Attachments

Attachment 1: Father-inclusive practice, an inspirational case study

DEVELOPMENT OF A FATHER’S GROUP IN A NEONATAL INTENSIVE CARE UNIT (NICU)

Richard Fletcher Father’s Role in Family Services: The Engaging Father’s Project [online]. In: Focus on Fathering; pages: 125-141. Sullivan, Robin (Editor). Camberwell, Vic.: ACER Press, 2003.

The idea of the fathers’ group had arisen from an incident in the unit where a father of a long-stay baby reacted angrily to a perceived variation in the baby’s care and exploded into an angry outburst. The police were called and staff were understandably upset, especially since many had come to know (and like) the father concerned. In the following weeks, discussion of the situation of fathers in the unit led to the Engaging Fathers Project being contacted. After some discussion, a NICU Fathers’ Group was established.

The group was advertised (with an emphasis on the benefits to their baby) with three core information/skills topics: Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) training, Home Safety and Baby Positioning. A letter from the Director explaining why the group was being established was given to all mothers in the Unit. The first group started with a 30 minute CPR demonstration and then practice on an infant dummy conducted by male nursing staff. The discussion of fathering issues was facilitated by the male nurses and the father worker (Richard Fletcher). Fathers did attend, but only in small numbers. On many nights when the group was scheduled, there were only three or four fathers in the unit so that the potential pool of fathers was small.

Once the discussion of fathers’ experiences commenced, most participants were willing to contribute and on several evenings the facilitators had to insist on finishing the sessions after two hours of discussion. Topics ranged from recounting stories of birth and entry to the NICU to discussion of coping strategies and relationship difficulties. In general, the men were complimentary about the medical and nursing staff and appreciated the chance to learn skills such as CPR. We directed the discussion from ‘safe’ to ‘challenging’ topics. For example Home Safety flowed from door clips and hot water settings to ‘Shaken Baby Syndrome’ and anger management. For all the men attending the experience of arriving at the unit was disorienting and stressful. While they could see that their partners made numerous contacts with other mothers at the unit, they did not approach other fathers (other fathers, if asked ‘how is it going?’ might be emotionally upset).

Comments from the fathers as they left indicated that they appreciated the chance to talk about their experiences and feedback from nursing staff confirmed fathers’ appreciation of the group. Nursing staff also reported that young fathers seemed more involved and more confident after the groups. Staff were willing to recommend the group to parents who they encountered in the unit.

An important factor in the senior nursing staff commitment to fathers’ involvement came through the documentation of fathers’ lack of involvement. The Partnerships in Care sheets used in the unit to record parents’ intention to visit and participate were reviewed. Only two instances were found where fathers’ intention to come in to the unit was recorded. Since many fathers were known to attend, it was clear that the current recording system did not provide an accurate record of fathers’ attendance and needed to be modified. The relevant column on the form was split into two and changed from ‘Parent’ to Mother and Father/Partner.

The numbers of mothers and fathers attending educational sessions was also tallied. For the ‘Handling Your Baby’ educational sessions delivered by a physiotherapist attendance was recorded as:


June – December 2001		January – August 2002
Female	Male	Female	Male
29	9	85	23

For the CPR sessions conducted by nursing staff the attendance was recorded as:


September – December 2001		January – August 2002
Female	Male	Female	Male
34	11	99	29

Although not surprising, the presentation of these results provided additional impetus for the staff to address fathers’ participation in the care of their babies and provoked discussion of alternative arrangements for delivering these sessions.

Attachment 2: Evaluation of the father-inclusive practice guide pilot project– participant’s service profiles

Urbis Pty Ltd, June 2008

A pilot project of the father-inclusive practice guide, which was conducted by Urbis Pty Ltd, commenced in May 2007 and ran until March 2008. The pilot aimed to build on the knowledge and skills of Family Relationship Services Program and Early Childhood Program service providers. Participants in the pilot project have provided the following service profiles. These are intended to assist organisations who use the guide in the future to develop a sense of what types of organisations were involved in the pilot project and how father-inclusive practices can be applied in the workplace.

