Resources

Our Men, Our Shields
Messages of belonging and hope

First 1000 Days Australia focuses on the period of time from preconception to a child’s second birthday

We recognise the transformative moments that occur with becoming a first-time parent, and all the responsibility that entails.

Our work supports and celebrates the roles of mothers, fathers and extended family in ensuring the health and wellbeing of children in their first 1000 days.

However, a focus on mothers and babies, to the exclusion of men, undermines and undervalues the important contribution that men make to their families during those first 1000 days.

When men’s roles and responsibilities are either not acknowledged or denied, the very foundations of our societies are disrupted and our cultural ways of rearing children in nurturing homes are denied.

The birth of our children heralds the arrival of a future Elder. We honour our collective duty to use these 1000 days to build a lifetime of support so that our children grow up strong in their identity and into these roles over time.

This duty embodies the promise of selfdetermination and demonstrates the seven generations principle in action. More than ever, we need parents, families and communities to be at the forefront of supporting our children to grow, thrive and flourish.

Valuing the powerful capability of both men and women to support our infants is in keeping with our vision for a free, just and equitable society in which our cultures are valued and our parents are supported to ensure all children are set up for a good future.

Welcome Baby to Country
Partnership Resource Guide

Birthing Future Elders into Strong Healthy Families

Welcoming a new baby into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities is a cultural practice that involves the whole community – men, women, children and extended families. For thousands of years, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have held Welcome Baby to Country ceremonies to acknowledge an infant’s connection to the lands on which they are born.

These practices are diverse and unique to each community across Australia. First 1000 Days Australia recognises the important role that Welcome Baby to Country ceremonies have in meeting the cultural needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and connecting children to community, Country and Elders.

This resource also honours the cultural contributions of our partners in reviving Welcome Baby to Country ceremonies in their communities, and puts forward ideas on how future partners can create and renew these ceremonies for families in their regions. Welcome Baby to Country ceremony organisers worked closely with local families and parents, Traditional Owners and Elders in their region to ‘reawaken’ and ‘reimagine’ the ceremony into a modern-day setting.

Held to welcome all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander babies on to the traditional lands of the community in which they are born or living, all these ceremonies were locally led events that involved families and Elders.

The Charter of rights for children yet to be conceived

The First 1000 Days Australia Council appreciates that parenting is a skill learned from being parented and is specific to the demands of a particular way of life. The Council also understands there are families who experience social and health inequities.