Former Young Australian of the Year finalist and Street Swags charity founder Jean Madden has been charged with fraud.
The 36-year-old will face court today charged with one count of dishonestly causing detriment.
It is alleged she racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in unauthorised expenses. She released a video a few days ago, defending the claims. “To have misappropriated $441,000, which is what I’m accused of, is physically impossible, because it’s more than the total expenditure for the entire organisation,” she said.
The non-for-profit charity provides “basic shelter to people experiencing homelessness,” according to its Facebook page.
She founded the charity in 2010 and designed canvas bags that converts to bedding.
Madden was reportedly sacked from the charity earlier this year after it was alleged that she took over the website and emails, claiming the charity was closed.
The Street Swags website does indeed say it is currently closed, with a statement saying: “Street Swags is closed for business until the management issues can be resolved and a full audit of the company finances can be undertaken.”
The Facebook page, however, says that the organisation is still running.
When people hear “sex industry”, they assume prostitution or porn. We’re not in either of those businesses, we sell sex toys.
My son Chris started the business back in 2009 and our latest web store, Sex Toys 247, is the culmination of everything we’ve learned over our time in the industry; best design, best features, fastest website and, of course, the most important thing to our customers, the best product range.
I joined the business in 2010 at Chris’s request. At the time, it was evident that he needed someone to take on the day-to-day management of the company so that he could spend more time on development and planning.
I was very quick to say yes to the idea of working in the business, for several reasons. It was a great opportunity to spend more time with Chris and I hoped that I could also be of assistance to him in establishing a successful enterprise. As a parent, you want your child to succeed, so to be able to play a hands-on role in helping him achieve that feels good.
This isn’t actually the first time Chris and I have been involved in a family business. When I was a young mum, I worked for my father and Chris, who was a toddler at the time, went to day care for part of the day and came into the office with me in the afternoon. Several of my cousins also worked in the business so Chris has grown up knowing that family can work successfully together.
It’s not always smooth sailing, of course. We’re both the kind of people who meet challenges head on and on occasions we lock horns because we are both strong-willed. The good thing is that we see the need to apologise, say sorry and move on.
Our business is controversial to some people, but the most common reaction I’ve had from close friends is amusement to the point of disbelief, followed by laughter and jokes based on their idea of the sort of products I might handle every day. They eventually get over it and accept that after a while you don’t see dildos and butt plugs, you just see widgets and gadgets.
I once overheard one of Chris’s friends say, “I don’t know how you can talk to your mum about the business.” I guess, as with most of us, it’s a case of not being able to imagine that our parents have intimate relationships until we reach an age where our children are thinking the same thing about us! Working in this industry means you have to have a healthy attitude toward sexuality and the fact that Chris and I can talk about the business without getting flustered is a huge positive.
I’m a customer focused all-rounder and I’ve always been able to talk to people easily so I really enjoy overseeing the majority of customer service traffic on a daily basis. However, the challenges we experience with our customers can be tough at times. Because 99% of our contact is via email, content can be misleading or misunderstood. On occasions, we are threatened and abused, but there aren’t many businesses that can honestly say their staff don’t occasionally experience this type of feedback.
Due to the nature of our business, the vast majority of our customers are unknown to us. They place an order independently and we process it remotely. Sometimes the system handles the whole thing automatically with staff only involved in the final stage. Sometimes though, a customer will phone in to place an order because they don’t like ordering online or they don’t have the skills to be able to do it.
Some customers don’t have a clue what they want and need to get some advice. They can be the easiest to work with because you can discuss their needs and the devices that might meet them and they’re often willing to try a few different toys just to determine what they might enjoy most.
When it comes to the actual products, depth of knowledge can be a challenge. We carry over 7,000 items and there are new and different toys coming out all the time. It is an extensive learning process every day.
I’ve had surprisingly few awkward moments, given the nature of the business. My most embarrassing moment was during Chris’s first holiday away from the business when he left me in charge of everything.
In the early days, we used to take all the parcels to the Post Office in large sacks at the end of the working day. Usually, I’d been asked to leave the sacks near a side door, but, on this particular occasion, the staff member behind the counter decided that she wanted to check them through their system, one by one.
Well, you guessed it; one of the parcels started to vibrate and the lady asked me what was in the package. Was I honest? Absolutely not!
There was a room full of people behind me waiting to be served, already annoyed that they had to wait for someone with sacks full of parcels and I was not going to confess that they were full of sex toys under any circumstances. I said it must be a mobile phone.
