It has been 50 years since the closure of the infamous Kinchela Boys Home, but former residents of the brutal establishment want people to remember what survivors endured.

NSW is experiencing a shortage of male primary school principals, now said to be half the number of female principals in public schools.

AverageJoes are men’s weekly meet-ups happening in pubs and cafes around Australia. It began on the sunny Coast 6 months ago with two blokes meeting together to talk raw and real and has now grown to 6 meetups around Australia with 9 more about to open. AJs has now just also registered in Kenya and Pakistan with the emphasis of getting men back to the basics of meeting together using their natural ability to problem solve and talk life by using a weekly topic set by the two founders or even just ‘go with the flow’ conversations. We cannot keep up with just reading the testimonies let alone the natural growth these AJs meet-ups are having. 10 newspapers articles, Movember interviews, magazine interviews, countless radio interviews resulting with a free airtime by running a radio add approx 25 times a day.

Susan Elvery is an experienced group facilitator, trainer and supervisor, currently employed by Relationships Australia (NSW) as the Groupwork Team Leader at the Sydney City Centre. Over the past 15 years, Susan has facilitated eleven Taking Responsibility (23 week programs) and provided support and guidance to implement RANSW’s ‘whole of family’ approach to Domestic Violence and Family Safety (http://www.relationshipsnsw.org.au/support-services/taking-responsibility-a-course-for-men/). These programs have provided a significant opportunity for change in the family relationships for around 220 men. In turn, this has had a significant positive effect on their sons, daughters and often their current/former partners. Taking Responsibility is a group program aimed at men who have been abusive in their relationships and are now ready to work towards building relationships that are respectful and caring. Participants in the group are provided with an opportunity to begin the process of change by understanding the thoughts, feelings and behaviours that either support change or destroy relationships. Susan is a group leader with passion, insight and depth. Susan has been a dedicated voice for community education, group programs and men’s behavioural change. She is a voice for best practice in the Men’s Behavioural Change Network and until last year, the Institute of Group Leaders. Her numerous conference presentations and workshops have wrestled with how the sector can provide creative and quality groupwork programs through acknowledging and valuing the unique expression that every group member contains. This is Susan’s fundamental core, her ability to tune into the significance of what is occurring for others and find a bridge to harness it. Susan has engaged a very wide range of men, supporting a positive picture of possibility for themselves and their wider family while holding the stance of taking responsibility for any violence used in intimate relationships. The feedback from the men themselves says it all: • Improved me as a person. has made me reflect on my actions • Great improvement • Very important, self-awareness, understanding of anger and well-being • Impact on relationship with my partner is still unclear. Impact on my relationship with myself has been significant personal growth and development of self-awareness • Given me better self-awareness, tools and resources to better handle challenges. Better understanding of myself, learning to focus on things i can control within myself that positively impact on relationships. Externally - my relationships are stronger and much better. • Better understanding of myself and tools to use when I re-establish a new relationship • I have higher empathy for my partner without justifying or rationalizing my actions • Great course, I wish I could have attended earlier. • Very fortunate to have been on the course. Thank you very very much. All top quality! • Highly met expectations, exceeded in some areas. Extremely grateful for having the opportunity to participate. • Good program, great facilitators and constructive feedback.

Mentoring for Men in the beautiful Coffs Harbour area in NSW.

I've been attending Coffee 4 Blokes since its inception. The group and its members have been an invaluable resource and an amazing support base for me. I suffered a serious of accidents and traumatic experiences one on top of another in succession over several months. I was not given adequate time or opportunity to heal myself while trying to cope with my teenage daughter at a time when she needed me most. Without the support of Coffee 4 Blokes our recent family crisis and ongoing needs may have seemed insurmountable.