United Nations Urged to Recognise Fathers as Essential
The International Council for Men and Boys (ICMB) is calling on the United Nations to restore fathers to its vision of the family. Fathers are not optional.
Your Best Year Yet
Dads4Kids often gets heartbreaking calls from single dads who have been shut out of their children’s lives in the process of family breakup. We have advocated at a parliamentary level for a fair go for single dads who can’t see their kids. Sadly, the changes to the system have been ...
Children First
Crystal's mother and father had broken up a few months ago and had moved from the family home, each going their own way. The family home was put up for sale. One night, the neighbours were woken by a loud noise that sounded like an explosion. They looked out their ...
Female Divorce Lawyer Champions Fatherhood
We need women. That’s a line that all men can agree on, but not always for the right reasons. Feminism only gained ground in the 1890’s when men became vocal supporters of a woman’s right to vote. In those days, in a court of law, a woman did not have ...
FATHER’S DAY 2019: A Father in Detention
Happy Father’s Day. I hope and pray you have a good one. Recently I received a call at the Dads4Kids office. It was most unusual. Junior Stowers was his name, and he was was calling from inside a detention centre. Having performed concerts in 20 gaols across Australia (where nobody ...
Christmas – Special Time of The Year
To our children, Christmas is one of those special times of the year. When I was growing up it was the best time of the year and was always a long time coming. New Year was always an anticlimax, despite my Scottish heritage and the importance of Hogmanay in that ...
Five Keys to a Successful Christmas
Charles Dickens' words could well apply to Christmas for many people here in Australia. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times… it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness.” From my point of view Christmas is one of the best times ...
The War Against Fathers – A Call For Tender Warriors
Well-known UK commentator Peter Hitchens in an article called ‘So Much for Father’s Day’ said, “By the end of his or her childhood, a British boy or girl is much more likely to have a TV set in the bedroom than a father at home. Our 45 year war against ...
Equality for Men
‘Equality for Men’ is a new book by Glen Poole, fatherhood campaigner from Great Britain. Glen Poole worked very closely with Matt O’Connor of Fathers4Justice. More than any other group in the world, Fathers4Justice put issues surrounding single fathers, unjust family law courts and fatherless children on the worldwide map. ...
Fathers Finding Their Voice
On Australia’s federal election night (7 September 2013), I received an excited phone call from James Adams, one of the fathers behind Fathers4Equality. As I missed his call, he later expressed his thoughts in text: “Did you hear Abbott’s acceptance speech? Of three aims he promised to support ‘our forgotten ...
Fatherhood and Explosive DNA
I can remember getting off the boat at Circular Quay, Sydney. I was 8 years old and my brother was 6 years old. My mother had 'taken' us away to Scotland because of marital disharmony, and we had lived with our grandmother for two years in Edinburgh. This was the ...
Elephant in the Room
In the Absent movie, which will soon be touring Australia, 13-29 June 2013, John Eldredge, author of ‘Wild at Heart’ says, “If you take snapshots of western culture right now the prognosis is not good”. David Blankenhorn has stated in ‘Fatherless America’ written in 1996, “Fatherlessness is the most harmful ...
A Christmas to Remember
As Christmas is once again upon us, I would like to share a story that I guess explains what Dads in Distress is all about. It happened a few years ago in the very early days of forming DIDS, and certainly inspired me to continue the work. I was sitting ...
With Thanks On My 50th Birthday
A lot has happened over the past year. I am about to celebrate 50 years on this planet. We had a party last Saturday and it was awesome to be surrounded by my friends and family, my five beautiful children and my new grandson. Life does seem to turn around. ...
I Just Got Off the Phone
I just got off the phone from another dad: devastated, crying, sobbing, absolutely gutted. "How can the mother of my children be so hurtful? I don't understand it”, he said between the tears. "I just want to see my kids. How hard is that?” Yesterday I was counselling one of ...
Dad Hangs Himself in the Courthouse that Denies Him His Children
Could you please, please get this story out there! We desperately need to stop this from happening again. This is the second time in the same court. Now two kids don't have a dad; a mum, dad and family are left grieving. Just weeks ago, a 16-year-old young girl, devastated ...
An Every-Second-Weekend-Dad
Just took my little boy back after our access weekend. Feeling low! I guess it's just that same feeling every dad goes through when he drops his kids off after spending such little time with them. Some don't even get that. So I guess I am blessed. ‘An every-second- weekend-dad.’ ...
In Loving Memory of Andrew T Renouf (Part 2)
Thank GOD we have DIDS in this country. 5 males a day, every day, suicide in this country. In Canada, it’s 9 a day. We are establishing links to start DIDS over there. ~~~ Andrew T. Renouf committed suicide on or about October 17, 1995, because he had 100% of ...
In Loving Memory of Andrew T Renouf (Part 1)
Thank GOD we have DIDS in this country. 5 males a day, every day, suicide in this country. In Canada, it's 9 a day. We are establishing links to start DIDS over there. ~~~ Andrew T. Renouf committed suicide on or about October 17, 1995, because he had 100% of ...
God is With Me
I was driving down the highway to work the other day, after just having a week’s holiday with my kids. I was grateful, especially when I hear from so many who don't have the opportunity of being with their children. I knew the workload would be enormous. I mean a ...
It’s a Boy!
Dear Diary, IT’S A BOY! My beautiful daughter gave birth the other week to a beautiful boy, 8lb 3oz. I was supposed to speak in Parliament House at the Human Rights Conference about ‘DIDs’ that week. And you know what? Normally my work would take preference over my private life. ...
Right Here Waiting
Cup in hand, deep in thought, It's like this every day. And it twists my heart I know But there is no other way. I dream of you, there's nothing else, No picture I can see. To see your smiles and how you've grown Or how much of you is ...
Our Deepest Fear
In his 1994 inaugural speech, Nelson Mandela said: Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves: who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and ...
Sometimes I Just Need to Switch Off
Well here it is, Saturday morning, and Warwick rang me for my article and I had nothing prepared. I was wandering around a shopping centre not particularly looking for anything, just in a bit of a daze. You see, sometimes things just get the better of me, and sometimes I ...
Lonely Father’s Day
I have just returned from Sydney, where we have opened several DIDs groups over the past couple of weeks. It never ceases to amaze me, the guys I meet along the way. Absolutely awesome dads who, although they struggle on a daily basis to see their kids and hold down ...
Altruistic Love of a Father
It is nearly forty years ago since the first known father, an Australian, applied for legal custody of a baby girl and was subsequently granted legal custody of his baby daughter by the Supreme Court of New South Wales. Though this father was granted legal custody of his baby daughter ...
