Craig Thomson (Dobell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

During the January break, I had the pleasure of assisting nine-year-old Brandon Aubrey in realising his dream of walking to Canberra. His dad, Kerry, who is here today, accompanied him. The two had walked as far as Goulburn before Brandon, on a rest day, had an unfortunate accident jumping from the bunk bed. He twisted his ankle and was unable to complete the walk unassisted. Kerry and I then pushed Brandon in a wheelchair some 61 kilometres, leaving Brandon just 37 kilometres to walk to Parliament House. The 375-kilometre walk from the Central Coast to Parliament House originally started as a request by Brandon to walk to his cousin’s house in Canberra. Kerry viewed this as an opportunity to learn and grow, not only for Brandon but for his family also, but, most importantly, to raise awareness about Dads in Education.

Kerry is a director of the not-for-profit organisation Dads in Education. Last year I was approached by Kerry in my capacity as the National Secretary of the Health Services Union to support a Father’s Day breakfast on the Central Coast. This breakfast attracted some 10,000 dads to an en masse ‘Let’s Read’ that celebrated what dads could do for their children and to show that they support their children’s school in providing the best educational outcomes for their children. Dads in Education see National Literacy and Numeracy Week and Father’s Day as an obvious catalyst to ask the nation to invite dads into school and into their children’s lives to celebrate fathers, literacy and numeracy.

This year Dads in Education, as a result of the walk undertaken by Brandon and Kerry, will be running the breakfast on the Central Coast once again and launching the program in the Australian Capital Territory, north-eastern Sydney and the Hunter. The breakfast will deliver approximately 150,000 serves, and more than 300,000 children will write their dad’s story, which will be displayed in outlets across various regions where this event is being run.

Kerry would be the first to recognise that there is no silver bullet for the lack of good male role models in Australian society. However he does say that the Dads in Education Father’s Day breakfast is one of those first steps in the right direction for dealing with teenage crime, alcohol and drug abuse. By engaging fathers as significant male role models in the educational outcomes of their children, there can on the whole be good outcomes for families. Given the work that is being done to get the Dads in Education Father’s Day breakfast to this point and the obvious benefits to Australian schools, children, families and fathers, I am calling on the government to look at the merits of this program very closely. Hopefully, Dads in Education can fulfil its goals in a national Father’s Day breakfast program that allows children and others in the community the opportunity to celebrate their fathers and their valuable contribution to their families and to Australian society.