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Sydney for Kids

a division of Levton Marketing Services

ABN 61 072 135 383

Tel: 02 9144 6632

Email: wendy@sydneyforkids.com.au

Ms Pru Goward

Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner

Dear Ms Goward,

Please allow me to tell you a bit about my experience and my connection with your current work. I originally trained as a high school Physical Education teacher and spent 13 years teaching in state schools in country Victoria and Melbourne. I then moved to Sydney when I was 6 months pregnant with our first child, due to my husband’s work. Not surprisingly, motherhood changed my life. It also has set me on a new career. I opted to stay home while the children were babes (a son arrived 2 years later) and after an overseas trip with kids aged 2 and 4, I realized the value of travel guides for families. Hence the idea of a family guide for Sydney was born and in 1997 I started taking my two little research assistants all over the city to test Sydney’s family-friendliness. The first edition of Sydney for Kids was published by CHOICE Books in 1999. Since then we have continued to explore Sydney and are still finding new places to try. The third edition of Sydney for Kids was released last year.

I have such fun with my family that I have decided to become a speaker and help other parents enjoy their family time more. I completed the National Speakers Association of Australia’s Academy of Professional Speaking in 2002. And to learn more about Australian families and research them, I completed a Master of Early Childhood Degree at Macquarie University in 2004. My research was about ‘The day-to-day activities and feelings of mothers with young children’. I used the ABS time diaries to generate detailed information about how 9 mothers, all with at least on child aged 5 or younger, spent a weekday and a weekend day. I also asked the mothers how they felt as they went about their daily tasks. Six of these women were planning to return to paid work in the next 12 months and three were already in part time paid work. I would be happy to send you a summary of my results.

I attended the AIFS Conference in February and could relate to all that you addressed in your presentation. I had read most of this literature as part of my research. It is a goal of mine to educate men to allow a fairer distribution of family tasks. Later this year I intend to approach maternity hospitals to have a new presentation included in pre-natal classes. In this class I would outline the issues faced by men and women on the transition to parenthood, including the allocation of household and caring tasks. It is imperative that men receive this information first hand and the timing of these classes is good - before routines have been established. I hope that with a better understanding by men of the realities of what lies ahead, tasks will be more fairly allocated when the baby arrives.

I would be delighted to make a contribution, so please do not hesitate to contact me if you feel I can assist in any way.

Regards,

Wendy Preston.