Sing & Grow, Playgroup Association of QLD, Enoggera, QLD

Sing & Grow is an early intervention project, funded to provide disadvantaged communities with free access to short-term music therapy in a community setting. Australian Government funding from their ‘Invest to Grow’ initiative enabled the program to expand nationally in 2005. Since then more than 320 programs have been conducted around Australia.

Programs involve weekly music sessions (usually 10 weeks) that allow families to participate in hands-on activities designed to assist children with developmental skills and encourage parents to learn new and different ways to use music as a way of interacting and playing with their children. Music is also used as a way to stimulate, develop and nurture family relationships.

Programs are run in conjunction with community organisations. Families with children aged up to 3 years are eligible to participate, with an emphasis on families experiencing pressures that impact upon the resources and confidence of parents. Families can be referred to Sing & Grow through an organisation that is supporting them in their community.

Prior to participating in the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs father-inclusive practice program, 94 per cent of carers who attended Sing & Grow sessions with their children were women. Sing & Grow managers were keen to increase the participation of fathers. It was felt that the structure of the program had good potential to appeal to fathers as it involves active and ‘hands-on’ activities that enable men to engage with their children and has the capacity for some flexibility in terms of when sessions are run so working fathers can attend.

Working with their mentor assigned through the father-inclusive practice pilot, Sing & Grow managers developed several goals for increasing the involvement of fathers. It was decided to work toward these goals in NSW, with a view to expanding fatherinclusive practice nationally in the future. The goals were:

Initially

increase father attendance rates at Sing & Grow programs in NSW
successfully engage fathers in sessions in NSW

Then

increase awareness of and skills for father-inclusive practice by Sing & Grow
staff nationally
implement strategies nationally
complete internal evaluation of father-inclusive pilot.

The success of the program would be measured by: an increase in the number of fathers attending; fathers’ satisfaction; observable engagement of fathers in sessions; and positive responses by community organisations. Project level changes would be measured by: updated protocols for management team; session leaders all participate in training; and Sing and Grow literature updated to be more father-inclusive.

Strategies to achieve these goals included:

talk to referring/collaborating community agencies about increasing referrals of fathers and assist workers to foster interest of fathers
create a checklist for engaging fathers in each program
review existing literature and in-service material to make them more father-inclusive
create a flyer for fathers
invitations sent to families whose father was not already attending the program. The invitation was written in the name of the child inviting their dad, grandad, uncle and so forth to attend Sing & Grow with them
edit existing forms to collect details about fathers
target men’s services to be collaborating organisations
encourage father-only programs
ask mothers about fathers’ reactions to their experiences of Sing & Grow
survey of fathers’ satisfaction and interest in the program
compile father feedback survey responses to guide session leader skill development, and invite staff to complete the survey as a reflection exercise
train session leaders in father-inclusive practice.

There was an 85 per cent increase in men’s participation in Sing & Grow in NSW for the sessions during which the program was trialled. There was also a 400 per cent increase in the number of men attending who identified as their child’s primary carer. The fathers’ feedback survey indicated that they were satisfied with both the program and the session leader and valued the benefits of the program to their child. Some fathers reported that the program assisted them with various aspects of their child’s development such as teaching their child to count and encouraging language development.

Training in father-inclusive practice for Sing & Grow session leaders was held in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. Training focussed on the rationale for father-inclusive practice, reviewing father feedback and discussing the experiences and expectations of staff in involving more fathers in the program. Father-inclusive practice is now a regular topic for discussion at in-serves and program set-up. The materials developed, such as the checklist, invitations, flyers and father surveys, will be re-used and refined through subsequent programs.

The response to the father-inclusive practice pilot from community organisations working with Sing & Grow was overwhelmingly positive. Organisations recognised the value of involving fathers and actively participated in recruitment.

Some strategies did not work, or did not go ahead. Initially administrative forms were adapted to collect personal information about fathers required for the invitations. This was found to be ineffective and difficult to complete. Personal approaches to mothers were found to be the best way to engage with fathers. The father-only groups were also not run as fathers clearly indicated they preferred mixed-gender groups.

Centacare Broken Bay, Sydney, NSW

Centacare Broken Bay provides services to children from newborns to primary school-aged, including:

long day care
before and after school care
family day care
vacation care
in-home care.

