Dads
Thomas Docking: the extraordinary ordinary dad you all want to meet
When you first meet Thomas Docking he comes across as a bit of a muck about lad. He’ll be the first to tell you how much he loves the water (ocean), skateboarding with his kids, date night with his wife Kate and BBQ’ing in the street with the neighbours. Thomas is laid back but at…
Read MoreOne Dads 14 Week Paid Parental Leave Experience
How do other families do it? Parental leave that is. One may assume there’s only one way to do it and that is to just take what you can get – be that from the Government or an employer. But in fact there are so many ways you can take parental leave these days. So,…
Read MoreThe State of Play: Policy and Systems for Fathers – A Plus Paternal Webinar
What does a universal pathway for men look like as they become fathers and on goingly as they integrate parenthood with work commitments? Recently our Chief Services Officer, Kiri Stejko, joined a panel of experts on a Plus Paternal Webinar to talk about how we can support men to be a bigger part of the…
Read MoreThe (Actual) Joy of Working from Home with Kids – Celebrating Father’s Day with Rob Sturrock
When I was a teenager, I had various aspirations for my future career. International diplomat, author, academic and politician featured heavily in my daydreams. Being a father was not only a non-starter, but taking care of children or handling a baby was something that actively terrified me. It was unfathomable to my younger self that…
Read MoreHas COVID-19 changed Fatherhood? An interview with Blake Woodward
Blake Woodward is a dad, management consultant and founder of Suit Tie Stroller – a website supporting corporate dads in finding work life balance while raising a family, as well as advocating for gender-equal parental leave and support policies. Blake took extensive parental leave for each of his two kids to be the primary carer and…
Read MoreOpen Letters to New Fathers and Pregnant Women during Covid-19
Parents At Work recognise that the Covid-19 pandemic may be causing unease for parents-to-be and new parents. As strong advocates for ‘sharing the care’, we believe this is even more pertinent in these challenging times. Richard Fletcher from SMS4dads has written an open letter for new fathers at this time. Dr Vijay Roach, President of…
Read MoreImpressive 300% Increase in Men Taking Parental Leave with QBE’s New Gender-Equal Policy
In March 2019, QBE launched their paid parental leave initiative ‘Share the Care’. This new policy eliminated the gendered terms of “primary” and “secondary” carer, and instead offered its existing 12-weeks paid parental leave to every new parent – acknowledging the important roles all parents play within a working family. In the new policy employees…
Read MoreLaunching a New Podcast Series Just For Dads Juggling Career and Family
“I found becoming a dad pretty disorientating. It changed my priorities, my attitude to work and had a big impact on my relationship, too. Trying to navigate that wasn’t always easy. But chatting to other dads often helped, plus I picked up the odd tip (i.e. wearing T-shirts inside-out until you leave the house will…
Read MoreLiberating Men From Boardrooms to Playgrounds – Why we need an urgent rethink on parental leave in Australia
The ‘maternity leave’ debate is alive and kicking almost ten years on since the introduction of the government’s first paid parental leave scheme. But this time, it’s not about mums taking leave – it’s about dads. And rightly so. ABC journalist, presenter and author of ‘The Wife Drought’, Annabel Crabb, recently published her Quarterly Essay,…
Read More“Do we think dads are just for weekends?”: Annabel Crabb says dads need same support as mums
‘Why do we fret so extensively about the impact on children of not seeing their mothers enough, but care so little about what happens when it’s dad who’s always away?’ Annabel Crabb Annabel Crabb is one of Australia’s most popular political commentators, and her new quarterly essay titled ‘Men At Work – Australia’s Parenting Trap’…
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