

A couple of months ago I had the honour of being asked to deliver a TEDx talk in Melbourne.
Being relatively new to the speaking circuit I was incredibly humbled, and terrified, by this unique opportunity.
Naturally I went to work trying to find that one single ‘idea’ that I believed would be worth spreading. I am…

But the airing of the ABC Four Corners investigation in to the treatment of children in juvenile detention in the Northern Territory has left me absolutely stunned.
There were several moments whilst watching where I found myself turning away, unable to process the emotions I was feeling in response to what I was seeing.
Images of boys…

The focus is, more often than not, on the victim or the perpetrator but what about the children who witness such events or have lived in these toxic environments for way too long?
As a consequence of strict codes of confidentiality such things are not discussed enough and individual cases are never publicised. The only time…

The defence argued that the young girl who was assaulted had to take on some responsibility for the attack as she chose to sit in the front seat! The fact that I have to even make reference to where the young girl was seated at the time of the attack is an insult to the…

Witnessing mothers practice their displays of over-indulgent ‘public parenting’ as their children whinge about the fact that their milkshake doesn’t have enough ice cream, I find myself reassured that I will never be out of work. In a decade when these little angels turn age 15, their mothers will be tearing their hair out, wondering…

You see them coming and you look like a rabbit in the headlights in your efforts to scamper. Too late, you’re stuck. It’s ok! Don’t panic and whatever you do don’t ask the question, “How are you?”
The older I get the more I struggle with those who lack just a basic level of gratitude.
Don’t get…

The Mormon parents, David and Collet Stephens, are staunch anti vax’s and own their own nutritional supplement company.
There are so many layers to the lunacy of this approach that I am struggling to know where to start. Having spent nearly 20 years in the Byron Bay area and working for many years in a large…

A war rages and somehow I find myself feeling uneasy in response to this polarising battle.
After having read numerous victim impact statements of those abused at the hands of the church, my deepest sympathies are with those affected and their families.
Not for a minute is what I am about to say to detract from the…

She passed away three weeks ago. What I have come to know now is that I am still no closer to knowing the answer to the question I posed in the first place - or that my general rhetoric has altered in the wake of her passing.
It started here...
If I thought my blog about losing…

There is little doubt that teachers, these days, have far greater expectations placed upon them. As a consequence of busier parents and increased social pressures, teachers are now expected be be far more involved in the welfare and ‘raising’ of a child than they were many years ago. This is further complicated by restrictions they…