Champions League Twenty20 2009 - LIVE TV, PHOTOS,NEWS

	The Australian meetings will take on a family feel with wives and girlfriends invited to the Sunshine Coast © Getty Images

Australia's players go into camp on Sunday in preparation for the World Twenty20 and the Ashes, but the engagement will carry a new vibe with partners being involved in the four-day programme. There's no military component to match the activities ordered by John Buchanan ahead of the previous England contest and cricket will also be missing as they kick-start the next stage of their gruelling campaign.

Partners of the 25 contract holders can attend a tailored session on how families cope when the player is regularly away for long periods. Crammed itineraries are a constant complaint from team members and the Australian Cricketers' Association and the side is currently in the middle of more than 18 months on the road.

Counsellors, including Andrew Symonds' therapist Deidre Anderson, will speak to the players and their partners in a welfare session covering the demands placed on them by the travel-heavy job. "It's a workshop and will deal with the unique lifestyle," the Cricket Australia spokesman Peter Young said. "It recognises that the problem is not just for players, but for their partners and kids, as well as the management staff who work with the team."

Another session will involve the squad being told the public's perception of the outfit following research commissioned by Cricket Australia. The original data was requested after the heated series with India in 2007-08 and was followed up with another study this year. "It found that 81% of people thought the players were good role models for children," Young said.

Contract meetings, where the individual's rankings in the 25-man group will be discussed, will be held along with medical tests and lectures on drug policies and corporate responsibilities. The 16-man Ashes squad will also autograph 100 bats as required under their tour contracts. The camp finishes on the Sunshine Coast on Wednesday before the Twenty20 squad departs for England to prepare for their opening match against West Indies at The Oval on June 6.