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dads who are going through separation and family court… it can actually be a drawn-out struggle for some of these guys – particularly if they don’t know the landscape of what’s going on,” says Jim. rough BOP ‘Dadz Kare’ services the team o er peer support meetings and one-on-one sessions to help dads with parenting advice, shared care and separation struggles.

Understands

Jim completed his law studies in 2022 and will be admitted to the bar this year. With nearly two decades of involvement at Kidz Need Dadz under his belt too, and his personal experiences, Jim understands the stress of a family breakdown. “I found myself single, going through the dilemma myself and self-representing in court without a lawyer. You hear horror stories of guys going through the family court and what a hiding they get but my journey was actually positive, and I put that down to making sure I kept a really high level of conduct and treated everyone in the system with respect.” On re ection, Jim says: “I probably should’ve reached out more, particularly when I found out the relationship had broken down”. “It can be a really lonely isolating time.”

Self care

Jim says key for dads is self-care. “It’s about doing something positive for themselves, whether that be going to the gym, for a swim, into the bush, whatever hobby rocks their world. “In society men have kind of been taught to set themselves on re to keep everyone else warm and that’s not really sustainable, so I’m saying: ‘Put your own oxygen mask on rst otherwise you’re no good to anyone else around you’.”

Jim encourages dads to play the long game when strengthening relationships with their children after a parental break-up. “Your children will grow up... they’re going to go o and be independent... they’re also going to grow up and judge – particularly if you’re dealing with two parents in con ict. We’re very much about making sure children have the balance of having both parents in their lives.” Kidz Need Dadz can o er their DadzKare service for free due to support of funders TECT, BayTrust and Acorn Foundation.

Georgia Minkhorst

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