Lone fathers at risk of suicide when they can’t see their kids

By Sophie Kesteven

• ABC Tropical Queensland – Australian Broadcasting Corporation
• 02/10/2015
• Contributed by: Daveyone ( 14 articles in 2015 )

Fathers struggling to gain access to their children are more susceptible to suicide, according to the national president and founder of Lone Father’s Association.

Barry Williams is the national president and founder of the Lone Father’s Association.

It is a non-for profit organisation that aims to put children first by making sure both parents get to see their children when a marriage breaks down.

He said the common concern from fathers was being unable to access their children.

“People hate each other for a while when they break up and they use their kids as pawns to stop the other parent seeing the children … and it is causing a lot of suicide in men,” Mr Williams said.

Hoping to hear the issues fathers faced in the region, Mr Williams held a Lone Father’s Association meeting in Mackay on Tuesday evening.

He told those attending it was important for a child to have an upbringing where they could get to know both their mother and father, as long as there was no domestic violence in the family.

“When you get a young 12-year-old child ringing us to help see their family and crying about it, it really gets to you,” he said.

Mr Williams said certain laws discriminated against fathers, and he would like to see them changed to encourage more equal parenting involving children.

“The more time [the mother] can keep the child away from the father, the more child support they receive,” he said.

Reaching out to fathers in Mackay

Local Bruce Higgins said he felt compelled to attend the Lone Father’s Association meeting because he wanted to see a fairer system for men who paid child maintenance.

“We know people that are in this situation, and to me it is not fair,” Mr Higgins said.

“I can see a lot of men in this situation that go to suicide. There is a breaking point for everyone and if you don’t start sticking up for the men who are being knocked around with their finances, it is not a fair system at all.

“I know blokes out there who have nothing left at the end of the month. They are just paying child support,” he said.

Mr Higgins said he would also discuss his concerns with LNP member George Christensen, who attended the Lone Father’s Association meeting.

“There is a hell of a lot of different cases, but in the ones I have seen there is no justice in it at all,” Mr Higgins said.

For help or information on suicide you can call the Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467, or go to their website.

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2015/09/30/4322568.htm