Contact: Don Feder, 508-405-1337, dfeder@rcn.com; Lisa Youngblood, 815-964-5819, lisa@worldcongress.org; both with World Congress of Families 

ROCKFORD, Ill., Aug., 11, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- Two World Congress of Families Partners -- Endeavour Forum and The Australian Family Association and -- will have events celebrating Australia's National Marriage Day (August 16). 

The Australian Family Association is having a rally in the Great Hall of Parliament House in Canberra from 10:00 a.m. to noon on Tuesday, the 16th. The next day, Australian MPs will be asked to report on constituents' views on so-called same-sex marriage.

Mrs. Rebecca Hagelin will be the keynote speaker at the rally. Hagelin has championed the pro-family cause in Washington and around the United States for some 25 years.  She writes a weekly column for The Washington Times, "How To Save Your Family," and a weekly column that explores social and cultural issues for Townhall.com, PatriotPost.US, Crosswalk and other web sites and newspapers.

She is the author of Home Invasion: Protecting Your Family in a Culture That's Gone Stark Raving Mad and 30 Ways in 30 Days to Save Your Family.

From 2002-2008, Hagelin served a vice president of The Heritage Foundation where she was responsible for communications and marketing.

Besides The Australian Family Association, the rally is an in initiative of the National Marriage Coalition, Dads4Kids Fatherhood Foundation and the Australian Christian Lobby. To register or for more information, contact Phyllis Restall at 03 9816 0800 or admin@marriageday.org.au

At 7:30 pm on Friday, August 19, Endeavour Forum Inc., will hold a public meeting at the O’Hanlon Centre, in Mentone, Victoria, called "In Defense of Marriage."

At this event, Hagelin will share the stage with the Hon. Kevin Andrews, MP, a member of Australia's national Parliament since 1991.

In 2001-2003, Andrews was Australia's Minister for Aging. In 2003-2007, he was the nation's Minister of Employment and Workplace Relations. Andrews spoke at World Congress of Families I (Prague, 1997), WCF II (Geneva, 1999) and World Congress of Families V in Amsterdam, 2009.  At WCF V, Andrews spoke on "Family Policies That Work."

For more information on the Endeavour Forum meeting or to RSVP, contact Mrs. Prue Oldham, (03) 9583 6835 or Mrs. Margaret Butts, (03) 8588 1792, or e-mail Babette Francis, babette@endeavourforum.org.au.

World Congress of Families VII was recently awarded to Sydney, Australia and will be held on May 15-18, 2013. For more information on Sydney 2013, contact Mary-Louise Fowler, Vice-President of the Australian Family Association and Chairperson of the Local organizing Committee at mary-louise@family.org.au.

World Congress of Families VI will be held in Madrid, Spain -- May 25-27, 2012.  Contact Ignacio Arsuaga at HazteOir.org for more information, iarsuaga@hazteoir.org. 

For more information on World Congress of Families go to www.worldcongress.org or contact Communications Director Don Feder at 508-405-1337, dfeder@rcn.com, or Lisa Youngblood at 815-964-5819, lisa@worldcongress.org.

The World Congress of Families (WCF) is an international network of pro-family organizations, scholars, leaders and inter-faith people of goodwill from more than 60  countries that seek to restore the natural family as the fundamental social unit and the 'seedbed' of civil society (as found in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948).  The WCF was founded in 1997 by Allan Carlson and is a project of The Howard Center for Family, Religion & Society in Rockford, Illinois.  To date, there have been five World Congresses of Families -- Prague (1997), Geneva (1999), Mexico City (2004), Warsaw, Poland (2007) and Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2009).  World Congress of Families VI will be held in Madrid, Spain in May 25-27, 2012.