Sometimes you just get lucky.
This was the fate of the large kangaroo who was found down a mine shaft in the bush near Creswick, just lucky. The bush is full of mine shafts, remnants of the gold mining era.
Many of them have been filled in, but there are still too many out there that are uncovered and these are a deep pit of death for any animal unlucky enough to be trapped inside.
Most animals know their patch of bush; they know where the hazards are, and the dangerous areas to avoid.
But when they are frightened, such as happens when trail bike riders roar their machines around, the animals of the bush just try to get away from the scary noise, and can end up caught in a fence, jumping in front of cars or going down a mine shaft. This is not something that would ordinarily happen, it is a flight response to fear.
A local couple walking their dog were alerted to the kangaroo’s plight, when their dog ran over to the mine shaft and started whining. They quickly got in touch with the local wildlife rescuers. When the wildlife rescuers arrived, they decided that the best course of action was to tranquilise the kangaroo. They were lowered halfway down the shaft, where they could tranquilise him with a dart gun. He was then lifted up and out of the mine shaft.
The kangaroo was coated in mud from being down the wet mine shaft. He was weak from lack of food and hypothermic from having cold, wet fur over a prolonged period of time.
At the Hepburn Wildlife Shelter volunteers helped provide a flow of buckets of warm water to wash the mud from the tranquilised kangaroo. He was then kept in a warm room, and fed good quality hay, kangaroo pellets and grated apple with sweet potato.
It took him a couple of weeks to recover from his ordeal. Gayle Chappell tells me that he was an exceptionally good-natured kangaroo and a delight to nurture back to health.
After he had recovered, he was released back to his home territory.
Hepburn Wildlife Shelter is raising funds to help complete a joey hospital. If you can help out please head to the GoFundMe page that’s raising funds to help us finish the joey hospital this winter. Link: https://gofund.me/09179bd3b

Dr Marita McGuirk is a field ecologist and environmental scientist, and a volunteer at the Hepburn Wildlife Shelter. Marita writes monthly columns about the shelter and the animals it cares for. If you would like to donate or volunteer, or just to find out more information, head to www.hepburnwildlifeshelter.org

When I suggest Dorothy Rodda sit next to the log fire to have a photo taken with her wedding portrait she retorts she’ll “look like an old lady”.
Dorothy tells me she has a mobility walker reserved for carrying firewood from the back door to the lounge, which she happily demonstrates, quipping on the way “you go mouldy if you’re just sitting around!”.
The spritely 96-year-old mother of five and grandmother to many was raised in Daylesford by her parents, Alice and Harry Dyson, alongside her younger brother and a cousin nurtured by the couple.
“I was born in 1929 at Nurse Jackson’s on Vincent Street North…that’s where you went to have your babies back then,” she said.
“My cousin, Ken Robson, was reared with us from the age of three or four, his mother died in childbirth, they were living in Melbourne at the time but then polio came and that’s when Ken’s father brought him back to live in Daylesford.
“I remember Mum took Ken down to Doctor Peter Harper for something and he was cross to think that Ken had come from Melbourne to Daylesford during the polio outbreak because it was so contagious.”
Dorothy understands Doctor Harper’s stance but also believes growing up in a home where family fiercely cared for each other shaped her.
“The four front rooms here are the original home of my maternal grandparents, bit by bit it’s been added on to and changed, it’s been passed down through the family. Four generations have lived here.”
Dorothy moved her growing brood of children and infants into the family home to help her mother look after her grandmother and has lived there ever since.
Brenda Johns, Dorothy’s youngest daughter, said her mother had always cared for others.

“Mum helped care for my great-grandmother, then was carer for my grandmother and her cousin who was brought up as a brother, then cared for Dad when he had dementia, refusing to put him into a home,” Brenda said.
Brenda passes Dorothy an exquisite music box with twirling ballerinas, before placing a gold locket in her hand.
“This is my grandmother Louisa’s music box, she was born into the Bell family in Musk Vale but I knew her as Grandma Robson. Ron gave me the locket with his photo inside when I was 18, for my birthday I think.”
The love match between Dorothy and Ron sparked at Daylesford Town Hall.
“They used to have late-night shopping on a Friday and after that you went to community singing conducted by Jack Oglethorpe in the town hall,” Dorothy said.
“Ron Rodda was there singing The White Gardenia, and he was a bit of a catch!”
Dorothy and Ron were married in 1950 and remained united through a shared passion for family and bowling.
“Ron bowled for a number of years and then in 1969 I started off with indoor bowls. Then Ron said ‘if you don’t get down there and play on the greens I won’t pay your membership’.”
Dorothy worked her way up to the top division and was part of a state fours team.
“Daylesford Bowling Club was our second home,” she said, passing me a life membership badge to pin to a dress she pulls from her wardrobe.
“Everything had to be just right. White shoes, white stockings and white dresses measured 13 inches from the ground up. They look like a circus now,” Dorothy teases, before adding she played indoor bowls until Covid hit in 2020.
“I was president three times, did the gardening at one stage and was the purchasing officer. I had to purchase the goods for the catering, I knew how many loaves of bread were needed to make any given number of sandwich points.”
Measuring hems and working with figures was a comfortable fit for Dorothy who studied dress making and commercial studies at the technical school which today serves as the Daylesford Museum site.
“After school I went to work at Foy & Gibson for 12 months. I earnt 17 shillings and 2 pence per week in the Vincent Street retail store which sold haberdashery, ladies’ wear, everything except hardware,” Dorothy said.
“From there I went on to work as a mender at the Woollen Mills in East Street because I could get two pounds plus and overtime. As the worsted fabric came off the loom they came to the mending room and we had to repair any faults in the fabric.
“Some of the rolls of material would just come across the table but others came up over a frame so you could see the faults better – a knot you would have to remove or where a piece of yarn had broken you would mend that.
“At the mills they did spinning, weaving, mending, dying at one stage I think, but I was in the mending room.”
While Dorothy enjoyed her time on the mill floor, she said she found joy and contentment at home, caring for her children while managing bookwork for the family timber business.
“I loved getting out in the garden and making a mess for someone else to clean up. I had garden beds filled with flowers everywhere.”
Brenda said her Mum was also a wonderful cook and “it was nothing to have 12 around the table for Sunday roast”.
The family still gather around the table each weekend, though the cooking is shared these days.
“It’s all been family, it really has.”

