A groundbreaking, homegrown girls empowerment program will be rolled out across the state to benefit fathers and their daughters.
The state government and the University of Newcastle (UoN) officially launched a $2.4 million partnership to deliver Daughters and Dads Active and Empowered last week.
The program targets fathers as the agents of change to improve their daughters’ physical activity levels, sport skills, and social-emotional wellbeing.
It was the brainchild of UoN’s renowned physical activity researcher, Professor Phil Morgan, and his team, along with support from the Hunter Medical Research Institute.
Professor Morgan said the partnership would make a real difference.
“There was a strong rationale to target daughters and dads,” he told Newcastle Weekly.
“We developed and evaluated a program and it had such great results.
“So, it would be disappointing if the program was not made available to more families.
“On the back of really strong evidence, the government has made a considerable investment to make this available to families across NSW.
“This partnership will allow us to make a difference to communities on a much larger scale.”
The NSW Office of Sport and UoN will deliver the program as part of the government’s women in sport strategy, Her Sport Her Way.
Launched in August, it features 29 initiatives that will assist in reducing barriers to participation and promote inclusion for women and girls.
Following the initial success of Daughters and Dads Active and Empowered, Sport England announced in December 2018 it would award a Women in Sport organisation with a (AU) $1 million grant over three years to deliver it in partnership with the Fatherhood Institute, English Championship club Fulham FC, and the English Football League Trust.
Professor Morgan said he was excited about the program’s potential to grow further.
“I think it’s really exciting that a homegrown product from Newcastle is now going to be rolled out in NSW,” he said.
“We also have plans for a whole range of major sports to develop adaptations of the Daughters and Dads program for specific sports.
“So, a homegrown product that could be on the national and international stage is very rewarding, exciting, and satisfying.”
Visit sport.nsw.gov.au/ourwork/women-in-sport for more about the initiative or the Daughters and Dads Active and Empowered program.
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