Affectionately known as the ‘queen of common sense’, Maggie Dent is one of Australia’s favourite voices on parenting. She’s especially passionate about early childhood, adolescence and building resilience, and is well-known as a fierce advocate for boys.

Her rich professional life has included teaching, counselling, palliative care and funeral work, as well as suicide prevention. Maggie is committed to creating meaningful, lasting change in families and communities. She is a champion for protecting childhood and in 2025 she became a founding member of the Ctrl+Shft online safety and wellbeing coalition. Her advocacy work also extends to organisations such as Telethon, The Kids Research Institute, The Fathering Project, The Humpty Dumpty Foundation and the Gotcha4Life Foundation. In 2026 she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from The University of Wollongong for her service to children, families and communities. 

Maggie hosts The Good Enough Dad podcast and fronted six seasons of the award-winning ABC podcast, Parental As Anything, which she also turned into a book in 2021. Maggie is the author of 11 major books, including the bestselling Mothering Our Boys, From Boys to Men, Girlhood and Help Me Help My Teen. Her latest book (publishing 18th August 2026) is co-authored with Kirra Pendergast, Digital Freedom: A guide to less screen time for safer, happier and healthier families.

In 2025, Maggie appeared in the genre-bending ABC TV series about the challenges of parenting modern tweens/teens, The Role of a Lifetime.

She is an advocate for  Maggie is the mother of four sons and a very grateful grandmother.

Maggie Dent is a registered trade mark.