The group gave the Senate inquiry 11 recommendations

Jesuit Social Services has urged the Senate Select Committee on Women’s Health to back stronger support for fathers and non-birth parents during pregnancy and early parenthood, arguing that shared care improves women’s health and recovery after birth.

The organisation made 11 recommendations to the inquiry. They cover father-inclusive perinatal services, mental health screening for fathers, work on restrictive masculine norms and family violence prevention and early intervention that engages fathers.

Julie Edwards, chief executive of Jesuit Social Services, said: “Women’s health and recovery after birth depend on more than the care women receive – they also depend on whether care is shared.”

Edwards said support for fathers should add to, not replace, better care for mothers and birth parents. She said shared unpaid care, shared mental load and co-parenting from the start are better for women, families and communities.

Man Box findings on care and gender norms

Jesuit Social Services’ Man Box 2024 research found restrictive ideas about masculinity still limit some men’s involvement in care. In that research, around two in five Australian men aged 18 to 45 felt pressure to be the main breadwinner.

The same Jesuit Social Services’ Man Box 2024 research found more than a quarter of Australian men aged 18 to 45 said society tells them boys should not cook, clean or care for younger children. About one in seven to one in five personally agreed with those messages.

Sam Ware, executive director of The Men’s Project at Jesuit Social Services, said: “These norms box men in. They narrow what it means to be a dad and make it harder for men to ask for help.”

Ware also called for a long-term national program centred on care, connection and shared responsibility to widen ideas about being a man and a father.

The submission says pregnancy and early parenting services are still mostly built around mothers. Fathers have reported not feeling welcome at first-time parent groups, while midwives have reported lacking the training and confidence to engage fathers.

Jesuit Social Services wants fathers to be routinely invited into antenatal, postnatal and early parenting services, unless their involvement is unsafe. It also wants them recognised as clients in their own right.

The group estimates that up to 10% of fathers experience perinatal depression, while 5 to 15% experience perinatal anxiety. Because of that, it is calling for routine mental health screening for fathers using tools that reflect how distress often shows in men.

Another recommendation calls for safe, co-designed ways to identify family violence risk during pregnancy and early parenthood, guided by specialist family violence services and victim-survivors.

Jesuit Social Services also welcomed the chance to give evidence to the inquiry.

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