Free Telephone Health Coaching Service Now Available 9th April 2013: If you want to get healthy and/or lose weight, a new - and completely free - telephone coaching service may be of interest. The Get Heathy Information and Coaching Service was set up by the Queensland State Government in February this year. It's a free telephone based service designed to help people make lifestyle changes in such things as healthy eating, being physically active and achieving and maintaining a healthy weight. The service offers clients a personal health coach; up to 10 free coaching calls; and six months of support. Participants also receive a free information booklet, a coaching journhal and acess to a website where you can download tools to keep track of your goals and your progress. The aim of the program is to help reduce hospital waiting lists by ensuring that fewer people need to go to hospital because of illnesses that could have been prevented by healthier lifestyles. You can use the service by phoning 13 43 25 84, or by emailing your contact details to contact@gethealthy.qld.gov.au. You can also download a PDF information flyer about the program by clicking here.

NCWQ Suicide Awareness And Education Seminar: Kenmore, Saturday April 6 24th March 2013: The 2011 and 2013 floods devastated large parts of Queensland. What's not widely recognised is that they also appear to have contributed to a rise in suicide rates in regional and rural Queensland. On Saturday, April 6 the National Council Of Women of Queensland (NCWQ) will be holding a special seminar focussing on suicide awareness and education. Four top-flight guest speakers will be talking on the topic to provide attendees with the tools they need to help people at risk in their communities. The seminar will be held at Library Meeting Room 2 at the Kenmore Village library at 9 Brookfield Road, Kenmore from 9:30am to around 12:00 noon, with a break for morning tea at 10:40am. The seminar is free, but to assist with catering an RSVP to Kirsty on (0418) 980-019 or by email would be greatly appreciated. You can also get a PDF flyer to print off as a reminder by clicking here.

Alison Fairleigh Wins 2013 Queensland Rural Womens Award 19th March 2013: Far north Queensland mental health advocate Alison Fairleigh has won the 2013 Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) Queensland Rural Women's Award. Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry John McVeigh congratulated Ms Fairleigh, who was awarded a $10,000 bursary to develop a pilot training program with the Townsville-Mackay Medicare Local which will attempt to improve access to frontline health and mental health services for farmers and fishersmen in the region. Mr McVeigh said the Rural Women's Award promoted leadership and growth for women across primary industries by identifying and supporting the talents of emerging female leaders through financial and professional support. "This year's four nominees showcased impressive and diverse project interests ranging from natural resource management and animal welfare to rural mental health and building the skills of women in regional communities," he said. "Individually and collectively, they are great examples of how women are improving and supporting Queensland communities and primary industries." The award runner up was Terressa Ford. The other Queensland finalists were Robyn Adams and Ursula Keating. Ms Fairleigh will now compete for the national RIRDC Award, which will be announced in Canberra on September 10. The Queensland Government co-ordinates the Award every year in conjunction with RIRDC, and it's sponsored by Westpac, Fairfax Agricultural Media, ABC Radio and RM Williams Outback Magazine. Photo: QRRRWN President Georgie Somerset with 2013 Queensland Rural Womens Award winner Alison Fairleigh and Qld Minister for Agriculture John McVeigh at the Award presentation.

Two More Really Great Keynote Speakers Confirmed For Blackall 2013! 18th March 2013: Yesterday we announced that ABC Landline host Pip Courtney has been confirmed as a Keynote Speaker for the QRRRWN's State Conference in Blackall on September 9-11 (see story immediately below). Today we're very pleased two announce two more confirmed Keynote Speakers: Danielle Crismani, founder of the Baked Relief charity and the woman who's featured on the cover of this year's Brisbane White Pages (pictured at right); and internationally renowned marketer and management consultant Robyn Pulman, who now works in the outback. Both women are very well-known in the community or industry, and both will be bringing a genuine wealth of knowledge and expertise to our event. 2013 State Conference organiser Alison Mobbs said today that “we are absolutely delighted to bring women of this calibre to Blackall for our annual conference. They'll be supported by over 20 workshops on topics ranging across agriculture, the creative arts, business and health. We'll also be holding our annual QRRRWN cultural competitions and announcing the winners of the QRRRWN Strong Women Leadership Awards.” So like we said yesterday: put these dates in your diaries now!

Pip Courtney From ABC Landline Will Be A Keynote Speaker At Our 2013 State Conference 17th March 2013: The QRRRWN are very pleased to announce that the well-known and highly respected host of the ABC's "Landline" - Pip Courtney - will be one of the Keynote Speakers at our 2013 State Conference in Blackall on the 9th to 11th September. Pip grew up in Tasmania and studied politics and English at the University of Tasmania. She was the daughter of a newspaper man who’d worked in Fleet Street, Melbourne, Canberra and Tasmania, and she thought her future would be equally ‘inky’. But after graduating she snared a cadetship with ABC Radio News in Hobart in 1986, and in 1988 moved into television with ABC TV news in Launceston and Hobart. And it wasn’t long before she realised she didn’t want to work in papers after all ... she loved broadcasting! In 1993 she joined the ABC’s rural current affairs show Landline in Canberra and worked there until 2000 when she spent a year on the 7.30 Report. But she returned to Landline when she headed north to Brisbane in 2001 and has stayed there ever since. In 2007 Pip and former Landline presenter Sally Sara were named Queensland Journalists of the Year for a feature on depression called "Black Dog", and in 2009 she won the Queensland Rural Press Club’s Excellence in Rural Journalism Award. In 2011, her two-part feature on the Queensland coal seam gas industry won her the Queensland Media Award’s Excellence in Rural Journalism Prize, the Rabobank Star prize for rural broadcasting (Qld), the National Rabobank Star prize and the International Star Prize for Rural Broadcasting. In 2012 - when she was made Lateline's host - Pip was also a finalist in the Qld Rural Woman of the Year Award and was one of ten Australians to receive an honorary membership from the CWA in recognition of her contribution to rural communities. It’s the first time the CWA has given out honorary memberships. We're sure she'll be a fascinating speaker at Blackall this September, as well as someone that many of our members would very much like to meet. So mark you calendar now! Photo: Pip Courtney (centre) doing the rounds at a Queensland agricultural show as part of her rural news reporting beat.