Stepfamilies in Australia to Celebrate National Families Week 2009

Stepfamilies Australia says National Families Week (10 -16 May 2009), is an important occasion to celebrate the many different types of families across society and acknowledge the many different people who make up these families.

“National Families Week is a critical opportunity to highlight family issues and to recognise the diversity of
contemporary family life”, says Steve Martin from Stepfamilies Australia.

Whilst ‘mum, dad and two kids’ is still considered to be the norm, in suburban streetscapes family life has become increasingly complex. Today’s families are rarely the tidy, homogenous nuclear models many of us knew when we were growing up, instead there are same-sex parents, single parents, grandparents, de-facto partners, carers, step-parents and step-grandparents, step-siblings and half-siblings involved in the mix, as well different cultures, customs and religions. Read more

Mothers Day Breakfast: Scones with fresh Raspberry Jam

The following breakfast idea uses some of the products from CSR’s innovative Better for You range and are guaranteed to make Mum smile!

CSR has created a range of sugar that’s Better for You. Consisting of a unique low GI sugar – CSR LoGiCane, as well as CSR Organic and CSR Smart, the Better for You range means you can enjoy the same sweet taste, while feeling confident that it’s the healthier way to enjoy sugar.

This means that making a yummy Mother’s Day brekky is not only easy, but it is also a better for you option.

Scones
Makes 16

Ingredients
3 cups (450g) Self raising flour
2 tablespoons (32g) CSR Smart
1 cup 250ml soda water
3/4 cup (187ml) light cream or buttermilk
Light cream or fresh ricotta, to serve Read more

Mothers Day Breakfast: Ricotta Hotcakes with Glazed Pears

CSR has created a range of sugar that’s Better for You. Consisting of a unique low GI sugar – CSR LoGiCane, as well as CSR Organic and CSR Smart, the Better for You range means you can enjoy the same sweet taste, while feeling confident that it’s the healthier way to enjoy sugar.

This means that making a yummy Mother’s Day brekky is not only easy, but it is also a better for you option. The following breakfast idea uses some of the products from CSR’s innovative Better for You range and are guaranteed to make Mum smile!

Ricotta Hotcakes with Glazed Pears
Makes about 25

Ingredients
250g low fat ricotta
125ml (½ cup) low fat milk
73g (1/3 cup) CSR Logicane™ Low GI cane sugar
zest 1 lemon
2 large eggs (separated)
115g (¾ cup) wholemeal plain flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
unsalted butter, for cooking Read more

First Look at CHOICE Report on Gym Rip Offs

After receiving numerous complaints about unfair gym contracts, Australia’s largest and most trusted consumer organisation CHOICE, sent two shadow shoppers into the major fitness chains to investigate claims of aggressive sales tactics, elastic pricing, confusing contracts and overcrowded classes. Australian Women Online is able to offer our readers a first look at the CHOICE report on unfair gym contracts ahead of it’s official release this Sunday, 3 May 2009.

Everyday hundreds of Australians front up at gyms across the country only to find themselves pressured into signing 12 month membership contracts. But despite what the gyms would have us believe, these contracts are not set in stone and consumers do have rights, including the right to cancel a gym membership. Read more

You’re Invited to Sydney Fashion Weekend

Fashion Weekend Sydney is presented by SHOP Til You Drop, and is the highlight of the fashion calendar giving fashion lovers the chance to shop for great designer clothes and accessories, see a fabulous catwalk show plus get a brand new look and pick up tricks of the trade from the best beauty brands in the business.

Taking place from 14 – 17 May at the Royal Hall of Industries, Moore Park, Fashion Weekend features 100 of your favourite designers including Ginger & Smart, Alex Perry and Manning Cartell selling their current and last season collections – all at a discount of up to 70% off their retail price.

Designer stock is replenished each day of the event so that visitors have fresh stock to choose from whether they come on the opening night or the Sunday.

