National Emergency – Suicide Rates for Our Men

With special guest:

• Anthony Smith

1901 male deaths by suicide were recorded in 2012 along with another 634 females meaning a total of 2,535 Australians lost their lives in this way. There has been no significant improvement in the period since these figures became available.

Our guest today, Anthony Smith, argues that these figures are conservative and the belief of the people working in this area is that the figure for men should be some 500 higher. Reasons for this conservatism include the shortfall in the number of Coronial enquiries and the general reluctance of Coroners to brand a sudden death as suicide because this only makes it harder for the surviving family members to deal with the tragedy.

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Father’s Day: Sad for some Dads

With special guest:

• Karen Hodgkins

‘Dad’ is a documentary that Karen Hodgkins has made for a higher purpose than looking for film industry awards. This new film is a powerful and emotional appeal to the law makers and the law enforcers to do something for the Dads who are not travelling as well as frequently portrayed in our society.

In our interview today Karen tells us that she was asked by a Dad in May 2013 to do some research on the injustices in the Family Court and Child Support systems. This Dad was desperate to spend more time with his own children and suspected there was more going on than the general population is aware of.

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Mendemic: Inside the man cave

With special guest:

• Cindy Rochstein

Cindy Rochstein is very clear about this. She is not a man and her book Mendemic is not telling her story.

However this outsider has been granted access in an unprecedented way to the complex lives of her male subjects. The stories Cindy chooses to include will help all of us understand the difference between the stereotypical male and the individual male as she takes us on adventure. Mendemic presents the raw voices of the male contributors, some forty men of many different ages and backgrounds who surprised Cindy and sometimes themselves with their openness and rare insights.

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Men's Health Week 2015

With special guest:

• Prof Gary Richardson

There is a health crisis affecting 49% of the Australian population, namely Australian men.

The establishment of Foundation 49: Men’s Health is a direct response aimed at improving the health of Australian men. The figures are mind-blowing with more than four men dying every hour from potentially preventable conditions.

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Schools of Fish

With special guest:

• Alan Sampson

Schools of Fish won the 2015 Finch Memoir Prize for author Alan Sampson, a Queenslander, who by telling us about his own experiences lets us find out much about the importance of a father’s relationship with his children. A big part of the story relates to Alan’s role as Principal at the well-known Cavendish Road State High School in Brisbane. There are times at school when personal courage is required as well as unshakable integrity if favourable results are to be achieved.

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The Diggers of WW1: Were they different?

With special guest:

• Andrew Tink AM

No book on Australia covering the early years of the twentieth century could overlook the 61,500 of our men killed or listed as “missing” in World War 1. Another 156,000 had a fate that was sometimes worse, they were wounded, gassed or taken prisoner.

In his new book Australia 1901-2001: A narrative history, Andrew Tink, former Member of State Parliament, tells us that like the school children of Villers-Bretonneux France we must never forget the heroism of our soldiers, the diggers of World War 1.

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Talk to a mate

With special guest:

• Owen Catto

Just about everything starts with our health, it is so important. The Regional Men’s Health Initiative in WA identifies three parts to our health, namely physical, mental and social/spiritual.

Owen Catto has worked for the past 7 years in men’s holistic health and wellbeing across an enormous geographic area in Western Australia. In his work in regional centres as well as remote outstations what he has found out about the men is that “we are all blokes” and therefore the strategies for empowering men are similar wherever he finds them.

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Australia's First Peoples

With special guest:

• Jeff McMullen

For National Close the Gap Day we speak to Jeff McMullen.

Jeff McMullen is a household name in Australia with a major presence as a recognised international current affairs journalist. Throughout his distinguished 50 year career our guest today has written filmed and campaigned around the world to improve the health, education and human rights of Indigenous people.

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Life in Limbo: My battle with depression, infertility and mental illness

With special guest:

• Matt Barwick

In his book Life in Limbo Matt Barwick says that men in their desire to be alpha-male typically hide behind an impenetrable wall of machismo. So if anyone asks “How ya going?” the response is most likely going to be a stoic “Yeah everything’s fine.” No-one must see any sign of weakness or fragility, particularly male friends. The result is that most men avoid open and honest communication about physical or mental health.

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'Dad' the Documentary

With special guest:

• Karen Hodgkins

‘Dad’ is a documentary that Karen Hodgkins has made for a higher purpose than looking for film industry awards. This new film is a powerful and emotional appeal to the law makers and the law enforcers to do something for the Dads who are not travelling as well as frequently portrayed in our society.

