Our Speakers

Dr Karen Wynter

Senior Research Fellow, Monash University’s Centre for Women’s and Children’s Mental Health

Karen is a Senior Research Fellow at Monash University’s Centre for Women’s and Children’s Mental Health. She approaches perinatal mental health research from a multidisciplinary perspective, incorporating her background and experience in Psychology, Education, Public Health and Health Service Research.

She is one of Australia’s leading researchers in men’s transition to parenthood, including fathers’ mental health, relationships and experiences of engaging with health services. She is the current President of the Australasian Marcé Society for Perinatal Mental Health, and co-convenor of the annual Australian Fatherhood Research Symposium.

Presentation

Best-practice Father-Inclusive Pregnancy and Early Parenting Healthcare Putting our heads together: setting the scene for father inclusive practice.

This workshop, facilitated by Dr Karen Wynter, will incorporate elements of Group Model Building and Systems Thinking to facilitate improved understanding of the current status of father inclusive practice (FIP) in health and community services in Australia.

Rather than suggesting additional initiatives, or transferring initiatives developed or implemented in other countries or specific sectors in Australia, this approach will lay the groundwork for a shared understanding of what is needed to advance FIP in Australia.

Ben Rogers

Director of Health Professional Education, Movember

Ben is Director of Health Professional Education at Movember, a leading charity changing the face of men’s health around the world. Ben is currently leading the design and implementation of health professional training on gender responsive healthcare for men, in Australia and other Movember markets.

Ben has over a decade of clinical mental health experience, including a focus on supporting boys, men and fathers through life’s challenges. Alongside his clinical work, Ben has a track record in leading complex programs and professional development training initiatives in both Australia and the UK. This includes in his previous role at the National Workforce Centre for Child Mental Health (Emerging Minds), where he managed a team of clinicians, researchers, and content creators, to successfully implemented a portfolio of evidence-based workforce training and e-CPD programs across the country.

Ben’s approach to enriching the learning experience for health professionals, is through innovative curricula and e-learning, website content, animations, webinars, and podcasts, and by championing consumer voices and lived experience in its design.

Presentation

Ben Rogers from Movember will explore innovative approaches to workforce education in responding to men’s mental health, with a particular focus on the impact of digital learning. He will highlight Movember’s Men in Mind course, a digital initiative that has reached 1,500 practitioners to recognise and respond to mental health issues among men, including fathers.

Based on participant feedback, there is a growing demand for more content specifically targeting fathers, and Ben will facilitate reflection and discussion on how this content could be tailored for the workforce. Additionally, Ben will discuss how socialisation processes and traditional masculine identities affect men’s mental health and help-seeking behaviours. Using a video example from the Men in Mind course, he will highlight the unique challenges fathers face when seeking help. The session will feature a 10–15-minute presentation followed by interactive discussion to engage participants.

A/Professor Richard Fletcher

A/Professor, College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing, University of Newcastle

A/Professor Richard Fletcher leads the Fathers and Families Research program, College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing, in the University of Newcastle. Richard research focuses on fathers’ mental health, attachment, coparenting, rough and tumble play and use of services.

He is Principal Investigator of the SMS4dads program for new and expecting fathers and SMS4DeadlyDads for Aboriginal fathers. His book “The Dad Factor: How the Father-Baby Bond Helps a Child for Life” has been translated into 5 languages.

Presentation

Tips and Evidence for Father Involvement

Why do dads feel left out? Why do the images matter? Why do you have to use the word father or dad? What are dads interested in? These underlying questions are essential to recruiting and engaging expecting and new fathers into perinatal services.

Over the last 12 years we have been developing a text message service (SMS4dads) for expecting and new fathers. In the latest version, which started in September 2021, more than 17,000 fathers have enrolled to get messages delivered to their phones from early in the pregnancy until the baby is 1 year old. More than 1 million messages are delivered each year and less than 20% exit early. The feedback is excellent. Independent evaluation shows that a high percentage of fathers agree that the messages have helped them understand parenting (97%), feel less isolated (89%), develop a strong relationship with their baby (85%) and be helpful in their relationship with their partner (82%).

At the SMS4dads team we have addressed these questions and in this presentation in this presentation our responses will be presented, hopefully to spark your own thinking in this important work.