As well as the fabulous shopping, tickets are available for the Catwalk Show. A group catwalk show will take place each hour of the day presenting an exclusive view of this season’s hottest collections from designers including Manning Cartell, Nicola Finetti, Camilla, Marnie Skillings, Fleur Wood, Natasha to name a few. Read more

Banks to increase security measures for ATMs

The Australian Bankers’ Association (ABA) says banks are increasing security measures on ATMs following recent attacks by criminals.

Banks reported to a meeting with NSW Police and other ATM owners that the sector had been involved in a continuing risk assessment program for their ATM fleets and had been enhancing ATM security. This follows attacks by criminals who have introduced an explosive gas mixture into ATMs with the aim of breaking in and stealing the stored cash. Installation of gas detection and dispersement systems, cash degradation systems (dye packs) and toughening physical security on ATMs are some of the measures which banks have installed.

Individual banks take different approaches according to the types of ATMs in their fleet, where they are located, the infrastructure which surrounds the machine, visibility and lighting, and the security history of the site. Read more

Ditch Your Diet on International No Diet Day

Eating Disorders Victoria (EDV) is calling on all dieters to discard their restrictive and pointless diets and instead embrace a future that involves a healthy relationship with food, starting from International No Diet Day, Wednesday May 6.

According to EDV’s Executive Officer Kirsty Greenwood, “Australians spend more than $1 million dollars a day on weight loss dieting, with little or no long term benefits.”

The past few decades have seen a marked increase in the size and profitability of the weight‐loss industry, however over this time we have also seen a significant increase in obesity rates across first world countries. The simple truth is that diets don’t work. Studies prove that recurrent dieting can eventually lead to weight gain. Read more

SHOP Girl Magazine for Tweens to Launch

Australia’s leading publisher, ACP Magazines, will launch a new and unique one-shot magazine to help parents navigate the minefield of tween fashion.

SHOP Girl will be an extension of Australia’s biggest selling fashion magazine Shop Til You Drop and follows the success of the magazine’s first brand extension, SHOP 4 Kids. The new magazine will be aimed at parents of savvy and style-conscious girls aged 7-12.

SHOP editor Justine Cullen said: “As anyone with pre-teen daughters knows, it’s not easy to find a balance between how girls today want to dress and how we want them to dress. SHOP Girl will be a magazine designed for mothers and daughters to pore over together and find a middle ground, making shopping easier for time-poor parents and more fun for everyone.” Read more

Images of Breastfeeding Required

Australian families are being encouraged to celebrate magic moments in breastfeeding by submitting photographs to the Australian Breastfeeding Association’s (ABA) tenth annual calendar.

Calendar project manager Barb Glare says, “With so much emphasis placed on issues like sleepless nights and sore nipples, we don’t often see the beautiful moments breastfeeding offers a mother and her new baby. The first time your baby looks up at you and gives you a milky smile; those special night feeds when it’s just the two of you together; or those times when you’re out and about and feel a huge sense of accomplishment when you calm an upset child with ‘mummy milk’. We want everyone to know that that’s what breastfeeding’s all about.”

The breastfeeding calendar seeks to present breastfeeding as the normal way of feeding a baby by promoting images of breastfeeding to the wider community. All profits from sales of the calendar support the work of the Victorian Branch of the Australian Breastfeeding Association www.abavic.asn.au Read more

From Poverty to Philanthropy: the inspirational story of Maureen Houssein-Mustafa

Today Maureen Houssein-Mustafa (pictured) heads the largest state-of-the-art College in Australia that offers Nails, Beauty, Makeup and Hairdressing qualifications all under the one roof. The Australasian College Broadway in Sydney is a Registered Training Organisation with the capacity to accommodate 500 students taking courses across different skill areas, and the college has plans to expand the premises to accommodate a further 250 domestic and international students a year.

An outstanding achievement for a girl who grew up in a working-class neighbourhood in the inner-city suburb of Redfern. But what impressed me most about this extraordinary woman, is her overwhelming generosity and her willingness to give back to the community at every opportunity. Read more

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