As with all early childhood centres, the staff at Centacare Broken Bay, in the Northern suburbs of Sydney, are extremely busy. So a major challenge for the father-inclusive practice pilot involved identifying strategies to increase the participation of fathers that could be easily integrated into the existing workload of staff. A program which required extra time or work for staff would probably not get off the ground.

Working within these parameters, staff at Centacare Broken Bay developed a model of father-inclusive practice that was simple and easily manageable. Strategies included:

creating a noticeboard for fathers in the centre in which articles related to fathers and information about men’s services and activities could be displayed
initiating regular discussions about father-inclusive practice at staff meetings
holding a father’s day picnic and brunch.

Achievements

Staff have become more aware of how they interact with men and more focussed on engaging with men as well as women, and encouraging them to be involved with service activities.
The service is focussed on being inclusive of families as a whole – fathers, mothers and children. Father-inclusive practice has become central to the service’s philosophy of inclusion.
The noticeboard has become a rallying point for staff around father-inclusive practice, so staff are more aware of and engaged with the father-inclusive practice process.
The services father-inclusive practice pilot mentor attended the family brunch and spoke to staff and families.

City of Greater Dandenong, VIC

The City of Greater Dandenong provides a range of services to support the needs of families and children within the municipality. Services range from Maternal and Child Health (MCH) services to playgroups, child care, education and crisis support.

Dandenong is an outer-metropolitan area of Melbourne. It is a relatively low socio-economic area with a large number of refugees and newly arrived migrants residing in the region, high rental compared to owner-occupied housing rates and large numbers of public housing. The area can be quite isolating for many people, with a number of areas poorly serviced by public transport.

Being a local government service provided unique opportunities for the City of Greater Dandenong to develop a multi-service approach to father-inclusive practice.

A working group was established involving: community health dads’ workers; playgroup development officer; the library; immunisation (environmental health) workers; youth services; and MCH workers. The group met eight times during the father-inclusive practice pilot and was facilitated by the fatherinclusive practice mentor. The group will continue to operate as a network and meet regularly after the pilot program has finished. The group also met with the Children’s Protection Society, another agency involved in the father-inclusive practice pilot.

The working group put a lot of effort into reflecting on practice and planning strategies to become more fatherinclusive. This involved in-depth discussion about what it means to be father-inclusive and ways that cultural change can be implemented in organisations to make them more father-inclusive. The group also became an avenue for planning collaborative practice in a number of areas. Group members will continue to build on this work into the future.

Other strategies implemented include:

two workshops were held for staff. These were facilitated by the father-inclusive practice mentor
A practitioner with experience working with men and fathers, presented information about father-inclusive practice. Up to 50 people attended each workshop, one of which was held in the morning, the other in the evening to accommodate a range of people. A highlight of the workshop was a DVD in which men told their stories as well as accounts of individual men’s stories given by the practitioner. The link between theory about father-inclusive practice and these personal stories was very powerful for participants and encouraged people to reflect critically on their own practice
following the workshop, MCH services established fathers’ noticeboards in centres and implemented a new system of asking fathers to attend the first MCH home visit (after a child is born)
a father playgroup – ‘the Tumble Club’– was established. This runs at the local Oasis swimming pool venue
cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) training classes for fathers are being run at local Bunnings hardware stores. This supports and is supported by other programs. For example, fathers from the Tumble Club are referred to the CPR course and recruitment for the Tumble Club occurs through the CPR course.

Communities@Work, Canberra, ACT

Communities@Work is a community organisation with a broad range of services and programs that support families and individuals with a diverse and complex range of issues. These services include a number of early childhood services, school-aged care, family support, community education, community development programs, parenting courses and a Behaviour Guidance Program.

Communities@Work have a number of strategies in place to support father-inclusive practice. This includes:

men deliver sessions as part of the community parent education program. To achieve this, Communities@Work have developed partnerships with other agencies who have men on staff who are able to deliver the sessions
the playgroup had a ‘father’s day’. Following this, one of the fathers began to attend more regularly and staff encouraged him to continue his involvement as a role-model to other fathers and as a way to increase the presence of fathers at the playgroup
fathering is a focus of a new pilot for children aged 8-12 years. Again, partnerships have been established with other agencies who have men on staff who are able to participate in the program and deliver sessions
reviewing brochures to ensure they are inclusive of fathers.

