NZ Men's Issues Summit - Auckland May 2005
Speaker & Programme Details
1. Men in Policy and Politics
John Tamihere 9.20 - 10.00am
Abstract: Menfolk must organise and join the long overdue conversation about what our roles and responsibilities are. It is important that Menfolk decide what changes in communities and society are going to be required in order to support the development of a 'MEN'S' strategy and agenda.
Speaker: Before entering Parliament, John was Chief Executive of Te Whänau o Waipareira Trust. He is a former chairman of the New Zealand Maori Rugby League Board. He also served as a solicitor for the Department of Maori Affairs in 1985 and 1986.
Following the 2002 election he was elevated to cabinet where he held the Land Information, Statistics, Small Business and Youth Affairs portfolios. He was also Associate Minister of Maori Affairs, and Commerce.
2. Men's Health
Bruce Mackie 10.00 - 10.40am
Speaker: Bruce Mackie is the Director of the Brain Training Institute Trust. He guided Lifeline from 1965 as CEO. Until recently, before he committed to The Brain Training, he was their Clinical Director.
Bruce is experienced in many counseling disciplines including NLP, Hypnotherapy and Suicidology. He has been training in Electroencephalographic Neurofeedback (EEGFB) for a number of years and is enthusiastic about its future as an addition to mainstream therapies.
Morning Tea 10.40 - 11.00am
3. Men and Violence - The Cost to Men
Warwick Pudney 11.00 - 11.30am
Abstract: The political need to see men as perpetrators of violence prejudices the possibility of seeing them as victims and generates issues for all members of the community. A review of the data creates considerable concern about the condoning of male violence to men. Reasons for this dilemma are explored and a way forward is advocated.
Speaker: Warwick Pudney has 12 years experience as a teacher of children from 6-16yrs, and 20 years working in the counseling therapy field with couple men and adolescents largely around relationship, anger or behaviour issues. For the last 10 years he has traveled the length of NZ working with educators, caregivers, social services and community professionals in individual, workshop, seminar, and conference settings.
He is currently the National Director of the NZ Violence Prevention Society- a body registering professionals working in this area, and providing advice on violence prevention.
He was the founding C.E.O. of Man Alive, a Men's Counselling and Well-being Centre and N.Z.'s first social service for males which is now pioneering new ways of assisting men, youth and boys to alter behaviour and lifestyles. He is a senior lecturer in Violence and Trauma Studies at Auckland University of Technology.
His well-known book Volcano in My Tummy, written with Eliane Whitehouse, is about to be re-released in Australia.
4. Men in Research - What needs researching and how?
Stuart Birks 11.30 - 12.00pm
Abstract: There is a vast body of research on policy issues which affect men. Only a small proportion of this research includes a male perspective. This paper illustrates the problem and identifies possible solutions.
Speaker: Stuart Birks is the Director of the Centre for Public Policy Evaluation at Massey University and the Vice-President of the New Zealand Father and Child Society. He has been researching policy issues in relation to men and fathers for many years.
Through his Centre, he has published papers from three annual Social Policy Forums, addressing issues of fathers, families and family law. Other Centre publications have also considered these matters, as well as the policy-making process and the types of analysis used. He has also written on these matters for the New Zealand Law Journal and elsewhere.
Lunch provided 12.00 - 12.45pm
5a. Men and Work
Dr. Paul Callister 1.00 - 1.45pm
Abstract: New Zealand fathers are amongst those working the longest hours of paid work in industrialised countries. Yet, men increasingly want to be "good" fathers, contributing both "quality" and "quantity" time to their children. The paper will explore the "double burden" for New Zealand fathers and ways it might be reduced.
Speaker: Dr Paul Callister is a labour market economist with a long-term interest in the changing roles of fathers. Paul's recent research has focused on the changing distribution of paid and unpaid work at the level of both the individual and the household. This has included a focus on the polarisation of work across households; family-friendly' policies including parental leave; employment scheduling; home-based employment; as well as the links between changes in the labour market and changes in the form and function of households. Paul is a member of the national committee of the Father and Child Society.
5b. Men in the Social Services - Inclusion or Exclusion?
Alan Blackburn 1.00 - 1.45pm
Abstract: Men are being excluded from the social services by default. The structure of social services work against the development of men's services, and male oriented policy is being excluded by the process. Knowledge about how men work is not included in the syllabus for training social service workers, thus quality services for men are not emerging. Yet at some levels inclusiveness and awareness is developing, and in some areas the move towards, and the need for men's services is being discussed.
Speaker: Alan Blackburn M.Soc.Sc. (Hons), Dip. Br Com. trained as a sociologist with a special interest in political and organisational sociology. He has had a variety of leadership roles including work with the Race Relations Office, Human Right Commission, Auckland Employers Association and NZI Life. For the last 12 years he has held senior roles in large community service organisations including Presbyterian Support, Foundation for the Blind, and Relationship Services before starting as C.E.O. with ManAlive, the first male-specific social service in Australasia. In 2004 he toured England, Ireland and Singapore researching social services and men's needs and conducting seminars.
