Conferences & Forums

Archives

Fatherhood Forum

10 February 2003
Parliament House, Canberra, ACT Australia

Dads4Kids/The Fatherhood Foundation held a Fathering Forum on 10th February, 2003 at Parliament House with 24 key men’s groups, community groups and charities represented. Senator Paul Calvert, President of the Senate, hosted the day-long function at Parliament House.

Of particular interest was Mark Latham’s speech as he officially launched The 12pt Plan in Parliament. The Hon Larry Anthony, Minister for Youth & Children and the Hon Ross Cameron, Secretary to the Minister for Family & Community also spoke on behalf of The 12pt Plan. Media turnout was excellent, with coverage on 5 live radio interviews and several national newspapers.

 

National Strategic Conference on Fatherhood (NSCF)

18-19 August 2003
Parliament House, Canberra, ACT Australia

The inaugural National Strategic Conference on Fatherhood, 18th and 19th August 2003 was an historic milestone in the restoration of fatherhood in Australia.

Dads4Kids/The Fatherhood Foundation released The 12pt Plan on 26 June 2003 to strengthen and support Australian fathers, with strong bipartisan support in Federal Parliament.

The National Strategic Conference on Fatherhood gathered academics, psychologists, men’s groups, suicide prevention groups, counsellors, family based charities, mentoring groups, church groups, children’s workers, community groups, family law reform groups, journalists, and like minded individuals from across the nation to develop a strategic plan to turn the tide of fatherlessness.

The National Strategic Conference on Fatherhood was not about uniformity, but the ability to listen to many different points of view and to come up with a strategic plan for change that would be fair and just, positive, practical, creative and all encompassing for fathers, mothers and children.

 

National Marriage Forum

4 August 2004
Parliament House, Canberra, ACT Australia

The goal of the Fatherhood Foundation is to turn the tide of fatherlessness in our nation as evidenced in The 12 Point Plan, which was a joint effort by many pro-fatherhood groups. The further destruction of marriage in our society will only add to the sorry tale of fatherless children. Why should we offer our children as living sacrifices on the altar of political correctness, just to please a few?

Fatherhood and marriage are inextricably linked together. Destroy marriage, and you destroy fatherhood. The saddest thing is that our children suffer the consequences. We need to send a message to both major political parties that marriage needs to be confirmed by law as a unique and special act of love between a man and a woman voluntarily entered into for life.

To further demean marriage is to destroy it completely. The destruction of our community will soon follow in the vortex of selfishness that such legislation promotes. Now is the time to make a stand for marriage and the family at the National Marriage Forum at Parliament House, Canberra on Wednesday 4th of August 2004.

If we do nothing, the foundations of our society could well be destroyed. Together, we can make a difference!

 

Fatherhood Forum

10 September 2004
Perth, Western Australia

Western Australia’s first Fatherhood Forum was attended by Dr Bruce Robinson, author of Fathering from the Fast Lane; Warwick Marsh from the Fatherhood Foundation, and other key fatherhood leaders from WA.

 

Fatherhood Forum

21 June 2005
Parliament House, Canberra, ACT Australia

Dads4Kids/The Fatherhood Foundation released ‘Fathers in Families’ at the Fatherhood Forum on 21st June 2005. This document shows how fatherlessness is associated with many grave social problems including increased crime, increased poverty, increased drug abuse, increased child sexual abuse, increased child physical abuse, increased levels of teenage suicide and bad educational outcomes for children. Fatherlessness costs Australia over 13 billion dollars per year, according to Dr Bruce Robinson from the University of Western Australia.

The 12pt Plan contained in ‘Fathers and Families’ makes perfect economic sense. An Office for the Status of Fathers, as recommended in The 12pt Plan, would be the most cost-effective investment in families this present government could make. Such an office could help reel in the out-of-control government bureaucracy that doesn’t seem to understand the important contribution that fathers make to families. Such an office could provide the necessary balance to ensure family law reform legislation is carried out correctly.

Sexual Integrity Forum

8-9 August 2005
Parliament House, Canberra, ACT Australia

Evidence from the social sciences and burgeoning crime statistics point to the need to address the issue of sexual integrity. Our fundamental conclusion is this: Sexual Integrity is an important social good, associated with an impressively broad array of positive outcomes for children and adults alike.

Sexual Integrity Forum

May 2006
Perth, Western Australia

Warwick Marsh, Linda Watson and politicians from Labor, Liberal and Independent spoke at the Sexual Integrity Forum in Western Australia. Dr Mary-Anne Layden was a featured speaker via video.

 

The National Strategic Summit on Marriage, Family and Fatherhood

18 September 2007
Parliament House, Canberra

The National Strategic Summit on Marriage, Family and Fatherhood on Tuesday 18th September 2007, with 70 delegates attending, was held in Parliament House, Canberra.

The first purpose of the National Strategic Summit on Marriage, Family and Fatherhood was to strengthen and support marriages and set a vision for the renewal of marriage in Australia that can be supported by all. The National Strategic Summit on Marriage, Family and Fatherhood was the official launching pad for the release of the ‘Marriage Manifesto’, a call to the nation to value and treasure the relationships that we all hold so dear. Marriage is the foundation for our families and families are the foundation for our nation.

Secondly, the National Strategic Summit on Marriage, Family and Fatherhood affirmed fatherhood and motherhood, and the importance of male and female. To this end, a groundbreaking research document called 21 Reasons Why Gender Matters was released.
www.gendermatters.org.au