of death among people aged 15-44 years and the second-leading cause of death in children (5-17 years), accounting for 15.9% of child deaths It is estimated that for every person who takes their own life, 135 more people are impacted.
These statistics are grim, but for Dr Bandi it’s about more than statistics. For him, suicide is not an abstract topic but one that is deeply personal and drives his cause during Movember and throughout the year.
At just twelve years old, Dr Bandi had the harrowing experience of being the one to find his best friend, who had taken his life by suicide.
“I opened the door and there he was. The image and memory of that day will be forever with me.”
“I cannot forget it but I can make a difference and that is what I will continue to do, to try to help as many people as I possibly can and raise awareness.”
A total of 790 Queenslanders died by suspected suicide in 2023-2024, with an age-standardised rate of 14 per 100,000, higher than the national average of 11.8 per 100,000. In the Northern Queensland Primary Health Network (PHN) which encompasses Dr Bandi’s hometown of Mackay, the rates are much higher, with an age-standardised suicide rate of 20.7 per 100,000, the highest for any PHN in Australia.
These figures only increase with remoteness. For males living in remote and very remote areas of Australia, the 2024 standardised rate was 39.8 per 100,000, the highest recorded over a five-year period.
What’s more, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the suicide rate is almost three times higher than for the non-Indigenous population. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men, the rate is a staggering 55.1 per 100,000 people.
While statistics are important, Dr Bandi said what is just as important is to remember that behind every statistic is a person.
“For every statistic, there is a person who was struggling, and there is a family and a community left behind who are devastated.”
Highlighting the challenges for men
Dr Bandi said men often face a unique set of challenges when it comes to managing their mental wellbeing with the stigma of shame or embarrassment often a barrier to seeking help and taking action.
“Men are not always good at discussing their feelings, especially when it comes to sadness, depression, or stress. Men instead act out with more work, drinking and risk taking to numb or avoid the real problems they face.”
“It’s time we shelved the idea that being ‘manly’ means not admitting to any vulnerabilities or expressing emotions and encourage men to seek help and to speak openly about their struggles,” he said.
While men are still disproportionately featured in Australia’s suicide statistics, Dr Bandi also wanted to highlight that when isolating age groups, young females aged between 25-29 years accounted for the highest proportion of deaths due to suicide across all groups (12.3%).
Getting creative for the cause
The distinct branding of Dr Bandi’s Movember campaigns is his poetry, which he says brings additional attention and understanding to often-complicated issues.
“People know me by my moustache and my poetry. Through creativity, we can say things with more depth of feeling and help people understand in ways that maybe statistics cannot. I think there is room for both in talking about these issues.”
“We certainly need to think creatively about more lifesaving solutions,” he said.
We could not agree more.
Below is a moving poem Dr Bandi has written for suicide prevention in Movember.
If We Stand Together, They Will Stay
In the towns where the sun kissed gum trees bend their backs, and the rail of dusk runs quiet through the street,
We hear the quietest questions:
Is someone listening when the night grows heavy?
We know the numbers, yes, and the names that haunt the halls: mothers, friends, teammates, colleagues who disappear into the dark.
But behind every statistic, there is a heartbeat—unseen, incomplete, waiting for a hand to reach, a voice to say: you are not alone.
Australia, land of mateship, of wide skies and open roads, needs more listening ears, more swift doors opening.
We need to replace crisis now with care, to replace stigma with courage, to replace silence with a chorus of help, steady and clear.
Let us build bridges from every suburb to every clinic, from the online chats to the clinician’s chair, where someone can say, ‘I’m not okay,’ and be answered with a plan, with warmth, with boots on the ground.
If a friend falters, let us show up—a text, a call, a shared coffee, a ride to the clinic.
If a child whispers doubt, let us amplify the grown-up in them: a parent’s patience, a teacher’s noticing nod, a coach’s steady whistle.
Let the schools teach resilience not as bravado but as bravery: how to name the ache, how to seek help without shame, how to breathe when the world feels crowded and loud.
Let the workplaces guard mental health as they guard wages and hours, with flexible breaks, supportive supervisors, and real leave to heal.
Policy is not distant, abstract policy is human.
Fund the lifelines: 13 HEY, Lifeline, beyondblue, haven programs, the counsellor who remembers every face, the crisis line that answers at 2 am.
Make it easy to reach, cheap to access, fast to respond.
We owe it to the lost to fight for the living: for the student who misses class because the weight won’t lift,
for the worker who carries fear at the end of every shift, for the elder who navigates loneliness at the edge of dusk.So let us pledge today to do more than talk.
Let action bloom where fear once stood still: train peers to spot distress, fund youth-led wellness spaces, and ensure every town has a safe place to land when the night returns.
If you are hurting, speak up. If you are listening, respond.
If we stand together, the shadows shrink, and the tomorrow we build will have more light, more hope, more hands ready to hold.
This is not a slogan; it is a responsibility.
This is not a moment; it is a movement.
Australia, let compassion be the infrastructure of our days— and let every life be worth the effort to protect.
DR SANJEEV BANDI
- Digital Champion & Mentor
- CoderDojo - Mackay @ SplitSpaces
- CAPTAIN, MOV~ing Mackay Cricket Club* Movember Community Ambassador* Platinum Club Level 3 Member *1 of 2 Diamond Members of Movember Hall of Fame in Australia
- Movember blog on A-Z of Men’s Health for 2024 and 2025 campaigns
- Support Dr Bandi this Movember
24-hour support
If any of the topics in this article have raised issues for you, help is available. Here’s where you can find 24/7 support.
Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636
Lifeline 13 11 14
Donate to the AMA Queensland Foundation Christmas Appeal for mental health and suicide prevention
