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Author: Mike Kelly

  • AUSTRALIA

    Redefining Dad: Research leads, but policy lags

    • Mike Kelly
    • 14 February 2024
    2 Comments

    Despite a 'fatherhood revolution', government policies continue to neglect the positive impact fathers can have on child development, educational success, and even social well-being. Bridging the gap between the surging research on fatherhood and concrete policy measures ultimately means better outcomes for families.  

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  • AUSTRALIA

    The myths and half-truths of fatherhood

    • Mike Kelly
    • 01 September 2022
    3 Comments

    With many types of fathering in a wide range of ethnic, cultural, and social situations by separated dads, stepdads, gay dads, uncles, and grandpas, as we celebrate today’s dads, it’s good to think about fatherhood and parenting myths and how they stack up in an ever-changing world.   

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Child protection: Fixing an unfixable system

    • Mike Kelly
    • 14 July 2022
    3 Comments

    Is there nothing Government can do to turn around the ever-increasing numbers of children requiring intervention by child protection, youth homelessness and justice systems? Government can start with policies that support families, in all their diversity, and begin to prioritize the needs of children above all else. And given all the evidence tells us that fathers matter to children, isn’t it essential to get fatherhood right?

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  • FAITH DOING JUSTICE

    Best of 2021: How do fathers figure in?

    • Mike Kelly
    • 04 January 2022
    1 Comment

    There are many gems and reflections on ‘fathering’ in Pope Francis’s apostolic letter, Patris Corde ‘With a Father’s Heart’, in which he nominates 2021 as the year to honour the fatherhood of St Joseph. Francis’s letter is inclusive, encompassing the scope of fatherhood and the responsibilities fathering entails. ‘Fathers are not born, but made’, Francis says.

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  • FAITH DOING JUSTICE

    How do fathers figure in?

    • Mike Kelly
    • 01 April 2021
    5 Comments

    There are many gems and reflections on ‘fathering’ in Pope Francis’s apostolic letter, Patris Corde ‘With a Father’s Heart’, in which he nominates 2021 as the year to honour the fatherhood of St Joseph. Francis’s letter is inclusive, encompassing the scope of fatherhood and the responsibilities fathering entails. ‘Fathers are not born, but made’, Francis says.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    The year that turbocharged fatherhood

    • Mike Kelly
    • 21 January 2021
    39 Comments

    Men, it seems, have been looking for more opportunities to spend time with family. Research on young fathers, conducted by the Diversity Council of Australia a few years ago, reported that 79 per cent of new generation dads wanted the flexibility to improve their work and family life. For all its downsides, 2020 provided the opportunities.

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