Lifestyle Desires — Australian living

Students gathered around a table in discussion

What young Australians are asking sex ed to finally admit

Sex education in Australia still leaves teens learning consent, red flags and real intimacy from group chats instead of adults.

Dee Marlow· 9 min read

A couple walking through a city at night, the kind of ordinary date that now comes with a visible price tag.

relationships

What free petrol says about dating now

Woman seated on floor against a wall, conveying housing insecurity and distress.

community

What the rental crisis is doing to women who need to leave now

home

When the guesthouse becomes the showroom

After the noise, Jordan Gogos sounds clearer

Jordan Gogos after Australian Fashion Week looks less like a retreat than a pivot, with Parádeisos at UNSW turning scraps, colour and refusal into a longer argument about Australian style.

Backstage fashion portrait that fits a story about an outsider runway feeling more alive.

Why Australian fashion’s outsider runway feels more alive

Woman practising yoga beneath Sydney's Martin Place archways

Alo lands in Sydney, and the matching set follows

A grand staircase and red carpet inside a formal venue, evoking gala spectacle and social choreography.

What happens when the billionaires become the dress code

Online shopping on a phone screen beside folded clothing, illustrating the speed of copycat fashion storefronts.

Shopify ghost stores are swallowing Australian fashion

When the guesthouse becomes the showroom

Design guesthouses are turning brand worlds into places you can sleep inside, and Vipp’s new upstate retreat shows how aspiration now arrives furnished.

Why perfect homes suddenly feel a bit embarrassing

Converted Sydney corner shop with retained street-facing facade and contemporary living space behind

Why Sydney keeps falling back in love with the corner shop

The $19.95 room where IKEA sells hope

Sunset view from a plane window above the clouds, evoking the aspirational mood of a bargain holiday

When the bargain holiday stops feeling clever

Vintage camera resting on a folded travel map, a visual case for swapping apps for dedicated travel tools

The trip gets better when your phone gets boring

Travel documents and planning materials before a trip

The 2026 travel paperwork to check before you book

Travel toiletries and beauty essentials spread out before packing.

What the bathroom floor knows before a trip

A room at Castello di Reschio looking onto the Umbrian landscape.

When a beautiful hotel follows you home

Woman meditating alone on a beach at sunrise

Why grief travel is making wellness tell the truth

What young Australians are asking sex ed to finally admit

Sex education in Australia still leaves teens learning consent, red flags and real intimacy from group chats instead of adults.

What free petrol says about dating now

Teenager on a smartphone, reflecting how relationship scripts now arrive through the feed.

The relationship script now arrives by feed

A phone-based flirting image that suits a story about privacy on dating apps.

When privacy became the hot thing on dating apps

A smartphone displaying a heart icon and phone-based connection, reflecting the gamified logic of modern dating.

The boyfriend application is funny until it isn't

Sydney Harbour glowing at night during festival season, with the Opera House, Harbour Bridge and CBD lit across the water

When Vivid’s drones faltered, Sydney kept staring

Vivid Sydney’s drone show stumble exposed how much the city now expects free public wonder to arrive smoothly, safely and on cue.

An older painter at work in the studio, a more grounded image for a story about the suffering-artist myth.

Why the suffering artist myth still flatters us

Streaming apps displayed across a television screen in a dark living room

The TV bundle came back in app icons

Hannah Murray photographed for The Guardian

The soft-focus language that nearly swallowed Hannah Murray

A can of La Campagnola tomatoes on a kitchen counter with soft lighting.

Why tinned tomatoes still decide how dinner tastes

Rows of agave on a sun-bleached Queensland farm, where Australian distillers are betting the plant can anchor a local spirits future.

The prickly plant changing Australia's pour

A chilled glass of horchata with cinnamon sticks, echoing the cold creamy café drink at the centre of the story

Horchata slips into the café script

Exterior of a Guzman y Gomez restaurant, used as the hero image for coverage of the chain's US exit.

Guzman y Gomez could conquer Australia. America was another story.

A warmly lit Italian restaurant table set for dinner in Melbourne.

Melbourne's new Italian rooms want you to stay

Baskets of heirloom tomatoes at a farmers' market stall

The tomato that makes summer taste real

What the rental crisis is doing to women who need to leave now

Australia's rental crisis is changing what it means to leave a violent home, forcing women to weigh safety against rents, paperwork and nowhere to land.

A young man lies on a bed reaching for his phone near a window — the suspended animation of adulthood in a childhood room.

Late 20s and living at home: the cost no one's counting

Woman working in a rural field, echoing Rachel Ward's shift from glamour to farm labour.

Rachel Ward found purpose where glamour ran out

Power lines and regional landscape on South Australia's Yorke Peninsula

The sea-change dream starts to flicker

Open farm country outside a small Australian town, a stand-in for the scale around Robinvale.