While this is just the beginning for father-inclusive practice at Communities@Work, the program has already achieved an increased awareness within the agency of whether programs are father-inclusive. Previously, there was little consciousness of this and no critical assessment of whether programs or services implicitly excluded men.

Good Beginnings, Darwin, NT

Good Beginnings is a national organisation providing early childhood services. Across the country Good Beginnings has a strong history working with fathers, but in Darwin they had to start at the beginning. A number of strategies were trialled to begin with including:

brochures and newsletters were reviewed to ensure they were explicitly welcoming fathers into the service
discussions within the staff team encouraged critical reflection of current practice. Staff came to see that while they were accepting of father’s involvement, more active encouragement was required to overcome external barriers to fathers’ involvement in children’s services
a ‘dads, pops, uncles and brothers’ computer training course was offered. Although there was some interest no-one attended. There may have been a number of reasons for this including the timing (during the day on a Friday). However, the key reasons seemed to be that the service didn’t have a relationship with the fathers in the community. More needed to be done to build a presence in the local community, including building links with services and clubs that are attended by men
strategies to build the profile of the service among fathers included giving out information packs to fathers at ante-natal classes and at the kids’ swimming classes and creating a separate newsletter for fathers. The service is also looking into running training courses at the local rugby club rather than childcare centres
a father’s breakfast at the local school will be trialled in the future.

The program has been a big learning curve for staff and has revealed a lot about the way in which service staff can think it is being father-inclusive when it is actually not. However, the service has achieved a lot in terms of increasing staff awareness about how to engage with fathers and starting to build connections with men in the local community. Over time consciousness of father-inclusive practice has filtered across the service as a whole and has become an integral part of practice, ensuring that a focus on father-inclusive practice will be sustained long-term.

Centacare Wilcannia-Forbes, Forbes NSW

Centacare Wilcannia-Forbes provides a range of child and family services and has funding to run programs for men under the Men and Family Relationships Program. Services offered under this program include:

collaborating with health services to engage with expectant fathers at the time they are attending ante-natal classes. Centacare then continues to meet with these fathers before and after the birth
running a successful Dads and Kids (DaKs) program in which fathers and their children are involved in a ‘fun day’ every month. The fathers also meet together once a month to reflect on their role as fathers and plan future activities
running regular gatherings for young Indigenous fathers
delivering information evenings on raising teenage boys based on the ‘Pathways to Manhood program’
running an annual fatherhood festival, which is a large community event held on Father’s Day. The event receives support from a wide range of local business and community services and involves information stalls and ‘old-fashioned’ festival activities such as egg and spoon and sack races. Last year the event was attended by over 700 people
events are held annually in recognition of Men’s Health Week. This may include public forums, activities such as lawn bowling and other activities held in conjunction with local health services
a ‘Father Figure’ photo and caption competition is held annually to promote and celebrate the role of men in children’s lives
a father’s playgroup is held every fortnight for fathers with children up to 3 years old.

The father-inclusive practice pilot supported all these activities by focussing on enhancing the profile of the men’s work within the organisation. This ensured all staff were more supportive of activities being run with men and fathers and more likely to refer men to services and encourage female clients to talk to their male partners. Strategies to achieve this included:

Conducting a ‘cultural audit’ of father-inclusive practice across the whole organisation and presenting the findings back to staff at a father-inclusive practice workshop
Run a father-inclusive practice workshop for all staff, which involved talking about the importance of father-inclusive practice, explaining what range of activities are currently being run by services as part of the men’s program, feeding back the results of the cultural audit and discussing ways the service can become more father-inclusive.

Produce a flyer advertising the range of men’s activities that all staff can hand to clients.

Producing the flyer was a positive activity for the men’s workers as it presented an opportunity to articulate and reflect on the scope and quality of activities they have established. It also reinforced the important role of the men’s program to other staff within the organisation.