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Our Closing the Gap Special

With special guests:

• Aaron Stuart
• Craig Hammond

We cross today to the frontline when we speak to Aaron Stuart who is the Manager of Aboriginal Projects at Centacare in Port Augusta South Australia. It is hard for many of us to imagine what it would be like to be the first person called after a suicide by one of our people. And then for it to happen again and again. Aaron is facing an endemic where the Aboriginal rate of suicide is four times greater than for non-Indigenous Australians and with children sometimes as young as 8 succumbing. Aaron provides some inspiring lessons about the positive action he is taking and tells us how he copes with the terrible stresses that go with his job.

Next we speak to Craig “Bourkie” Hammond who is the Leader Indigenous Programs, Family Action Centre, University of Newcastle. Craig is involved with a number of projects including the Nar-un-bah and Thou Walla engaging Aboriginal Fathers project. Fathering roles in the Aboriginal community extend to grandparents, uncles and older brothers. As one of eleven children himself and with a background as a youth worker Bourkie brings his skills and reputation to provide guidance and assistance in strengthening the relationship between Indigenous fathers and their children.

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Familists V Feminists

 With special guests:

• Kingsley (Kip) Miller
• Gil Ronen

Kingsley (Kip) Miller

Kip Miller is a fathers’ rights activist who is described by Lord Justice Thorpe of the UK Family Division as having a history of responsible campaigning and writing on issues relating to family relationships. He holds qualifications in Research Methods and is trained in Child Psychology and Child Sociology with a Teachers’ Certificate and a Masters Degree.

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BLACK DOG DAZE and R U OK?

Black_Dog_DazeWith special guests:

• Andrew Robb AO MP
• Rebecca Lewis

 

We welcomed Andrew Robb on to the show for the first time today. Andrew has distinguished himself in leadership positions for many years resulting in his high public profile. These positions have ranged from being the head of the National Farmers’ Federation (“the NFF”), the Director of the Federal Election campaign for the Liberal Party in 1993 and 1996, being a consultant to Kerry Packer and since 2004 being the Member for the Federal Seat of Goldstein. Andrew is currently on the shadow front bench as the Shadow Minister for Finance and Debt Reduction as well as Chairman of the Coalition Policy Development Committee.

What the public did not know until recent times is that Andrew Robb has for over 40 years been battling a debilitating condition, a condition that he could not admit even to himself. In 2009 Andrew with typical courage and determination decided to go public with his condition and take immediate leave from his senior position in the Parliament so that he could devote his full attention to dealing with his condition which now had a name, diurnal variation.

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The Journey

 With special guests:

• Ken Thompson and
• Heath Cole.  

 
 

Both our guests today have been on a bicycle journey.

Ken Thompson became well known when he decided to take direct action after his child was abducted overseas by the other parent. After riding on his bicycle around Europe publicising his quest to find his child Ken was contacted by Interpol with news that his child had been located. Ken is now part of an international movement to help parents who have been the victim of this destructive behaviour and to agitate for changes in the law to make this type of child abduction a crime in all countries, including Australia. Ken presents a lucid explanation of the problem of international parental child alienation, what is being done about it and what we all hope is the way forward.

Our second guest is Heath Cole. Last Friday Heath completed with his team of four other riders a 1000 kilometre ride in the Riverina to raise funds and awareness of mental health. Heath received a warm welcome in the towns of Tumbarumba, Tumut, Cootamundra, Temora and Griffith and finishing the course where he started in Wagga Wagga. Heath spoke candidly about his own battles with the “Black Dog” and how the bike ride has helped in raising his own spirits as well as raising funds for Riverina Bluebell, the local charity dealing with mental health issues. Heath talks about the warning signs of depression and what you should do about it. This is very to pical in view of World Mental Health Day on Monday 10 October 2011 and the ongoing Mental Health Month in NSW.

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White House Council on Boys to Men

With special guests:

• Tom Golden and
• Jack Kammer.

This week on Dads on the Air we talk to two members of the recently established “Proposal for a White House Council on Boys to Men”, Tom Golden and Jack Kammer from the USA. They are two leading members of a multi-partisan Commission of thirty-four nationally-known scholars and practitioners, who have submitted a proposal that President Obama create a White House Council on Boys to Men.  

The mere presidential announcement of a White House Council on Boys to Men makes visible an invisible crisis. A White House Conference on Boys to Men to present “best practices” within one year after the Council is created, will prove invaluable to the future well- being of our Men.

Designed to tackle a nationwide crisis of boys and men, the Commission identifies the following five main components:

• Education. Boys are behind girls in almost every subject, especially reading and writing. Yet boy-friendly programs (e.g., recess and vocational education) are being curtailed.      

