ABS Releases Gender Indicators and Ignores Male Disadvantage

Today the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Australia's so-called impartial statistical body released its Gender Indicators report: "a summary of gender specific data in six domains representing Economic security, Education, Health, Work and family balance, Safety and justice, and Democracy, governance and citizenship".

The ABS produced a media release about the publication. This release could have noted that:

• Across the board males fare much worse than females in the education system - most notably being 24% less likely to be enrolled in a bachelor degree or above
• Across the board males fare much worse than females in the health arena - most notably suffering death rates from cancer, heart disease, suicide, motor vehicle accidents and drug abuse between 1.6 and 3.4 times higher
• Males are 12% more likely than females to feel their work and family responsibilities are rarely/ never in balance
• Males are almost twice as likely as females to have experienced violence during the last 12 months and one third more likely to be a victim of physical or threatened physical assault.

However, these facts were conveniently ignored in favour of a media release titled "Busy mums want more paid work," citing the rate of underemployment being twice as high for women (8%) than for men (4%). Sadly it seems that the lace curtain extends all the way into our country's top statistical body.

First National Sexual and Reproductive Health Conference, 20-21 Nov 2012: Call for Abstracts

The Public Health Association of Australia in partnership with Sexual Health and Family Planning Australia invite you to participate in the first Australian conference to bring together practitioners, policy makers, scholars, educators and others enthusiastic about improving the sexual and reproductive health of all Australians.

The conference will be an excellent opportunity to hear the most recent national and international research evidence and practitioner wisdom and to make your own contribution to implementation ideas foreshadowed in the new National Women’s and Men’s Health policies.

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Gareth Malone's Extraordinary School for Boys

About The Program

Choirmaster Gareth Malone teaches in a primary school in Essex for one term. It is a school like many across Britain, with a significant gap between girls' and boys' achievement in literacy. Last week we saw Gareth and the boys tree-climbing and sharpening their speaking skills with a debate. This time Gareth faces a new mission: to get the boys reading.

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The 'wage gap' myth rears its ugly head once again

The Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA) has issued a media release claiming that Australian workplaces discriminate against women because of an average gender wage difference between male and female graduates of $2,000. The source data cited actually found this difference was not due to discrimination but due to the fields of study chosen by males and females, along with other factors such as hours worked and type and location of employer.

Here is a copy of the media release along with our letter to the director of the EOWA in response.

Dads Talk (Rosebery, Sydney)

An opportunity for fathers to get together and not only talk about their experiences but to also gain some real, practical ideas around being a parent.

When: Every Wednesday 6.30pm - 8pm
Where: Level 3, 55 Mentmore Avenue, Rosebery NSW 2018
Contact: Jason or Tim on 02 8314 9494 or 0419 461 422

For many men, becoming a father changes their lives beyond belief. Your priorities change, your relationship changes and your new family demands skills, qualities and emotional capacity from you that you didn't know you had.

Today, a father's role is quite different from past generations. We believe that not only does this changing, more hands-on role need to be recognised, it also needs to be supported. Some common themes include:

• Relationship issues
• Work/Life balance
• Sleep deprivation
• Managing relatives
• Difficult emotions.

Every stage of parenthood comes with its own unique challenges. As such, this group is open to all fathers. Each member comes with their own skills and needs of the group and each has something to offer the other men. As the complexity of your role as a father unfolds and you find yourself feeling alone and without support, this on-going group is an opportunity to talk about and process the experiences you are having and find that you are not alone.