Craig (Bourkie) Hammond

SMS4DeadlyDads Indigenous Leader

Craig Hammond is a Kamilaroi man from Moree North West NSW. He comes from a large family of eleven and is a proud father of two sons and grandfather to four granddaughters. He has been actively involved in the Indigenous community of Newcastle for over 30 years.

In his role with the University of Newcastle Craig has worked with Health Services, Education Departments and Correctional Services delivering programs such as Deadly Streaming (a cultural identity program for youth), Brothers Inside (a strengths-based fathering program, and SMS4DeadlyDads (a digital service for new and expecting fathers).

Craig is currently working in communities throughout Australia as the SMS4DeadlyDads Indigenous Leader building on this work to deliver strengths-based messages and support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander fathers in health and education settings. He is committed to embedding strong cultural ties, identity and family connectedness.

Presentation

Turning of the Tides: The Shifting Role of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Fathers

This presentation explores the changing landscape of fatherhood in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and provides insights on how health services can better engage with fathers during the perinatal period.

Fathers’ roles in family groups have evolved significantly, not just in mainstream communities but in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander as well. There has been and increase in the involvement of dads in childcare and family life, more fathers are taking parental leave and wanting to be hands-on.

There are both challenges and opportunities in fathers engaging with perinatal services. The historical context of trauma can have a big impact on parenting. However, the arrival of a new baby can be a special opportunity for healing and making positive changes.
There are strategies for health services who want to engage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander fathers. 1. Create dad-friendly environments. Make it clear in waiting rooms and clinics that fathers are welcome. 2. Provide culturally safe care by developing authentic partnerships with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services. 3. Focus on fathers’ existing skills and positive contributions. Encourage fathers to be role models for their children.

Izaak Lim

Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist

Izaak Lim is a child and adolescent psychiatrist working in a public perinatal and infant mental health service in Melbourne. He is currently undertaking PhD research investigating the influence of fathers on the development of child anxiety. His clinical interests include family-based approaches to care, and recovery from intergenerational trauma.

Presentation

Fathers’ mental health and family wellbeing – Research Update

Fathers’ mental health in the pregnancy to preschool period is increasingly recognised as an important factor influencing family wellbeing. This research update will summarise the most recent research on this topic, with a focus on longitudinal research that is helping to unpack the interaction between paternal and maternal mental health trajectories and subsequent child outcomes.

Specifically, the presentation will highlight new findings from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) in the UK, the Early Steps Multisite (ESM) Study in the US, the CHILD-SLEEP birth cohort in Finland, and the Amsterdam Born Children and Development (ABCD) cohort in the Netherlands.

Alison Wallbank

Clinical Nurse Consultant in Child and Family Health, Tresillian

Alison Wallbank is the Clinical Nurse Consultant in Child and Family Health at Tresillian. With 24 years of experience in the perinatal health space, she has worked as a midwife, child and family health nurse, and manager within child and family health services. These roles have provided her with valuable insight into the challenges families face within healthcare systems. She recognises that while current models of care focus on woman- and child-centred care, they often overlook the unique needs of men as they transition to fatherhood. Alison is passionate about addressing this gap, acknowledging both the joys and challenges that come with fatherhood.

Alison is excited to contribute to the integration of father-inclusive care at Tresillian and within the wider field of child and family health nursing. Her greatest hope is that her three sons will benefit from truly father-inclusive perinatal and parenting health support and education.

Dr Sean Mahon-Daly

Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Tresillian

Dr Mahon-Daly is a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist working with Tresillian, as well as in other private and public mental health sectors in Sydney. Within Tresillian, he works as a supervisor of training psychiatrists and clinically treats and assesses parents of young children. During his training, he completed additional sub-specialty training in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, which allowed him unique experiences in working with clients and their families. Outside of his formal roles, he has trained as a facilitator of Circle of Security and is an honorary lecturer with Macquarie University, where he teaches senior medical students. He is a published author, having discussed the use of video games as a therapeutic tool in Australasian Psychiatry.

‘Including Dads in The First 2000 Days’

Tresillian Interactive Workshop

Friday 28th March, 2025

Education Centre,
Tresillian Wollstonecraft, Sydney, NSW