• Jobs. Our sons are not being prepared for jobs where the jobs will be. Yet women rarely marry men in unemployment lines.    

• Fatherlessness. A third of boys are raised in father-absent homes; yet boys and girls with significant father involvement do better in more than 25 areas.    

•   Physical health. Life expectancy has gone from one to five years less for males than for females, yet federal offices of boys and men’s health are non-existent.  

• Emotional health. Boys’ suicide rate goes from equal to girls to five times girls’ between ages 13 and 20, as boys feel the pressures of the male role.  

Each of the five crisis components is potentially handled by a different department of the government; therefore coordination and prioritisation is best handled at the White House level.

With a Short-Term Investment of One million dollars, the Long-Term Savings will add up to Many billions of dollars. (For example, boys who are cared for become men who care for–men who pay taxes for schools rather than drain taxes for prisons.) The quality-of-Life Savings will be Priceless.

Tom Golden, LCSW is the author of two books about men’s unique paths to healing. The first is titled Swallowed by a Snake: The Gift of the Masculine Side of Healing and the second is called A Man You Know is Grieving: 12 Ideas for Helping Him Heal From Loss. Tom has given workshops on this topic in the U.S.,  Australia, Canada and Europe. His work has been featured in the NY Times, the Washington Post, on CNN, CBS Evening News, ESPN, the NFL Channel and others. Tom serves on the Maryland Commission for Men’s Health and lives outside Washington DC.

Jack Kammer, MSW, MBA returned to school at the age of fifty-four to earn Masters degrees in Social Work and Business Administration. He did so to document, highlight and take action on male gender issues and the social problems that arise when those issues are ignored and mishandled. He specialises in the Race and Gender effect on marginalized African-American men and boys in urban settings. He is also the author of If Men Have All the Power How Come Women Make the Rules: and other radical thoughts for men who want more fairness from women and Good Will Toward Men: Women Talk Candidly About the Balance of Power Between the Sexes. He has a new book (2009) for boys and young men, titled Heroes of the Blue Sky Rebellion: How You and Other Young Men Can Claim All the Happiness in the World.

Editor

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Dads in Distress Special

With special guests:

• Barry Guidera
  

• Laurence Anderson
  

• Rob Koch and

• Marcia Payne.                                                                               

For Australian men, who have reached the end of their emotional ability to cope with the ravages of a Family Justice system, which has removed their children, property and savings, Dads In Distress provides a safe and supportive haven for them to regain their emotional strength and sense of self-worth.

This week we salute all those who work in this wonderful organization, and who give up much of their spare time to help their fellow human beings cope, with the preventable, most traumatizing time in their lives.

Now 10 years old, Dads In Distress [DIDS] is moving from strength to strength in support of an ever increasing group of emotionally damaged dispossessed parents. First up we speak with the National Manager of DIDS, Barry Guidera, who gives us an overview of their great work. Next we speak with the Victorian project co-ordinator Laurence Anderson who details the new operational strategies being developed. We follow this by talking to Rob Koch Better Men Australia, who acts as a consultant to DIDS, and details some of the advice he offers DIDS.

We close the show speaking with Marcia Payne, DIDS Support Services, who has worked in Women’s refuges and who, having witnessed first hand the services provided to abused women, is deeply concerned at the lack of interest shown by our Governments, to acknowledge and provide support for the growing number of abused Men in our society.

The following is a snippet from the DIDS website which offers a wealth of information and support, to those finding themselves at the end of their emotional road.

“If you are finding it hard to deal with the break-up of a marriage, depression, child access, family court or just need someone to talk to, Dads in Distress is there to help”.

“Dads in Distress is a dedicated support group of men (in Australia) whose immediate concern is to stem the present trend of male suicide due to the trauma of divorce or separation. Current statistics that have been published, indicate too many men will take their own lives in preference to facing family, friends and importantly their own children with the failure of the relationship. We aim to prevent this incidence from occurring by showing the men and the community at large that someone really cares”

“While Dads in Distress Support Services (DIDSS) by its very name appears to be focused mainly on supporting men through separation from their partner and/or children, we actually have the health, safety and well-being of ALL the family uppermost in our mind. As a harm-prevention charity it saddens us that in our modern society of Australia there are men, women and children who are being harmed, and harming one another, in the very place where love and kindness should prevail”

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Intimate Partner Abuse of Men

With special guest:

• Dr. Greg Dear.

A groundbreaking report from Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Western Australia has found that male victims of domestic violence can suffer from a unique form of legal/administrative abuse previously unidentified in research, as well as experiencing most of the same impacts as female victims.

