“This work will have a significant social and cultural impact, as it addresses the key concerns of the 21st century regarding fatherhood, masculinity, and child-rearing.”
— Michelle Arrow, a renowned historian, scholar, and writer, currently serves as Professor of History at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, and is Vice-President of the Australian Historical Association. She is best known for her research on Australia in the 1970s. For her book “The Seventies: Personal, Political, and the Making of Modern Australia,” Arrow was awarded the 2020 Ernest Scott Prize.

“This book offers a comprehensive and in-depth exploration of the role of fathers, spanning policy and history to poignant personal recollections, revealing both the changes that have taken place and the many aspects that have remained unchanged.”
— The Independent Australia

★Redefining what it means to be a father today! This book draws on the “Australian Generations Oral History” project, initiated by the Australian Research Council (ARC), the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s National Radio, the National Library of Australia, and others. It is co-authored by Alistair Thomson, a world‑leading oral historian and Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, along with numerous distinguished professors of history, social and cultural scholars, and parents.
★This is the first work to trace nearly a century of Australia’s development and offer a comprehensive “complete history of fatherhood” across an entire nation. Family structures are undergoing rapid and profound changes, and the role of fathers within the family has evolved accordingly. Today, we have more avenues, choices, and forms of support than ever before to help us raise our children successfully.

In the 21st century, fathers should actively participate in their children’s daily care, much like the iconic father figure depicted in the children’s animated series *Bluey*. This book explores why men often find it difficult to meet societal and cultural expectations. The author’s groundbreaking research illuminates the forces that have shaped family life and the role of fatherhood since the early 20th century, as well as how fathers have navigated evolving roles and responsibilities.
Focusing on lived experiences and drawing on a century of personal accounts and narratives, the book examines how fathers have engaged in child-rearing—and how that engagement has changed—as the broader social landscape reshapes their familial roles and their relationships with their children. It reveals that the experience of fatherhood is influenced not only by social class and material well-being, but also by race and ethnicity, geography and gender, family background, and individual personality.
This work will transform our understanding of men’s experiences in parenting, demonstrating how fathers from diverse backgrounds—including immigrant and Indigenous fathers—have sought to balance their roles in an ever‑changing environment.

Alistair Thomson
Alistair Thomson is a Professor of History at the School of Philosophical, Historical and International Studies at Monash University. He is a world-leading oral historian and a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.
Alistair’s research and teaching are dedicated to exploring how different types of life‑story evidence can illuminate the past and its significance in individuals’ and societies’ present lives. His current work focuses on the opportunities and challenges of digital (oral) history, as well as the history of fatherhood in twentieth‑century Australia. From 2011 to 2015, Alistair led the “Australian Generations Oral History” project, a collaborative initiative funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC) and jointly undertaken by historians from Monash University and La Trobe University, ABC Radio National, and the National Library of Australia. His team examined the changing roles of Australian fathers over the past century. In an interview with ABC Chinese, Professor Thomson noted that over the past two to three decades, in Australia and many other countries, the actively involved and emotionally engaged father has become the dominant model of fatherhood; however, the traditional responsibility of providing for the family still makes it difficult for many men to fully meet contemporary expectations of fatherhood.
He also directs Monash University’s graduate program in historical studies and supervises students in a variety of twentieth‑century history projects.
He has authored several books on oral history, covering topics such as war, migration, and family life. He has published articles including “How Today’s Fathers and Grandfathers Differ,” “Fathers’ Perspectives,” and “Upholding Family Values.”
He has one daughter, one son, and two grandchildren.


John Murphy
John Murphy is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Melbourne, who retired in January 2024 and now holds the title of Emeritus Professor.
His research interests include Australian politics and history, as well as the comparative history of social policy, and he is currently focusing on social security in Indonesia. He specializes in studying social policy from historical and comparative perspectives. His publications span Australian social, political, and policy history, and address welfare, masculinity, public narratives about the nation, as well as memory, historiography, and biography.
He previously taught at RMIT University, where he served as Director of the Centre for Applied Social Research. At the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Arts, he held positions as Deputy Dean (Research and Research Training), Assistant Dean of the Doctoral Program, Deputy Dean, and Acting Dean.
He has published extensively on Australian social and political history, including the co-authored volume “The Struggle for Social Welfare in Southeast Asia” (Cambridge University Press). His book “Evatt: A Life” was shortlisted for several awards, including the Prime Minister’s Literary Award, the Australian History Prize, the National Biography Award, CHASS–Australia’s Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences Council Award, the Queensland Literary Award, and the History Book Award. “Half a Citizen” received an award from the Australian Human Rights Commission in 2011.
He has two daughters and two grandchildren.


Kate Murphy
Kate Murphy is a Senior Lecturer in Contemporary History at Monash University, teaching history and international studies. Her research focuses on Australian social and cultural history, particularly family history.
Kate is especially interested in family history and post‑war social movements, and she is currently researching the history of Australian fathers in the twentieth century as part of the Australian Research Council–funded project “Fathers: An Australian History, 1919–2019.”
Kate graduated from the University of Tasmania (where she was a university medalist) and Monash University. Her doctoral dissertation explored the meanings of urban and rural life in early twentieth‑century Australian public life and earned her the 2007 Molly Holman Doctoral Medal.
Her first book, “Fear and Fantasy: Modernity, Gender, and the Urban–Rural Divide” (Peter Lang, 2010), further examines the powerful influence of rural sensibilities in shaping Australian culture and modernity. Kate co‑authored with Professor Graeme Davison a history of Monash University titled “University Unlimited: The Story of Monash” (Allen & Unwin, 2012), which traces the university’s founding during the post‑war boom, the baby boom, and the growing demand for higher education.
She is the mother of three daughters.


Johnny Bell
Johnny Bell is a historian who studies Australian family life, with a particular focus on men’s roles and identities. He is also the fortunate father of Lucius Bell.


Jill Barnard
Jill Barnard is a historian based in Melbourne and the mother of two children. Her recent research has centered on the families of foster children in Australia.