It was in fact a We-Vibe vibrator.
I breathed a sigh of relief when it stopped vibrating, but when the staff member threw it into one of the boxes on the floor behind her, it started up again! The woman decided that the parcel needed to be opened. I wasn’t going to do that!
Thankfully, the test battery charge finally ran out and I managed to get out of there without having to open the parcel. Phew!
The majority of the time, it’s fun being at SexToys247.net.au and I love working with my son. We usually find something to laugh about and, in general, it’s usually got nothing to do with the products or our industry.
So your child has asthma – but is it a passing worry or a lifelong battle?
When a child is diagnosed with asthma, parents usually have a number of questions. How serious is asthma? Will the child grow out of it? How can it be treated? It can be difficult to get clear answers, as asthma affects different children in different ways.
Asthma is one of the most common chronic childhood illnesses in Australia, affecting more than 10 per cent of children. It is characterised by lower airway inflammation and recurrent flare-ups, often triggered by irritants such as viruses, allergens, laughing, or even exercise. This is where the airway’s smooth muscle contracts, bringing with it symptoms of wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness and coughing.
The severity of the illness can range from mild and intermittent, to life-threatening. Although the majority (75 per cent) of children have mild symptoms, and less than 5 per cent have severe asthma, children unfortunately continue to die from the illness. In 2014, six children under 14 years and five between 15 and 25 years of age died from asthma.
How severe it is deemed to be depends on the frequency of symptoms (daily, weekly, less than every six weeks, more than every six weeks), medications required to control symptoms, and lung function tests undertaken in children aged over six years.
Will they grow out of it?
The natural history of asthma also varies from one child to the next. Symptoms may begin at any age, may persist or stop, and then may recur many years later. The majority (70 per cent) of young adults with asthma have had recurrent wheeze in their preschool years. However, in a large longitudinal Australian study, two thirds of children with mild intermittent asthma did not have asthma symptoms during adulthood.
Those with more persistent or severe asthma in childhood, or those who also have hayfever, are less likely to grow out of their asthma. There is also a risk that those with asthma during childhood will have a resurgence of their symptoms during adulthood and are more at risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (an umbrella term for a number of lung diseases that prevent proper breathing) in later life.
Young children under the age of five present a diagnostic dilemma. Wheeze is a common symptom with respiratory viral infections for infants and toddlers. They are unable to perform lung function tests because they cannot breathe in the way the test requires, which can help with diagnosis of asthma in older children. Some doctors call this “viral-induced wheezing”, while others call it “intermittent asthma” – which unsurprisingly leads to confusion.
The majority of these young children will not develop asthma, and the Asthma Predictive Index was developed to help identify those at lower risk. The absence of wheeze apart from with colds, no family history of asthma and no history of hayfever or eczema may be able to help predict those who will not develop asthma.
How to manage it
Management involves two main groups of therapies to control asthma symptoms and manage flare-ups. First, there is symptom relief during flare-ups, using reliever inhalers, which relax the smooth muscle of the airways and allow them to open up, such as salbutamol (the brands are called Ventolin and Asmol).
Salbutamol relaxes the muscles in the airways to stop them from contracting. Stuart B, CC BY
Second, preventer (or controller) medications aim to reduce the underlying inflammation in the airways and therefore reduce sensitivity to irritants. The mainstay of preventer treatment is inhaled corticosteroids (steroid hormones), although some children can have their asthma controlled with an oral tablet (called montelukast).
Newer treatments are being added to help manage certain subgroups, such as those with severe asthma or exercise-induced symptoms, by targeting specific molecules involved in the inflammation pathway that causes asthma.
Issues with treatment
Unfortunately, one of the biggest issues in treating asthma is patients not taking their inhaled medications correctly or as frequently as recommended by missing doses.
Inhaler techniques should be taught by a qualified professional, because if the inhaler is not used correctly the medication will not be delivered to the lungs properly. The National Asthma Council of Australia has informative videos with instructions on inhaler techniques.
All asthma patients should have a clearly written asthma action plan from their doctor or nurse that documents which medications to take regularly, which medications to take as needed, as well as when to seek a medical review. This should be reviewed every six months. The school (or pre-school) should also have an asthma first-aid plan for each child with asthma.
Environmental factors, such as dust mites, can make asthma worse. Gilles San Martin/Flickr, CC BY
Reducing environmental exposure can have a beneficial effect on symptoms for those with asthma, such as reducing second-hand tobacco smoke exposure and reducing exposure to proven allergens such as pets or dust mites.
