Hayley is the partner of a current serving defence member, and created her first book ‘My Dad is in the Australian Navy’ to help explain to her daughter why her dad might be away sometimes, and what he is doing.
She quickly realised there was a gap in the market for defence families wanting to teach their children in an age-appropriate way about the importance of the ADF and how their parents help, Hayley then created a series of Defence Kids books, including a tri-service book about parents that serve ,followed by a tri-service bed time story.
Hayley’s books are often used as a tool to explain service, and have even been used by deployed ADF members as bed time stories over zoom to help stay connected to their children. They have also been provided to Defence Mentors across the country who work with the children of defence members in schools.
Through the Defence Kidz Facebook page, Hayley has also built a community of veteran families who can come together to support each other and bond over their shared lived experience.
Defence Kidz is working to expand its offerings, with an animated series in the works and their books being stocked at Australia Post nationwide.