In Robinvale, half the town disappears when the census arrives

Close-up of injectable cosmetic preparations and medical packaging, representing the blurring line between medical treatment and beauty routine in the injection age

What happens when a needle stops feeling like medicine

The 12% of Americans now on GLP-1s have triggered a second-order beauty economy — from Ozempic face to microdosing, from peptide subscriptions to metabolic skincare.

Laboratory test tubes and a clinician at work, signalling public-health attention on menopause care.

Why menopause has finally made it into a national campaign

Cardiology consultation in a clinic, matching the article's focus on heart-health treatment.

The one-shot heart fix wellness has been waiting for

When GLP-1 stops feeling like a miracle

Collagen supplement bottle with capsules and dried flowers on a dark surface.

Why collagen supplements still sound more certain than they are

Interior of Mecca's Bourke Street flagship in Melbourne with consultation counters and multi-level beauty displays.

Why Mecca thinks beauty still needs a room

A woman holds a small hand mirror indoors, echoing the self-scrutiny behind the GLP-1 look.

What Wegovy is doing to beauty standards

The chatbot beauty standard was always going to end up in a surgeon’s office

The beauty mega-merger that just fell apart

Beauty products arranged in warm light to illustrate the Marc Jacobs Beauty relaunch feature.

The lipstick drawer remembers Marc Jacobs Beauty

A mother and daughter sharing a quiet conversation at the kitchen table

What teaching a daughter to get rich really sounds like

Jannese Torres is building a million-dollar portfolio for her daughter — and rewriting the family script about who gets to have the grown-up money conversations.

Bright Melbourne-style living room interior, echoing the domestic space renters are now better equipped to ask more of.

What Victoria’s rental reset changes for renters

A worker at a desk in a workplace setting.

What disclosing a disability at work costs, and what it shouldn't

Payroll and superannuation paperwork on a desk

The super rise you notice late, and the payday shift behind it

The Lifestyle Desires brief

Style, food, travel and wellbeing — weekly in your inbox.

What young Australians are asking sex ed to finally admit

What free petrol says about dating now

What the rental crisis is doing to women who need to leave now

When the guesthouse becomes the showroom

After the noise, Jordan Gogos sounds clearer

Why Australian fashion’s outsider runway feels more alive

Alo lands in Sydney, and the matching set follows

What happens when the billionaires become the dress code

Shopify ghost stores are swallowing Australian fashion

When the guesthouse becomes the showroom

Why perfect homes suddenly feel a bit embarrassing

Why Sydney keeps falling back in love with the corner shop

The $19.95 room where IKEA sells hope

When the bargain holiday stops feeling clever

The trip gets better when your phone gets boring

The 2026 travel paperwork to check before you book

What the bathroom floor knows before a trip

When a beautiful hotel follows you home

Why grief travel is making wellness tell the truth

What young Australians are asking sex ed to finally admit

What free petrol says about dating now

The relationship script now arrives by feed

When privacy became the hot thing on dating apps

The boyfriend application is funny until it isn't

When Vivid’s drones faltered, Sydney kept staring

Why the suffering artist myth still flatters us

The TV bundle came back in app icons

The soft-focus language that nearly swallowed Hannah Murray

Why tinned tomatoes still decide how dinner tastes

The prickly plant changing Australia's pour

Horchata slips into the café script

Guzman y Gomez could conquer Australia. America was another story.

Melbourne's new Italian rooms want you to stay

The tomato that makes summer taste real

What the rental crisis is doing to women who need to leave now

Late 20s and living at home: the cost no one's counting

Rachel Ward found purpose where glamour ran out

The sea-change dream starts to flicker

In Robinvale, half the town disappears when the census arrives

What happens when a needle stops feeling like medicine

Why menopause has finally made it into a national campaign

The one-shot heart fix wellness has been waiting for

When GLP-1 stops feeling like a miracle

Why collagen supplements still sound more certain than they are

Why Mecca thinks beauty still needs a room

What Wegovy is doing to beauty standards

The chatbot beauty standard was always going to end up in a surgeon’s office

The beauty mega-merger that just fell apart

The lipstick drawer remembers Marc Jacobs Beauty

What teaching a daughter to get rich really sounds like

What Victoria’s rental reset changes for renters

What disclosing a disability at work costs, and what it shouldn't

The super rise you notice late, and the payday shift behind it

What the Saturday auction sounded like after investors stepped back

What young Australians are asking sex ed to finally admit

What free petrol says about dating now

What the rental crisis is doing to women who need to leave now

When the guesthouse becomes the showroom

Late 20s and living at home: the cost no one's counting

After the noise, Jordan Gogos sounds clearer

When the bargain holiday stops feeling clever

Why collagen supplements still sound more certain than they are

What teaching a daughter to get rich really sounds like

The Lifestyle Desires brief