Good Beginnings, Moe, VIC

Good Beginnings La Trobe is located in Moe in regional Victoria. It runs early childhood programs for vulnerable and at risk families and is accessed by people from a range of small towns across the area. Good Beginnings La Trobe implemented a number of strategies as part of the father-inclusive practice pilot including:

reviewing the physical environment of the service to ensure it was male friendly. This involved putting up posters of fathers and placing magazines of interest to men in the waiting areas
inviting fathers to the services’ 10th birthday celebrations, which were held on a weekend so working fathers could attend
reviewing the wording on service flyers and other material to explicitly include fathers
running a barbeque for Sudanese men
three staff attended training run by the City of Casey to promote father-inclusive practice
when the service has exposure in newspaper, an effort is made to ensure fathers are in the pictures
ran a forum on the ‘nuts and bolts of fathering’ which was well attended by non-custodial as well as custodial fathers
set up a noticeboard for fathers and are planning a father’s newsletter
involved fathers in helping the service in practical ways, such as building a vegetable patch.

One of the challenges involved with introducing father-inclusive practice in this service has come from the need to prioritise services. The playgroups are only small and fathers who are coping well should be moved on to mainstream services to allow space for other parents (fathers or mothers) with higher needs. The need to maintain and encourage the involvement of fathers has to be considered in the context of the broader objectives of the service.

The service has also had to develop strategies for working with men from other cultures, in particular the Sudanese community of which there is a large population in the local area. This has been challenging as attitudes toward parenting differ quite substantially between Sudanese and Australian cultures. Newly arrived migrants are also dealing with a range of other issues related to adjusting to a new culture.

In a rural area it is difficult to get fathers together from a number of towns as the travelling time is so great. There are three separate playgroups in different towns, but to achieve sufficient numbers the fathers’ groups would need to combine towns.

Family Relationships Centre, Traralgon, VIC

The Traralgon Family Relationships Centre provides a number of services including individual and relationship counselling, family dispute resolution and community advice, support and education. Traralgon is a regional centre in the Gippsland region of Victoria, with a population of around 21,000 people.

Working with fathers is an inherent part of the work of the Family Relationship Centre as fathers become engaged with the service through family dispute resolution work and other counselling services. However, the nature of the service also means men are most likely to access it when they are in crisis or at a difficult point in their lives. Father-inclusive practice in this context, therefore, is about ensuring the service environment is welcoming for men and that staff are comfortable and skilled in working with fathers, while also developing specific programs to support fathers.

There are some particular challenges to introducing father-inclusive practice initiatives in regional areas such as Traralgon. Staff of the Family Relationship Centre have observed a fairly traditional view of the role of fathers among the community. Fathers are more inclined to see themselves as the ‘bread-winner’ and are reluctant to become involved in support groups or children’s activities. Distance and geographic isolation are barriers when it comes to organising groups or sessions for men. Men who work full time are often reluctant to spend a long time driving to attend a group session. A lot of men in the Traralgon region also work shift-work, so it is difficult to organise times when a number of men can regularly attend a service or group session. Additionally, in small towns where people are more likely to know other people attending the service, confidentiality can be a concern for some people, discouraging them from participating in support groups.

A major challenge for the father-inclusive practice pilot at the Traralgon Family Relationships Centre was finding ways to recruit fathers to programs, particularly those fathers who are most vulnerable or marginalised. Attempts were made to recruit fathers to a support group through a local children’s contact centre, a strategy that was intended to reach fathers who would not be likely to access services or support in other ways. It was hoped a group could be established that involved fathers at different points in their life – some more stable, some in a more difficult time–so that the group could support each other. A group comprised only of men in crisis would not offer this level of support and the range of perspectives within the group would be limited.

However, recruitment to this group proved difficult. On reflection, it was decided that the creation of men’s support groups would need to be a longer-term objective which introduced the idea to the community gradually. The reputation of the groups would need to be built over time, with a conscious focus on promoting the groups to the community. Once a few men are involved, they can then become mentors and local representatives to help build the profile of the group and encourage more involvement.