The treatments we have are excellent in the short and medium term, but unfortunately do not cure asthma and do not prevent future flare-ups when discontinued.
Research into asthma is leading to a better understanding of what causes the disease, as well as allowing us to develop preventative strategies and personalised treatments for each child. A diagnosis of asthma, with appropriate management, shouldn’t hold any child back from doing whatever they want to do.
Controversial former deputy mayor of Auburn Salim Mehajer has taken to social media to welcome a new addition to his family.
“Introducing the latest royal to the family,” Salim posted on Facebook, alongside a picture of the newborn’s feet.
The baby, the third child for Salim’s older sister Zenah and her husband, was born at Westmead Private Hospital yesterday at 12.05pm.
Zenah, a lawyer who represented her brother when he was accused of refusing to pay $1 million in taxes last year, already has twin boys.
Salim and his sister Zenah.
The baby news comes days after Salim was banned from contacting his wife Aysha for 28 days after a court granted an apprehended violence order to protect her from him.
Despite the AVO – which will prevent the couple from being together on their one-year wedding anniversary next month – Salim has repeatedly insisted all is well in his marriage, posting numerous loved-up messages and images of Aysha on Facebook throughout the scandal.
School cleaner Vincent Stanford has pleaded guilty to the murder and rape of schoolteacher Stephanie Scott.
His guilty plea in the NSW Supreme Court comes just six weeks after his twin brother Marcus Stanford pleaded guilty at Griffith Local Court to being an accessory after the fact to murder.
Ms Scott, 26, was last seen on Easter Sunday in April 2015 at her workplace, Leeton High School, where she had gone to prepare lesson plans for the time she would be away on her honeymoon.
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Her body was discovered in some burnt-out scrub in Cocoparra National Park the following Friday, the day before she was due walk down the aisle to marry partner Aaron Leeson-Woolley.
Radio presenter and television personality Fifi Box is set to join the cast of Neighbours.
Fifi will be playing the role of Brooke Butler, an opportunistic, flighty and dubious woman who relies on her looks to get by.
Sounds like trouble if you ask us!
So where does Brooke fit in? Well, she is the wayward mother of Xanthe Canning (Lilly Van der Meer), estranged girlfriend of Gary Canning (Damien Richardson) and de-facto daughter-in-law of the Canning family matriarch, Sheila (Colette Mann).
“I’m so excited to be heading to Ramsay Street to join the Neighbours family,” Fifi said
“Acting has been a lifelong dream of mine and to get this opportunity on Australia’s most loved and popular show has blown my mind. I’m too excited for words!”
On Tuesday evening, the mother-of-one appeared on The Project and confessed to guest Miranda Tapsell she had “just achieved her little girl dream.”
“I wanted to be an actress and I just got a role on Neighbours! Do you have any [acting] tips so my dream comes to fruition?” Fifi asked the actress.
“I think it’s just about learning how to cry convincingly,” Miranda offered.
“Can you cry on cue?” Fifi’s co-star Carrie Bickmore asked. “I’ve never done it before,” Fifi revealed.
Fifi starts filming this week and will debut on screen in September.
Waleed Aly has spoken out after friends and colleagues of Sonia Kruger were allegedly told to refrain from commenting on the host's call to ban Muslim immigration.
It is understood that fellow television presenters from rival networks have been instructed to keep quiet in the wake of Sonia Kruger’s “extreme” comments made on Today Extra on Monday.
After the The Voice host shared her opinion to ban Muslim immigration due to terrorism concerns, it seemed that almost everyone had something to say.
However News.com.au reports that famous faces everywhere have been told that it would be “unwise” to do so.
“Ten told me not to say anything on it,” a well-known presenter said to the site.
Watch the original comments made by Sonia in the video player below. Post continues…
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Despite the pressure from other networks to remain silent, one presenter wasn’t afraid to voice his opinion, and last night Gold Logie winner Waleed Aly addressed the issue on The Project with Australia watching on with bated breath.
“I could sit here and pull apart Sonia Kruger’s statement,” he began. “I could point out that Japan has had its share of terror attacks, or that the UN has attributed Japan’s low crime rate to low inequality and low gun ownership.
“I could point out that if Sonia is afraid, logically, as a woman in Australia, she has a much higher chance of being murdered by a man she knows, than a Muslim from another country.
“And I could do all of this with the best intentions, but really, all I’d be doing is encouraging the inertia of outrage.”
