Barbecued, stir-fried or roasted, there’s no doubt that Aussies love their meat. Consuming on average nearly 100 kilograms of meat per person per year, Australians are among the top meat consumers worldwide.

The benefits of bilingual experiences in young children have been researched and documented for years. A plethora of resources exists to support parents and caregivers who are trying to establish a bilingual home for their little ones

Back In 1929, the University of Western Australia (UWA) became the first Australian university to appoint a professor of Italian, Francesco Vanzetti. Vanzetti, from Venice, was a true pioneer for the Italian language in Western Australia. When he reached retirement age, he lobbied for the University to create a full Italian department and refused to retire until his dream was realised. 20 years later, the University finally fulfilled his wishes and he retired at the age of 85.

Committed as we are to fueling the controversy over the Italian ‘decline’ (as defined by the Italian economic newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore), we often forget about the reputation that the Italian system has earned and maintained in various sectors for several decades.

One of the biggest horse races in the world, let alone Australia, the 2019 Melbourne Cup took place earlier this month. True to form, the race that stops the nation gave us plenty of action, drama and reasons to celebrate (especially if you backed the right horse!). (Above: Dunaden and Fiorente, 2013 Melbourne Cup - Photo by Chris Phutully)

From 18 to 24 November, the Embassy of Italy will be hosting the fourth edition of the “Week of the Extraordinary Italian Taste”, an initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation that involves all the Italian institutions abroad.

Miriam La Rosa is a Melbourne University-based curator from Sicily currently involved in the cross-cultural and cross-regional artistic project “Preservation is an act of political warfare. An exchange artist residency between Sicily and Australia”. The Italian promotional, cultural organisation CO.AS.IT is hosting a documentary screening and exhibition opening on 12th November and running until the beginning of 2020. (Photo - from left to right - Kade McDonald, Jesse Gibbs, Miriam La Rosa, Regina Pilawuk Wilson, and Xena Wilson. Mondello beach, Palermo, Sicily. 28 July 2019. Photograph: Timothy Hillier)

The Jewish International Film Festival is in full swing and it is a fascinating time of the year for avid cinemagoers looking for films outside the mainstream, that challenge and engage all at once. Screening at a number of cinemas nationwide, the festival attracts a culturally and ethnically diverse audience and 60 films from 23 countries are classified according to 3 main categories (Feature, Series, and Documentary), thus appealing to a wide range of tastes. In Melbourne (as in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Canberra) the festival this year runs from 23 October to 21 November and is hosted by the Classic Cinemas Elsternwick, the Lido Cinemas Hawthorn, and the Cameo Cinemas in Belgrave.

The female who’s who of the Italian business community gathered Wednesday evening 23 October for the launch of the Italian Business Women’s Network, hosted at Ferrari Brisbane.

For 10 days only, six artworks created in response to the Holy Shroud of Turin using an ancient technique and colours of Piraccini’s own invention, invite you to embark on a historical, scientific and artistic journey whilst provoking dialogue and contemplation.

For the first time in Melbourne, Mimmo Cavallaro brings us his dynamic and passionate modern mix of traditional Calabrian/Italian folk music in this one night only event! The folk music master will perform in Adelaide,Shepparton, Melbourne, Sydney and Wollongong

Ron Howard, the acclaimed director of “Solo: A Star Wars Story” (2018), “The Da Vinci Code” (2006), “A Beautiful Mind” (2005), “Apollo 13” (1995) and many others successful movies is back to the music documentary. Now, with “Pavarotti”, the director has pushed himself in a different, unexplored world: that of Opera.

Wandering through the streets of an Italian city, a contemporary visitor may occasionally come upon small golden tiles, set into the pavement and each inscribed with a name and several dates and details (‘arrested on’ and ‘deported from’) explaining the fate of someone who once lived in the given location. (Often the following words include ‘assassinated’ or ‘killed in Auschwitz’). (Photo: Stumbling stones in Turin) - Source: guidatorino.com

Italy has again become a country of emigrants. Today, a large number are highly educated people who take their talent abroad in search of better career opportunities and professional benefits. Thirty thousand Italian researchers leave each year, while only three thousand qualified scientists migrate to Italy. In recent years, the media, policymakers and scholars have used the term ‘brain drain’ to describe this phenomenon.

This year it took seven months for humankind to exhaust the natural resources that planet Earth provides in one calendar year. 29th July symbolically marked the date when humanity begins to use the resources of the future and to live on credit.

Brunswick South Primary School, Victoria’s first Italian bilingual school, is a fascinating example of the positive power of Italian language education. I spoke with teachers Ivana D’Aprano, Lucy Curatolo and Nancy Cozzo to better understand the reality, challenges and joys of facilitating an Italian bilingual program. (photo Wide Shut Photography)

Currently, in Australia, online gambling is limited to a handful of registered sports betting sites, and residents don’t have access to online casinos or poker sites. This is down to the strict tightening of the Interactive Gambling Act in 2017.

Nowadays, online slot games are a million miles away from the original clunky machines that they evolved from. Instead of featuring the classic fruit symbols of old, they are now usually based on hit things in popular culture.

Politicians, entrepreneurs and notable members of the Italian community in Western Australia attended the 72nd Italian National Day celebrations last week at the Perth Town Hall.

Homemade lunch at Nonna’s, Italian school on Saturdays, traditions of sauce making season, salami and olive. These are a few of the precious memories each founder and member of VITA share and hold dearly. Although each born in Australia, VITA representatives have Italian background.

The Sardinian Cultural Association (SCA) of Melbourne has just turned 30 years old and is set to achieve further goals in fostering the cultural well-being of the Sardinian immigrants−including their children and grandchildren−and their ties with their original homeland.

With a few exceptions, men continue to monopolize all positions of power. Not just in politics but in all major industries and institutions, including those preserving, managing and displaying art collections. It is a fact that most of the world’s great museums and galleries remain firmly under male control.

West Australians were the first in the country to get an exclusive look at the Italian naval ship FREMM (European Multi-Mission Frigate) ITS Carabiniere. The state of the art vessel, which boasts the turbine power of 60 Formula One cars and has the capacity to generate enough electricity to a city of 12,000 inhabitants; arrived in the Port City of Fremantle on January 25, as the first stop in the navy’s one-month visit to Australia.

On May 11th 2016, the Italian Parliament approved a law giving the green light to civil unions in Italy. On that fragrant spring evening, to celebrate this historic accomplishment, people gathered in front of the Trevi Fountain in Rome.

Carlo Guaia, a third year Bachelor of Arts student at the University of Western Australia, is a staunch believer in the “fair go” spirit of Australia. For a growing number of people such spirit is long dead and gone but not for him who has put it into practice through a community organization he founded late last year, with the aim of bringing Italian and Australian scholars, professionals and students together.

Sophia Loren’s visit to Melbourne as a special guest of “La Dolce Italia” Gala Charity Dinner to raise funds for the Alannah & Madeline Foundation, was but a flickering moment in the long and impressive career of the most famous actress Italian cinema has ever produced.