Clare Rowe

Official page for Clare Rowe - Psychologist, Writer, Speaker.

08/12/2025

On Dec 10, kids’ social media accounts will go dark — but the real shock won’t be online.
It’ll be inside Australian homes.
If you think this ban will “fix everything,” you need to read this.
👉 This is about parenting, not platforms.

30/11/2025

If you increase the number of professionals who can prescribe a medication, script rates increase. This is not a criticism. It is simply how healthcare works.
On the surface this shift feels sensible. Families wait far too long for specialist appointments. Costs are high. Children who genuinely need support are forced to sit on waitlists for months or years. Increasing access looks compassionate and practical.
So why does something about this make me uncomfortable….
Just wait and watch the number of kids on medication for behaviour skyrocket.
Read and Subscribe in my substack
Link in bio

14/11/2025

My new column is out today online.
For years we’ve been told the ABC is strictly independent, yet its deep partnership with ACON raises serious questions about influence, ideology and transparency.
And this comes at a time when public broadcasters around the world, including the BBC, are facing crises of their own.
Australians deserve media institutions that are free from activism and accountable to the public, not to lobby groups.
Have a read and let me know your thoughts.

12/11/2025

I don’t usually do personal posts here.
But look how happy I am 😂
After attending Cliff Richard concerts for at least the last 35 years I’m still the youngest there (ok maybe wins that award this time).
My Mum was HUGE fan (era of The Beetles and Elvis). My Dad… not so much.
So she took me along to Cliff concerts in Australia since I was tiny. Over years my relationship with Mum became more difficult as her alcoholism took over. In the end it took her life in 2017.
But those nights seeing Cliff were pure happy memories. We would dress up together, always get a Chinese meal before the show and then sing our lungs out at the old Sydney Entertainment Centre.
Those nights I saw her as a different person. Not my Mum. Not an alcoholic. Free and happy. Just Karen. Those nights, and Cliff’s music really became such an important part of our relationship and my happiest memories of her.
So of course I had to go see Sir Cliff at EIGHTY FIVE YEARS OLD still sound awesome this week. I’m not embarrassed to say that I sang, I cried and I danced.
Wish you were there Mum. I hope you were dancing along in spirit. ❤️❤️❤️

15/10/2025

In today’s Daily Telegraph & Herald Sun. I have sat with shocked and devestated parents as they have learnt that their child has been socially transitioned to a new name and pronouns at school and they were the last to hear of it. In fact they only found out when a teacher made a slip up during a parent-teacher interview.
To give teachers the ability to make an assessment of a child being a “mature minor” with what is typically very complex mental health presentations is irresponsible and dismantling the autonomy and rights of parents.

02/10/2025

I am so saddened to hear about the passing of psychologist and author Nigel Latta. Whilst I met him professionally once I did not know him personally. What Nigel will never know is how much of an inspiration he was to my career.
I distinctly recall as a young g graduate coming across his book The Politically Incorrect Guide to Parenting (which I still recommend to parents!) and breathing in deeply - because Nigel was a breath a fresh air in the noise of nonsense parent advice that was trendy. He was always rooted in behavioural enquiry and evidence based principles but I was most inspired by his bravery of calling things out and saying them as they are.
And he did it all with humour and charm that was endearing.

He pioneered and set a bench mark for me in psychology in the media and public domain and I have looked up to him my entire career.
Only 12 short months after a health diagnosis it just doesn’t seem fair to lose someone who had so much more to give.
Rest in Peace Nigel.

21/09/2025

Some schools have banned red pens to avoid hurting feelings. Educational psychologist Clare Rowe says it's leading to classroom disaster 📌👉 https://bit.ly/4gx44Ul

14/09/2025

You don’t have to agree with Charlie Kirk to see this for what it is – a moment when the mask slipped and those who preach compassion revealed how easily it curdles into cruelty. When “be kind” became “good riddance”.
Link in bio to full article in The Financial Review.

22/08/2025

My thoughts today in the
In speaking out about the overspend of the NDIS I aim to advocate for every child who is legitimately in need of support. I know many parents are angry at my comments, but if they have children with developmental difficulties who rely on this system, then it is you that I speak out for.
The pressure on clinicians to inflate diagnoses and needs is REAL.
The requests for clinicians to engage in fraudulent behaviour is REAL.
Early intervention is crucial but we also need to ask the hard questions. What, as a society, as we prepared to fully fund? And how will we do this? I sincerely hope that the governments plan to support children on the spectrum through community programs rolls out quickly and efficiently.
Having a child with additional needs is hard enough, let alone trying to navigate a complicated system.
But in calling out the excess, fraud and waste I only intend to protect the scheme for those that it is intended for.

18/08/2025

Would you want your 8-year-old asked privately at school: ‘Have you wished you were dead?’

That’s not a hypothetical. It’s part of a mandatory mental health screener in US schools — and Australia isn’t far behind.

Kids are suggestible. When we plant ideas of depression, trauma or su***de in their heads, we risk creating problems that weren’t there.
My latest Substack unpacks why mandatory screenings are dangerous, how false positives overwhelm families, and what children actually need instead.
👉 Link in bio to read the full piece.

09/08/2025

For nearly 20 years I have used the term “PlayStation Parenting” with the parents I work with. Video games and neutral, consistent and predictable in outcomes. And kids thrive off that.

Read my article today online in the Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun and The Advertiser to find out why we need to return to this kids of parenting in our homes.
Link in bio.

Address

51 Connells Point Road
Hurstville, NSW
2223

Telephone

+61285809322

Website

http://www.clarerowe.com.au/

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