Watch Waleed’s powerful speech in the video player below. Post continues…
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“I’d be fuelling the same cycle that has led to absolutely horrendous personal attacks on Sonia in the last 24 hours,” we went on.
“Sonia Kruger isn’t evil. She’s scared and she’s trying to make sense of the world. Yesterday, she admitted to not feeling safe. How do you think she feels now? And how do you expect her to react?”
The powerful segment was then concluded by the father-of-two presenting the world with a choice.
Either we react to the world’s fearful happenings and extreme opinions with destruction – a theme we’ve seen plenty of in the last 48 hours alone with the online backlash that followed Sonia’s comments, or we can take the harder path and react constructively.
The Voice AU host received an influx of online backlash.
“We can react emotionally, carelessly, and with little genuine critical thought, and we can destroy a perceived enemy in the hope that it will neutralise the threat that is making us feel unsafe,” he said. “This is the destructive choice.
“Or when we are presented with what we perceive as an outrageous opinion, we can consider what motivated that person, try to understand their fear, and empathise with how they came to their conclusion.
“The truth is, what motivates them, is fear. And fear is one thing we all share.”
Watch the moment Sonia addressed her “extreme” comments in the wake of her original comments. Post continues…
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As a Muslim, the academic admitted his own fears. Not just for himself, but for his family and friends.
“I’m scared too. I’m afraid for this country. I’m terrified about what it’s doing to my friends and my family and honestly, I’m scared about where I belong.”
“But it’s how you deal with that fear. While it feels good to choose destruction, right now I think we need to try construction.”
She stepped out in London in front of photographers yesterday grinning from ear to ear – and wearing white too! Seems she’s already getting into the spirit.
The 32-year-old’s new fiancé, James Matthews, reportedly got down on one knee during a weekend getaway to Lake District.
He clearly chose well with the ring – it’s a decadent vintage jewel with a halo of diamonds around one big diamond. Beautiful!
The couple began dating in 2012 but soon broke up. She then got into a three-year relationship with banker Nico Jackson which ended last year. Middleton was rumoured to have rekindled her relationship with James in September.
Middleton and Matthews are said to be planning to wed in a lavish ceremony in the UK next year, and as she was Kate’s bridesmaid, we’re sure she’ll return the favour for her big sister.
1.“When people can’t put their rubbish in the bin even though there’s one at the door. If you’re passing it, you can throw it out.”
2.“When kids think it’s HILARIOUS to throw pickles at the window or roof. It’s not.”
3.“When they ask for a cheeseburger meal. WHAT SIZE? WHAT DRINK? We need specifics.”
4.(Before all-day breakfast launched) “When people come at 10.15am asking for a double quarter pounder when the menu boards clearly show breakfast.”
5.“When they ask for the whole meal fresh and complain when it takes too long. What do you expect?”
6.“Asking for chips with no salt in the middle of a rush. The worst.”
7.“When people get to the drive-thru speaker and tell you to wait a minute. Or when they scream at their kids in the car – it’s SO loud through the headset.”
8.“Complaining because the frozen coke is in defrost and can’t be used for about 10 minutes – it’s not our fault!”
9.“Changing their order after they’ve paid.”
10.“Don’t expect all-day breakfast to be fresh and ready at 3 in the arvo. It takes time.”
11.“When someone from the back of the car starts ordering at the speaker box. We can’t hear you! Just let the driver to say it.”
12.“Complaining about the size of their ice cream cone. If it’s two and a half swirls, we’ve done our job right.”
13.“Ordering food at the second drive-thru window. No, you missed your chance, buddy. You can go around again.”
14.“When people ask for sauce. We’ll happily give it to you… for 50c, please.”
15.“Or when people say they didn’t get their sauce at all. Suuuuure you didn’t.”
16.“We regularly sneak a nugget or lone fry when the customers aren’t looking.”
17.“When someone gets to the drive thru speaker box and says ‘hellooooo’ after 1.5 seconds. I’m here, just wait!”
18.“When customers have been waiting in line and still don’t know what they want when they get to the counter. What have you been doing for the past three minutes?”
19.“There have been customers who come to McCafe who honestly ask for a three-quarter shot, half skim, half full-cream latte with 1cm of froth. It’s the stuff of nightmares.”
20.“When a customer watches you put their food onto a tray and then when you give it to them, they’re like ‘Can I get that takeaway?’ Seriously?”
21.“When people drive past to the first drive thru window. How did you not see the speaker box?!”
Trending video: See the first official Bridget Jones’s Baby trailer
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