Other father-inclusive practice pilot strategies introduced by the Traralgon Family Relationships Centre were to work with Relationship Australia to run a ‘Fathers Using Networks’ (FUN) for kids program, which is a course for fathers run in local schools.

Traralgon Family Relationships Centre also made an effort to ensure the reception area of the service was inclusive of men and included posters of fathers on the walls.

All these strategies, whether or not they were successful in terms of involving men, have increased awareness of father-inclusive practice among staff across the services as well as in partner agencies.

Relationships Australia, Darwin, NT

Relationships Australia Northern Territory (RANT) is a counselling and family relationships agency that offers counselling for individuals, couples and families, family dispute resolution, relationships education courses, professional supervision and a range of other services.

RANT concentrated on three key activities to make the service more father-inclusive:

A fathers-after-separation group was reinvigorated. One course was run for six weeks in February–March 2008 and had six fathers attending. Recruitment occurred through other RANT services, advertising in the local paper and community service announcements on radio
The waiting rooms were redesigned to make them more father-friendly. A series of photographs were purchased from the ‘Thanks Dad’ organisation that runs photograph competitions. Pictures of fathers from a range of different cultures were purchased. A celebratory launch of the new pictures was held in the waiting room. Newspapers subscriptions for the local newspaper NT News were also purchased as reception staff noticed men tended to prefer to read the paper over magazines
Staff training was held in Darwin and Alice Springs on working with men. This was facilitated by Andrew King, who is a father-inclusive practice pilot mentor and an experienced practitioner and facilitator. All staff attended the training.

The success of the above strategies was related to:

enthusiastic staff who were committed to father-inclusive practice and willing to explore areas where strategies could be implemented within existing funds (for example, the budget for infrastructure could contribute to things like the purchase of pictures for the waiting room)
the Chief Executive Officer is very supportive of the program
a range of staff were involved in the training, from administrative and reception staff who have first contact with clients through to counsellors and program staff. This meant that there was a general increase in awareness about father-inclusive practice and commitment to the process across the whole staff team
the father-inclusive practice pilot key practitioner encouraged celebrating milestones such as the launch of the photographs which, as well as acknowledging achievements, supports the process of cultural change within the organisation.

Centacare, North West Tasmania, Burnie, TAS

Centacare North West Tasmania delivers a broad range of support and counselling services for adults, children and families, including Family Dispute Resolution. Centacare North West Tasmania also have funding to run men’s programs under the FaHCSIA Men and Family Relationships program.

The service has developed a range of initiatives to become more father-inclusive, some of which link directly into their existing men’s programs while others are simple strategies aimed at making the service more father-inclusive as a whole.

Some strategies at the organisation are:

the answering machine was re-recorded with a male voice so that the first voice men hear when calling is male
the waiting room was made more father-friendly through the use of posters picturing fathers, information for fathers and male-friendly magazines
a staff training day was held with the father-inclusive practice pilot mentor facilitating a whole-of-staff discussion about engaging men in the service
more explicitly introducing discussions about working with fathers into case meetings and general staff meetings.

At the program level, some strategies included:

developing one-day workshop for separated fathers
developed partnership with local mining company which employs over 100 male staff. This included running a survey and holding meetings with staff to determine men’s needs and plan activities
established a Men’s Network Forum for workers across North-West, West and Northern regions of Tasmania
held meetings with Women Tasmania to discuss ways to work together to promote a ‘whole of family approach’
produced a Dad’s Cookbook and run cooking classes for men
run ante-natal classes for new fathers
organised a men’s social outing once a month.

Centacare North West Tasmania has also achieved a profile in the local community around the work they have done with men. This has resulted in a number of speaking engagements in the local community and media articles highlighting the men’s programs or where Centacare staff have been consulted about men’s issues. This has the dual impact of both promoting the service and the groups and helping to ‘normalise’ men’s involvement in support services and father’s activities.

Other achievements include:

the program has helped to foster a more positive approach to men’s services and programs. Rather than being focussed on abuse or anger-management as men’s programs have often been, the focus is on positive aspects of men’s lives such as their role as fathers and interest in engaging with their children
the father-inclusive practice program also gave formal space to air ideas about father inclusivity that had been circulating informally in the agency for some time. It was both a catalyst for change and enhanced things that were already happening
increased staff awareness and skills around working with fathers has increased. This is important as working with men is core business in Family Dispute Resolution. A focus on father-inclusive practice supports this area of work by ensuring staff are more comfortable working with men, men are more comfortable accessing the service and there are supporting programs to which men can be referred.