6a. Fathers and Fatherlessness
Rex McCann 1.45 - 2.25pm
Speaker: Rex McCann is well known and widely respected for his work in the area of men's awareness in New Zealand and Australia. He is the founder and facilitator of Essentially Men and has had twenty years active experience in men's groups. He regularly attends men's conferences in the U.S. and Australia, connecting with broader international influences.
He is author of 'Fatherless Sons' - the stories of New Zealand men, which examines men's relationship with their fathers and the place of fathers in society. It has been published in Australia under the title "On Their Own - men growing up underfathered".
Rex is a self employed facilitator, researcher and author and has experienced many walks of life with men, including working with men in prisons for five years. In the past he has worked as a hunter, a political activist, a teacher in Rudolf Steiner education, and a director of street theatre. He is the founder of the NZ Men's Leadership Gathering and a co founder of the NZ Heart Politics Gathering. He speaks at conferences and workshops and conducts training for helping professionals on working with men and in schools and the wider community on issues to do with boys and men.
6b. Family Court - Marginalised Men
Jim Bagnall 1.45 - 2.25pm
Abstract: Jim will speak about solutions to the dilemma the Family Court finds itself in, in relation to the law it has to administer. Jim has recently visited father's advocates across the Tasman, and has studied the proposals and submisions of the Shared Parenting Council of Australia (SPCA). Their outcome can easily be achieved in New Zealand if we learn from their experience.
Speaker: Jim is currently Chairman; Separated Fathers Support Trust and past Chairman; Men's Centre North Shore. He has assisted men in the Family Court as a McKenzie Friend over 70 times. He has been a teacher for 34 years, and has taught gifted children for 20 years.
7a. Boys in Schools
Joseph Driessen 2.25 - 3.05pm
Abstract: Joseph will be speaking about boys education in New Zealand, and will summarise the latests trends and research.
Speaker: Joseph Driessen BSc TTC MEdAdmin is one of the leading Educators with regards to Boys' Education, in New Zealand. He is a frequent Speaker at National and International Teacher Conferences about Boys' Education, and conducts seminars and training on that topic. He completed his Masters of Educational Administration with a major research project into boys' educational achievement. He is a 1998 recipient of the Davies Trust Educational Research Grant, for Research into Boys' Education and later was awarded a Research Grant by the New Zealand Ministry of Education for similar research at Wanganui High.
7b. Men, Prisons and Community
Kim Workman 2.25 - 3.05pm
Speaker: Kim Workman BA (Sociology) - of Ngati Kahungunu ki Wairarapa and Rangitaane descent. He began a 16 year career as a police officer in 1959, half of that time was spent in the Youth Aid Section, working with young offenders.
In 1986 he was appointed as the District Manager, Department of Mäori Affairs, and in 1988 as Deputy Secretary, for the Auckland Region. In 1989, Kim was appointed to the position of Assistant Secretary (Penal Institutions), Department of Justice. It was in this role as head of the Prison Service, that Kim oversaw some major reforms in the penal system. In 1993, he was appointed as Deputy Director General (Mäori Health) with the Ministry of Health.
In 1995 was invited to become a member of the Prison Fellowship New Zealand Board. This led to close personal involvement in the development of the faith-based prison movement, and he was commissioned by Prison Fellowship International to write a manual on the replication of these prisons throughout the world. In 2000, Kim was appointed to the position of Executive Director, Prison Fellowship. In the last three years, Prison Fellowship New Zealand has become a significant provider in the criminal justice sector/social services sectors, providing services at the faith-based unit, Rimutaka Prison, in after-care prisoner services (Operation Jericho), and in the delivery of in-prison victim-offender reconciliation services.
Afternoon tea 3.05 - 3.30pm
8. The Problems and the Possibilities of Advocating Men's Issues
Philip Chapman 3.30 - 4.00pm
Abstract: Phillip will be speaking about his frontline work in advocatiing for men, and the problems he finds working with families in a predominately female family-service environment. He is regularly silenced and marginalised by people who believe men are a threat rather than an asset.
The possibilities are endless - men's hearts are open and if service organisations learn to engage men in the community there will be increased opportunities for improving society.
Speaker: When Philip is not listening to Bob Dylan he works for Public Health Services of Nelson Marlborough District Health Board promoting men's health, and positive fathering. Philip also manages a centre which runs services including; "Men for Men" counselling and "Problems for Boys" life skills.
He has carried out three research projects on men's involvement with family services such as Anti-natal and Plunket, and is currently a consultant to Plunket on a new parenting program and engaged in a research project focussing on men's transition to fatherhood.
Philip is President of the NZ Father and Child Society and a sought after presentation speaker.
9. Panel of speakers: Summing up discussion and recommendations for a strategy
Facilitated by Warwick Pudney 4.00 - 4.30pm
Closure by Mayor Bob Harvey. 4.30pm
The final session is summarised here: May 2005 Summit Outcomes.