As western Victoria approaches a new fire season, the blare of firetruck sirens still ring in the ears of many locals affected by January’s bushfires. 

The devastation of the Otways fires, among others across the state, prompted a parliamentary inquiry into the causes and management of Victoria’s bushfires in late July - receiving 480 submissions and delivering 80 recommendations.

What they want: Recommendations from Colac Otway Shire Council’s submission were included in the inquiry’s final recommendations that were published last month.

These included improvements to VicEmergency messaging, calls for stronger resilience from telecommunications, stronger understanding of funding requirements for emergency relief centres and locally-led recovery funding.

On the ground: Krystal May is the first lieutenant and community safety officer for the Carlisle River Fire Brigade. Her husband, Rob, is the brigade captain.

“Our tanker was pretty much out there 24 hours a day for just over three weeks,” she told the Brolga. “It was exhausting, scary and you just sort of lost track of time, I think, because it was nonstop.”

What did the report find? The inquiry found mobile blackspots and power outages left crews isolated and unable to communicate to other firefighters.

Real-life impact of the findings: Local knowledge, a large throughline of the inquiry, was a vital component of protecting the Carlisle River community.

“The local knowledge that Rob has, especially, he'd just go, ‘it's at this person's house’, so that really was a shortcut for us to know where [we were] going.”

“A lot of times we were just in a complete black spot with no communication whatsoever in the middle of a fire.”

“There were a few times we needed help to fight the fire, being the only appliance there, but because we couldn't communicate to get people to help us, it'd get further away. And vice versa, people needed us to come and back them up, but they couldn't get onto us to get the backup.”

Full story below.

Western Victoria’s GP shortage is putting growing pressure on residents, clinics and doctors, with an upper house member for Western Victoria warning the region’s health will suffer if the decline in primary care continues.

A snapshot: A report from Victoria’s Rural Workforce Agency analysing the state’s current healthcare workforce found significant shortages across GP roles, with the highest unmet need identified in Colac, Corangamite, Glenelg, Southern Grampians and Warrnambool.

“We've heard reports that there are clinics in Warrnambool not taking any new patients at the moment, which is mind blowing,” Greens member for Western Victoria Dr Sarah Mansfield told the Brolga.

Systemic issue: Mansfield, who is also a practising GP, told the Brolga the shortage was a long-standing problem stemming from a range of causes, including a lack of key worker housing, access to childcare and limitations in the current Medicare rebate business model most practices use.

“There's a bit of a vicious cycle because as fewer and fewer GPs work in these areas, more and more pressure gets put on the ones who are remaining, and there's a real risk they burn out.”

Real-life consequences: Mansfield said this cycle left impacts beyond patients struggling to get appointments, with poor access to preventative care leading to worse health outcomes.

“South west Victoria has the highest rate of heart disease across Victoria,” she said.

“If you then think about what the big contributors are to heart disease, they're things like high blood pressure, high cholesterol. They're the sorts of things that are bread and butter general practice issues.”

What can be done? Victoria is one of the last states in the country to offer government-funded community health centres. 

Full story below.

A double announcement from the state government has laid out plans to fix Victorian roads, centred around pothole funding and the use of prison inmates for roadworks.

Announcement one: On Sunday, the Labor government announced a plan to double the amount of potholes being repaired, through a $352 million increase to the road maintenance budget.

Announcement two: On Monday, Premier Ben Carroll visited Ballarat to announce Labor’s larger plan for roads should the government retain power following the state election in November.

It involves utilising the state’s prison inmates. 

Put to work: The state would collaborate with Corrections Victoria on a scheme where minimum-security prisoners would perform “basic” road maintenance as part of an outdoor manual labour program. 

The Premier also announced a dedicated website for reporting road issues. 

Opposition response: Shadow Roads Minister Danny O’Brien told the ABC the decision from Labor to use prisoners for road repair was “no surprise, because the government’s handling of road maintenance has been absolutely criminal”. 

In July, the opposition announced its plan to invest $5 billion in repairing the state’s roads. This included a pledge to fix 1 million potholes.

Full story below.

The 2026 section of central Ballarat’s She Matters mural has quadrupled in size - from 11 to 49 names - with each addition representing a woman killed by violence in Australia since January. 

The mural, first installed in March, has been tracking the deaths since 2024 and now includes almost 300 women in total.  

The background: The She Matters campaign began with the Red Heart Movement and Australian Femicide Watch, founded and run by journalist Sherele Moody. Moody began the project in 2015 to track the deaths of Australian women and children following horrific deaths in her own family. 

Why does it matter? Domestic violence statistics in Ballarat and surrounding regions are particularly high. 

What they said: Ballarat Mayor Tracey Hargreaves said the City of Ballarat is “extremely supportive of the message behind” the mural.

If you or someone you know is experiencing family violence, help is available 24/7 by calling 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732.

In Western Victoria, Meli, Sexual Assault and Family Violence Centre, Emma House, Orange Door and Child and Family Services Ballarat are also available to provide resources and support.

Full story below.

After a sudden closure last week, Aradale Asylum is set for a limited reopening, allowing for the continuation of ghost tours that bring more than 10,000 visitors to Ararat every year. 

The building is also set for key restoration works. It comes after Nathaniel Buchanan, who runs Eerie Tours, told the Brolga the closure would be an “economic disaster for the town”. 

The update: Since the sudden closure of the site, Buchanan has received a letter from Melbourne Polytechnic recognising the importance of the building to the town, notifying him it was “working at speed” to have it reopened. 

What happened: Landlords of the building, TAFE Institution Melbourne Polytechnic, elected to close the building last week due to public safety concerns following a recent safety inspection. 

Full story below.