Mundubbera Community Development Association, Mundubbera, QLD

Mundubbera Community Development Association (the Association) provides a broad range of services relating to health and social issues including childcare services, welfare and disability support.

The Association is keen to increase the attendance of fathers at the playgroup for children aged 0-5 years (Pips playgroup). However, the service is limited to running the playgroup in business hours which excludes most working fathers and is a major limitation for father-inclusive practice in this area. Out-of-hours events may be a possibility, but distance is a barrier when it comes to evening or weekend events.Mundubbera is 2.5 hours drive from a major town. This often means that Saturdays are taken up by families travelling to town for shopping leaving only Sundays free.

The local area has been severely affected by drought which has the potential to impact on men’s mental health and wellbeing. A drought focussed group–‘Local Blokes, Local Answers’–has been established. The program will be taken to six local towns and has already been attended by in excess of 150 men. The Association has also launched a ‘mature males’ group. Interestingly, the programs appear to have attracted fathers with older children rather than younger.

The Association is keen to establish more programs for fathers that engage them in practical activities and involve partnering with local agencies. For example, the local Bluelight Association runs an annual billycart race each year, which has the potential to be a great event for fathers and kids to be involved in together. There may also be options for involving fathers in groups or courses that have a practical focus such as mechanics.

Children’s Protection Society, Heidelberg, VIC

The Children’s Protection Society (CPS) provides child and family services and has a specialist therapeutic counselling program for children who have been sexually abused, children with sexualised behaviours and children with sexually abusive behaviours. The service also has funding to run programs for men under the Men and Family Relationships Program. Services offered under this program include:

counselling and group work for men to assist in resolving relationship difficulties and improving relationship skills
groups for men who want to strengthen their relationship with their children (Embracing Fatherhood Group which began in August 2008 and By Your Side Father’s Group for men with infant children commenced in August 2008)
support, education and skills development for fathers and step-fathers
information and links to other community groups and services.

The following specialist services are also offered by the Men and Fathers Support Program

social support for first time fathers through the ‘I’m A Dad’ program in partnership with maternity hospitals
‘I’m an Aboriginal Dad’ (at the Mercy Hospital) as a support and counselling program for Aboriginal men and their partners
‘I’m a Young Somali Dad’ with a focus on refugee, settlement and fathering issues.

Father-inclusive practice work linked in with the above programs, but was also focussed on making the service as a whole more father-inclusive. Strategies included:

conducting an internal staff survey, which looked at the way staff perceive fatherinclusive practice, feel the service is inclusive of fathers and other men and current practice examples of father-inclusive practice in their area of work
men and family relationships program has been renamed ‘Men and Fathers Support Program’ to emphasise to both staff and clients that the fathers’ program is there
including a focus on father-inclusive practice in case meetings by ensuring that the role of the father is considered in all cases and, if safe and feasible, contacting the family both at the point of initial engagement and in ongoing work with the family.

Agencies for South West Accommodation, Bunbury, WA

Agencies for South West Accommodation (ASWA) provides a range of services including housing support, crisis and supported accommodation, family and parenting programs, youth services and an employment program. ASWA also run programs funded under the Family Relationship Services Program Men and Family Relationships services initiative. ASWA sees a relatively high proportion of male clients. Just over 26 per cent of all clients seen in the parenting program over the past year were men, including a proportion of single or separated fathers.

