AIFS Conference highlights

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The 15th Biennial AIFS Conference, Melbourne

The three-day AIFS 2018 Conference was held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on July 25–27, 2018. It attracted 650 participants, with 245 speakers across a packed program.

Conference videos and publications

Conference presentation – Using people-centred evidence to shape policy strategy and implementation

An article based on a Department of Social Services-led symposium about ways to better understand the needs of those who are vulnerable and disadvantaged.

Keynote presentation – Protecting Children: Time for a new story?

International guest speaker Professor Brigid Featherstone explores how adopting a new story might support more hopeful and socially just policies and practices.

Keynote presentation – Families: What, so what, now what?

International guest speaker Nora Spinks, CEO of the Vanier Institute of the Family Canada, shares how Canada supports families and family life.

Download the transcript (99.5 KB)

Panel plenary session – System reform: Is it dead?

Writer, journalist and broadcaster Madonna King leads a Q&A panel discussion on the ideal vs the reality of system reform in Australia.

Panel discussion – Nudges: Behavioural insights and policy strategy and implementation

AIFS Director Anne Hollonds facilitates a discussion with two leading thinkers about whether using evidence from the behavioural sciences can help Australian families.

Download the transcript (78.5 KB)

Symposium - Fathers at work

A man sitting in a dark office holding his head in his hands in frustration

Conflicts between work and family and fathers’ mental health

This article is adapted from a presentation given at the AIFS 2018 Conference: Fathers at Work symposium.

Father and toddler typing on keyboard together

Fathers’ work and family conflicts and the outcomes for children’s mental health

This article is adapted from a presentation given at the AIFS 2018 Conference: Fathers at Work symposium.

Man in casual clothes using a laptop and his son using a smartphone on the desk. He's working and doing childcare at home

Fathers and work: A statistical overview

This article shows that while mothers’ work circumstances change considerably after having a child, fathers’ tend to change very little.

Fathers and parental leave
This article looks at why only 1 in 20 Australian fathers take parental leave, as well as the benefits for both families and businesses of shared parental leave.

The AIFS 2018 Conference has concluded.

Presentation slides are available upon request.

Please contact us if you would like copies of specific presentations from the conference.

To review the conference program, you can download the AIFS 2018 handbook [PDF, 2.1 MB ]

Find out more about the AIFS 2020 Conference!

Facebook Live interviews

Screenshot of a Facebook Live 2018 AIFS conference Facebiij Morwynn Carlow and Nora Spinks

We’ve updated our post-AIFS 2018 Conference page with the Facebook Live interviews we recorded with some of the guest speakers following keynote addresses and plenary panels. They offer further insights into the great discussions that were had on stage.

Nora Spinks

Dr John Hewson and Professor Janeen Baxter

Professor Brigid Featherstone

Adjunct Prof Muriel Bamblett AM and Robert Fitzgerald AM

Dr Nicholas Gruen and Sam Hannah-Rankin

Benjamin Law and Jamila Rizvi