The Intimate Partner Abuse of Men report, launched on 26th May in Perth, found that “Male victims of intimate partner abuse and their children suffer a range of consequences, such as psychological distress (including disorders such as depression and anxiety disorders), suicidal ideation, impaired self concept and loss of work.”

It found that male victims are often reluctant to disclose their experience of abuse or seek help because of their sometimes justified fears that they will not be believed, that they will not be assisted or will instead be blamed for the abuse.

The study recommends that government-funded public campaigns be conducted to raise awareness of domestic violence against men; that consideration should be given to providing publicly-funded services specifically for male victims; and that workers in health and welfare fields should be provided with training to assist them to recognise and respond effectively to male victims of domestic violence.

Today on Dads on the Air, we play an in-depth interview by the One in Three Campaign with Dr. Greg Dear. Greg is Senior Lecturer in Psychology in the School of Psychology and Social Science at Edith Cowan University. He is the co-author, along with Professor Alfred Allan and Emily Tilbrook, of the Intimate Partner Abuse of Men report, commissioned by the Men’s Advisory Network.

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A Help Line For Men

With special guest

• Andrew King. 
  

The program this week mainly centers around some of what help is available for men, and accordingly we speak with Andrew King of MensLine Australia, who explains in detail the services provided by this excellent government funded support service for men.

MensLine Australia is the national telephone support, information and referral service for men with family and relationship concerns. The service is available from anywhere in Australia for the cost of a local call, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The service is staffed by paid professional counsellors, experienced in men’s issues.

The benefits of telephone counselling are particularly attractive to men, who often find it tough to ask for help and can find face-to-face discussions about difficult issues confronting and even shameful. MensLine Australia offers a private and ‘safe’ environment for guys to talk about their problems. Over the phone, callers are anonymous and can retain more control over what happens as they can terminate the call at any time.

When faced with a problem, men are often more focussed on outcomes and practical solutions than their emotions and internal world. MensLine Australia counsellors recognize this preference and offer a down-to-earth, practical approach to counselling, whilst also encouraging men to deal with important issues in an effective way.

Although the process of separation is traumatic for all concerned, it can be particularly difficult for men whose coping strategies are often limited. MensLine Australia’s counsellors have ready access to relevant information and referral to men’s services at any time and from anywhere in the country.

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Healthy Men, Healthy Families, Healthy Nation

With special guests:

• Jeff Kennett and
  
• National Men’s Health Press Conference, Canberra.
  

First up we talk with Jeff Kennett, former Victorian Premier from 1992 to 1999, a man always admired for his outspoken directness. He began the National Depression Initiative Beyond Blue after the death of two of his daughter’s acquaintances. As Premier at that time he was shocked when it was revealed that both the deaths in question were actually as a result of suicidal intent. That started his investigation into what was being done and his involvement in the development of Beyond Blue.

Beyond Blue’s mission is “to provide a national focus and community leadership to increase the capacity of the broader Australian community to prevent depression and respond effectively to it. The aim is to build a society that understands and responds to the personal and social impact of depression, works actively to prevent it and improves the quality of life for everyone affected by it. The steps they have taken are to raise awareness of the problem, to de-stigmatize depression and mental illness in general, to conduct research into the problems of depression and impacts on our society, and to advocate for better government and corporate policies to accommodate and support sufferers of mental illness.”

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Dads in Distress

With special guests:

• Tony Miller
• Barry Wiliams
• Phillip York
• Scott Hayes
• Leon Schmeider
• Chris Stokes and
• Peter Smith.

We are pleased to present a Dads in Distress special, looking at the unique work this organisation does in helping fathers in crisis. DIDs aims to provide a safe forum for men going through the trauma of divorce, separation or relationship breakdown to express their grief. It also aims to nurture, validate and stabilise men and by the nautre of the sharing that takes place  guide men to become the cause of their future and not be the result of their past.

With the Rudd government preparing to defund all fathers groups, and the government not providing us with any response to our questions on the issue, we talk to some of the leading figures in Dads in Distress, including founder Tony Miller. He talks about the history of Dads In Distress, what drove him to found the group and the crises it now faces after having established groups around the country.

Barry Williams has been a committed advocate for lone fathers and their families for over thirty years. Leon Schmeider is the convenor of the Dads in Distress Group in Newcastle, and has worked tirelessly as a volunteer for Dids for many years. He has been an inspiration to many men in Newcastle and surrounding areas, as he seems to always go that little bit further in everything he does. Chris Stokes is a dad who also found Dads in Distress at a very tough time in his life. He talks about how DIDs can help blokes at a very difficult time in their lives. Peter Smith is just another dad in a long long line that have been thankful to find a Dads in Distress group in his area.

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