ASWA’s father-inclusive practice work has included:

training staff in father-inclusive practice using a number of strategies including sending staff to external training, running internal in-service sessions with invited presenters and providing one-on-one mentoring and training (co-work) with new staff
reviewing the office environment to ensure it is inclusive of men, including purchasing male-oriented magazines for the waiting areas
promoting men’s services using a number of methods, including speaking to other agencies about referrals to the men’s program (such as the mental health program) and sending flyers to workplaces
running lunchtime information sessions for men at local workplaces to promote men’s services and gain feedback on the sort of programs men would like to see (NB: this was on hold when Men and Family Relationships program was not staffed, but staff have begun an intensive promotions strategy to re-establish and expand these sessions)
putting staff time and resources into researching father-inclusive practice
redesigning men’s program pamphlets to reflect the message/promotion of ‘men in families’ rather than men on their own
looking at internal agency policies and practices, including policies and practices relating to staff and ensuring single fathers employed by the service are supported
promoting out of hours services that can be attended by men who are working full-time (this was arranged with consideration of where other agencies provide out of hours service to maximise the number of days men in the local area can access these services)
running a program for men in prison that focusses on preparing men to be reconnect with their families post-release and connecting them with services they can access to support them in their role as a father.

Anglican Community Care, Mount Gambier, SA

Anglican Community Care (ACC) provides a broad range of family relationship services including: Men and Family Relationship Services; Family Relationship Education and Skills Training; parenting groups; Specialised Family Violence Services; the Children’s Contact Centre, and most recently was awarded a Family Relationship Centre and Post Separation Cooperative Parenting Program. ACC has its head office in Mount Gambier in South Australia’s South East. Whilst having other regional offices in Berri and Murray Bridge. ACC also operates smaller offices in Naracoorte, Millicent, Bordertown and Waikerie. ACC describes itself as having a father-inclusive focus in place, which has been strengthened by the father-inclusive practice pilot.

Specific activities have included:

site audits of the main and smaller office locations
an action plan to improve the external appearance of sites e.g. the father’s entry to the Children’s Contact Centre was improved in response to the audit and comments by fathers, with positive comments reported from fathers following the works
internal strategies, including workshops, father-focussed notice boards and changes to practice systems
practice guide used as a prompt for discussion and reflection amongst staff
being inclusive of fathers in the case planning
values and principles of inclusion explored in recruitment processes.

Upcoming plans will focus on marketing the service to men, including through a business card product for men, replacing the traditional pamphlet with carpentry pencils with telephone numbers to distribute through the timber mill industry. Other marketing ideas to be explored include a ‘sample bag’ of resources for fathers and a newsletter targeting fathers.

In the long term it would be fabulous to obtain funding for a men’s shed program, providing an activity-focussed space to attract isolated men, including fathers, where access to supports can be promoted and a sense of community can be maintained. Partners in such a venture are likely to include service clubs and sporting associations, particularly where they have stated support for men’s health and well being.

Ngala Parenting with Confidence, Kensington, WA

Ngala is a large service offering multiple programs across several sites in inner, outer and regional areas of Perth. The appointment of a men’s worker some years ago had been a key resource in strengthening father-inclusive practice, for example, the ‘Hey Dad’ program run by Ngala. The father-inclusive practice pilot presented an opportunity to build on this work. Initially the intention had been to focus the project on a specific program area, but the cultural audit tool provided the chance to broaden the effort to a whole of service strategy.

The cultural audit tool was divided into the questions addressing the leadership group and those relevant to program staff, and circulated as a survey across the organisation. 129 staff responded from across nine sites, including managers, full-time and many part-time program staff. As predicted, managers displayed a stronger level of awareness and greater knowledge about father-inclusive practice, and where a program had a father-inclusive ‘champion’, the results for that program area were also stronger.

The survey results also revealed the risk that father-inclusive practice becomes ‘yet another thing’ for staff to ‘do’, rather than being seen as a way of strengthening practice. This fatigue was identified by Ngala as a key barrier to achieving a high standard of father-inclusive practice. Other barriers include the absence of identified workers to generate change at local program levels, and the lack of internal training resources or a training unit to drive the agenda. Without dedicated resources it is easy for father-inclusive practice to be overrun by other more immediate pressures on workers and management.

Ngala is responding to these challenges at two key levels: firstly a tailored training strategy is being developed in response to the gaps revealed through the survey, and secondly, at a whole of service level, father-inclusive practice is being built into the Service Delivery Framework, which is the platform for all the work of the organisation, giving it a status beyond the ‘one more thing to do’ position, and making it central to the way all services are delivered.

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