WELCOME TO THE FATHER HOOD

The Father Hood was formed to offer support, advice and inspiration to modern dads. And after interviewing countless academics, educators and dads, we realised the biggest thing stopping dads from being more hands-on is the workplace.

The implications of this are wide-ranging, because until it’s unremarkable for men to play an equal role in family life it will remain remarkable for women to play an equal role in the workforce.

Parenting roles are undergoing a transformation. Dads today spend three times as many hours a week with their kids as their fathers did in the 1960s. Traditional gender norms are being reinvented, creating new ways for people to show up as parents and greater demands on families than ever before. COVID-19 cranked up the pressure and dialled up the opportunity for positive change.

The Father Hood’s workplace program is focused on supporting parents and driving important cultural change via presentations, webinars and facilitated discussions, for the benefit of all.

It is vital that all parents have equal access to parental leave and flexible work opportunities. Equally important is the required cultural change within organisations to make it feel safe and normal for all parents to take up these opportunities. Everyone benefits when positive change is celebrated, while restrictive gender norms are tackled and torn apart.

That’s where The Father Hood steps in. Though hosting presentations and facilitated discussions, we provide a forum for discussion, role modelling and expectation alignment.

The end result is increased empathy, understanding and connection, with team members feeling better seen, supported, and inspired.

 

FOUNDERS

JEREMY MACVEAN

Director
Father of Amara May + Nellie + Violet

Jeremy Macvean breathed a sigh of relief when the teacher of his male-only antenatal class advised “To be a good dad, turn up and try”. So that’s what Jeremy has been doing ever since. Turning up to invest time and emotional energy into his three children in every way he can. Turning up to support and inspire modern dads through The Father Hood. Turning up to build tribes of healthier, happier men through his work as Regional Director Asia Pacific, Global Chief Marketing Officer and mental health program lead at Movember. And through his advisory business, Radiate, turning up to share his strategy and communications experience with the likes of Peter Mac Cancer Centre, The Women’s Hospital, Telstra Health and Transitioning Well. Of every role Jeremy has ever played, fatherhood brings him by far the most joy and is also by far the most challenging.

 

LUKE BENEDICTUS

Director
Father of Joe + Marc

Luke Benedictus has spent 20 years working for magazines, newspapers and websites. He was previously the editor of the Australian edition of Men’s Health while former lives include working as editor of Dazed & Confused (Au) and stints at The Age, The Sunday Age, The Sun Online (UK) and Eurosport (France). Having grown up in England, he moved to Australia in 2002 where he now lives with his wife and two young sons. He was compelled to have children primarily as an outlet for his weak puns and feeble one-liners.

 

ANDREW McUTCHEN

Director
Father of Indie + Isla + Neve
Friend of Stepdaughter, Alyssa

First, Andrew was a journalist, writing for GQ for five years as an Associate Editor as well as The Age and QANTAS. Then he was a publisher, founding Story Matters Most, which won a Gourmand World Cookbook Award for Chin Chin – The Book. Most recently he became an entrepreneur, founding Time+Tide, which is among the world’s most read wristwatch websites and the official watch partner of WISH Magazine in The Australian. Somewhere in the midst of all that, he and his wife Fiona had three daughters in four years.