Meet the Families Magazine team from South East Queensland. Lead by Janine Mergler we value community, responsive parenting and education. We live here. We know here. As a professional team of psychologists, academics, teachers, parents and writers, we have been providing helpful, intelligent resources for families across Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Ipswich and Toowoomba since 2013. We know because we go!
About Us – Our Core Values
The staff at Families Magazine are geographically spread out but philosophically linked. We hold our core values and ensure that they are central at all times.
The core values of the team at Families Magazine are:
- Inclusivity
- Equity
- Respect
- Honesty
- Integrity
- Creativity
- Literacy
We publish our printed magazine online. We are a trusted ‘go-to’ partner for media outlets across Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Ipswich and Toowoomba. We are in the media regularly offering our professional expertise.
You can see us on:
We are featured in university publications:
And in Wikipedia:
And our Editor, Janine is the Lifestyle expert at:
And writes for:
Our team have qualifications and specialisms across psychology, education (from kindergarten education to tertiary education), event management, marketing, not for profit and communications industries. Read more about each expert below.
Professional contributors
Janine Mergler
Janine Mergler is a veteran Queensland teacher, graduating from QUT with a BEd majoring in Social Sciences. After many years in the classroom, Janine moved on to academia. She has proudly trained new generations of teachers in her role as a lecturer at Queensland University of Technology Faculty of Education. She has also worked in the Queensland Government as an education specialist, developing education resources and delivering community awareness programs to help families conserve water. Currently she is the owner and editor of Families Magazine, a publication specifically targeted at parents who value a quality education for children. Janine leads a team of professionals who write about family lifestyle, early childhood, schools and education information and family-friendly events.
Joanne Crane
Joanne loves speaking directly to people of all ages through the medium of writing, sharing tips and knowledge for families and kids to help everyone get the most out of life. Her focus is on the development of resilience, confidence and independence in children, and on helping families engage and create lasting memories. Self-esteem, self-respect and self-worth are vital skills that Joanne believes children need to learn early to help them grow as adults.
Natalie Turner
Natalie started her career in the media as a radio announcer for Triple M and B105 before crossing over to the not for profit space, including Cancer Council Queensland. She excels in marketing and communications roles and loves to find events and activities for our readers. As mum of two spirited young children, Nat’s number one passion is enjoying new experiences with her family. This takes her out and about exploring and reporting back for Families Magazine readers. Natalie has a Bachelor of Communication from Griffith University as well as a Graduate Certificate in Business from University of Queensland.
Karen Bleakley
Karen is a freelance writer specialising in travel, history and parenting content. Her work is regularly featured on sites such as Kidspot, Families Magazine and she spent ten years as a regular writer for Australia and New Zealand magazine. Karen is a member of the Australian Society of Travel Writers. Karen studied writing and cultural studies at Manchester Metropolitan University and English Literature through Open University. She has taken many other courses over the last 25 years to enhance her skills including Public Relations, Search Engine Optimisation, Travel Writing and Business Management. Karen believes travel is one of the best ways to educate our kids and she loves exploring Australia with her family and encouraging other families to take the leap and move to a new country through her website Smart Steps to Australia.
Dr. Rachell Kingsbury
Dr Rachell Kingsbury has a broad background in adult and child psychology, and has specialised in everything from senior dementia care to school and paediatric psychology. Rachell has a Doctor of Psychology degree from the University of Queensland, with specialisms in Clinical Psychology and Clinical Neuropsychology. She is also a member of the Australian Psychological Society, and is registered as a professional practitioner with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). With an impressive list of previous positions under her belt, Dr. Rachell is presently a director at Mind Wise Psychology Services in Milton, Brisbane.
Dr. Rachell’s writings
Regina Gleeson
Regina is a fan of finding ‘things to do with kids’ in South East Queensland (specifically Brisbane and surrounds). As the Listings Editor of the popular Families Magazine (2013 – 2020), she was instrumental in hunting down and finding all the best things to do for families and sharing that information with her audience. She is extremely community-minded and makes it her personal mission to contribute content that is low cost (or free!) and suitable for families. This thirst for knowledge and desire to experience the things she writes about makes her an irreplaceable member of the team. Now working for blogs as a free-lancer, she contributes around raising two smaller humans and working with many, many more.
Dr. Amanda Mergler
Dr. Amanda Mergler is an expert in child and adolescent development. Her PhD focused on personal responsibility and she has published papers on delayed Prep entry.. She has been an academic at Queensland University of Technology for over 10 years and is currently a Guidance Officer at Federation University. Her academic credentials together with her advocacy work makes her a credible source and highly reputable expert on the Families Magazine team.
Families Magazine and website is a trusted resource
We have understood for over 10 years that trust and loyalty play a crucial role in building a brand. We believe in authentic connections with our community. The topics we promote genuinely matter to us, and we only endorse products, brands, and services that we personally use and trust.
Consequently, we have firmly positioned ourselves as the primary resource for families in Brisbane and across South East Queensland. Families Magazine & Families Online have consistently collaborated with our media partners to promote our brand as well as the brands we associate with.
Our reputation as a trusted and loyal source has led to repeated requests for our expert advice and opinions.
Want to contact the Families Magazine team?
If you’ve got idea for content, an event or attraction that you’d like to promote, a product you think our audience would enjoy or you’d just like a chat you can find our contact form here.
If you’re interested in advertising with us you can find an overview of what advertising we offer at this link.