Welcome to Edition 22 of Fair News

The Moral Fairground Team has been extremely busy in the past few months working on some great initiatives, which we hope to share with you in the coming months.
In May we celebrated Fair Trade Fortnight 2013, check some of the photo highlights on our website
The Fair Trade Mothers' Day High Tea was a great success; it was a wonderful experience to be able to raise funds for Seven Women. Here is what Stephanie Woollard Founder of Seven Women had to say " It was a pleasure to work with Moral Fair Ground and to partner with them for the fair trade mother's day High Tea. I feel Moral Fair Ground events are very well organised in a professional manner, but most importantly MFG supports businesses that have strong ethical values and who have a focus on fair trade. With the donations received from this event, we will be able to grow our work at seven women in Nepal. "
Our annual Fair Trade Market at Federation Square received 7,900 visitors, a very good effort for a cold winter day. Our visitors were welcomed by the colourful exhibitors that participated as well as the fascinating "Power of the Social Flower" art display by upcoming visual artist Rohana Norgate using fresh fairtrade certified roses from Instant Karma Roses as one of the mediums. Not to mention the array of great activities and a fair trade coffee painting workshop by artist Erin Claire Barrow that was unexpectedtively very popular with people lining up to have a go at making their coffee piece of artwork.

Oxfam - Fair Trade Market

Coffee workshop

Etiko - Fair Trade Market

Kids' corner

Mothers' Day High Tea

B2B Business Breakfast

Mothers' Day High Tea

Early Bird Exhibitors Spots available until 30th of June

Fair@Square is the most recognised and attended ethical festival in Australia celebrating ethical, sustainable and morally responsible lifestyle.

You have until the 30th June 2013, to secure your Exhibitor Combined Special Package Deal. Download and submit your application today. All queries about Exhibitor package should be made to Rosemary

The Special Package Deal includes a marquee at Fair@Square on the 30th of November to the 1st of December 2013 and a spot at the Fair Trade Markets on the 4th of May 2014 during Fair Trade Fortnight 2014. This offer includes bonus extra’s plus a saving of $290!

What distinguishes Fair@Square from all other festivals is its diversity of ethically minded exhibitors, its environment and its extensive consumer based activities and workshops throughout the entirety of the festival.
Combined with ongoing pre-festival promotion, the Fair@Square festival is an important resource for all sized businesses looking to build their platform and consumer bases.

Moral Fairground endorses the Transparency Guide

Moral Fairground regularly come across small to mediums size businesses that have all the intentions of wanting to change their supply chain practices but often are too confused about where to start or how to go about it. That is why we were so thrilled to come across the Transparency Guide which is an amazing resource specifically for small to medium sized enterprises to assist them in assessing and improving their practice in light of ethical and sustainable considerations in their supply chain. Read more about the Transparency Guide and Sustainable Projects under the Interview Section below.

Jennifer Evans comes on board as the Moral Fairground Ambassador

Moral Fairground was ecstatic when Jennifer Evans offered to come from Sydney to contribute to the Fair Trade Mothers' Day High Tea menu as well as joining us for some of the fun here in Melbourne. We were thrilled when Jennifer agreed to come on board as our Ambassador. You'll see more of Jennifer at some of our other events, especially anything food related. We welcome Jennifer to our Team.

Launching the Ethical Enterprise Award

On the 1st of July 2013 Moral Fairground in partnership with Australian Ethical will be launching the inaugural Ethical Enterprise Award.

Information about the award including guidelines and criteria will be available on the Moral Fairground website from the 1st of July. Direct all queries about the award to EEA

Jenny Maree Kardaras

Interview with Jenny Maree Kardaras author of the Transparency Guide

Jenny Maree an active corporate social responsibility practitioner, researcher and advocate, graduated with a Masters in Social Science (policy and human services) at RMIT. She is the Director of Sustainable Projects and produced and published the Transparency Guide in 2013.
Q1. Tell us about the Transparency Guide.
A1. The Transparency Guide is a resource for small to medium sized enterprises to assist them in assessing and improving their practice in light of ethical and sustainable considerations in their supply chain. The guide gathers the many resources available into one place and helps SMEs explore: best practice; standards and certifications; barriers to adopting better practice; a process towards transparency: 5 key principles and action steps.

The Transparency Guide focuses on three specific areas that may be relevant to the supply chain of SMEs and with each focused on common supply chain impact: labour rights and conditions in the clothing industry; animal testing and human safety in cosmetics and body care and copy and printing paper with a focus on environmental and human safety concerns.

Q2. How did the desire come to develop the Transparency Guide?
A2. The Transparency Guide initially came about after I recognised that often claims about the environment or ethical features of products are made in isolation of the full impacts of the products, some of which comprise the credibility of the claim. I began to ask what would a small to medium sized business need to know in order to take greater responsibility for the wider impacts in their supply chain?

Q3. Where can the guide be purchased and how much is it?
A3. The Transparency guide is printed on 100 % recycled paper with a RRP of $9.95. To order a copy of the guide email Transparency Guide.

Have you heard of Senator Online (SOL)?

Senator Online (SOL) is a participatory democracy party where MPs and Senators vote on laws in Parliament according to the majority vote of the people through smartphone or website. That's right the people (you!) get to vote on laws directly in parliament through your phone or computer.

Want to get involved?

Tell all your family and friends to Vote 1 for Senator Online at this federal election.
SOL is also looking for SOL candidates. SOL MPs and Senators help by providing leadership on laws and issues in parliament. If you, or you know anyone who might be a good candidate, contact SOL directly.

Annam Craft is looking for a wholesaler or retailer in Australia

Annam Craft is a socially responsible accessories brand, working with both local Vietnamese fair trade artesian group Craftbeauty and the not-for-profit Dariu Foundation, under the "trade-not-aid" program.The foundation helps Vietnamese to revive their culture and improve their livelihoods through handicraft production and fair trading. PLUS hey are very happy to custom make your design or idea on request! To view products, and get in contact, head to Annam Craft.