Above, Dorothy with her bowls whites, below left, with her grandmother Louisa’s music box, and below right, the locket given to at the age of 18 by her husband Ron

Words & images: Kate Foulds

It is with great regret I have to inform you of the passing of Wolfram Michael Fix (Mike) who lost his battle with life at 4pm, June 4, 2026.
This vibrant and creative man will have a celebration of his life and be reunited with his daughter Sue in a private ceremony with his family and friends and colleagues at the Lilydale Memorial Cemetery on June 15, 2026.
Mike was the steadfast big brother, loving father and Opa to his three grandchildren, and knowledgeable friend to many.
But also, I have lost someone special in my life, although we had a tumultuous relationship for 63 years, I believe we were what I call two fire gods of war, both Aries, both with our set ideas, who had great feelings for each other.
But when it came to who won it was usually him with all his creative and positivity and his ‘if it won’t work then I’ll keep at it until it does’ attitude that carried over to just what an impact he had on the local community, interstate and overseas people who have benefitted from his specific inventions.
More so though were the ones who were with him and for him from the beginning when we first arrived at the Musk property in 1985 with our new approach in market gardening right through the more exciting times of his inventions and even to the end when the last machine was almost finished and Mike was still fighting. His brother Ulrich was there to tell him it was ok to let go.
Thank you for your loyalty and being a friend to Ashley and especially to all who loved him, respected his knowledge and his abilities but also for the person he was.
Vale Mike Fix.

Quality of life begins when the other person benefits from what you put into the giving of yourself does not have to have monetary value but depth of time and feeling. For what you give to others you receive back threefold. That is the law of the Celts. – Yvonne Fix

A new charge for planning pre-application meetings with Hepburn Shire Council Council will be introduced under the council’s 2026 draft budget.
A media release said the new charge would streamline the application process to ensure the council is reviewing better informed applications and reducing the time taken for the council to review applications.
Building permits and charges will be aligned with Mount Alexander Shire Council, which is delivering these services for Hepburn Shire.
Mt Alexander Shire Council charges $196.90 for single dwelling/building, or works, $220 for two-four dwellings/lots and $384.30 for five or more dwellings/lots.
Mayor Cr Tony Clark said the council was also proposing a charge based on the size of space used for outdoor dining and trading.
As well, the council has revised transfer station fees with the introduction of a higher fee for non-residents. Meanwhile, entry to pool facilities remains free.

Hepburn Shire Council plans to invest $10.5 million in community infrastructure and assets in the draft 2026/27 Budget.
Some of the projects in the 2026/27 capital works program are: Albert Street, Daylesford – road safety works ($300,000) with remaining works in 2027/28; Annual Road Reseal Program ($1,345,000); Ford Street and Back Glenlyon Road reconstruction ($721,000); Glenlyon Pavilion construction (Stage 1) ($350,000); Gravel Road Resheet Program ($878,000); Porcupine Ridge Road, Coomoora – Road reconstruction ($792,000); and Year 1 of 2 – Public Street and Reserve Bin Renewal Program ($200,000).
The program will be funded through $3.5 million in grants, contributions and asset sales, with the remaining $6.97 million funded by the council.
Words: Kyle Barne

Clunes Cars and Coffee started in February and the event is already drawing around 100 cars on the first Sunday morning of each month.
Gary May, the town’s postie, said he had the idea last year, and it had taken off in quite a big way. “I knew there were a few guys around here that had cars in their sheds and didn’t really do much with them. So I gauged a bit of opinion and everyone said ‘just do it’.
“I put up a Facebook page and it just went crazy. We have locals and then people from Ballarat, Maryborough, Creswick, Castlemaine, Bendigo, Bacchus Marsh and Melton. They come from everywhere.”
Gary said the cars were a great mix of “everything and anything”. “We have the hot rods, the modern classics, the older classics, motorbikes – they just all park up in the main street.”

Gary said one of the ideas behind the event was getting a few more people through Clunes and it was working. “We want to help our local traders so we are not getting in any outside coffee or food vans. People just park up, go for a wander and have a coffee. They arrive about 10am and are gone by lunchtime.
“Everyone is 150 per cent behind the whole thing – it’s really working.”
Gary, who moved to Clunes about six years ago and knows “pretty much everyone” thanks to his work, said he had his own 1990 Mercedes. “It’s not that old but it is a classic.”
For more photos head to the Clunes Cars and Coffee Facebook page.

Words: Kyle Barnes | Images: Contributed

The Hepburn Spring Swiss Italian Festa, to be held in October, is looking for amicis – or festival friends or sponsors.
The Festa is a not-for-profit community organisation, overseen by a dedicated volunteer committee. The committee’s aim is to make the Festa accessible, inclusive, educational and community-driven. To do this, it relies on the generous support of local businesses, individuals, and regional partners.
Support will help: provide free cultural and educational programming; fund art supplies for local schools and the lantern parade; engage performers, artists and historians; keep the Festa vibrant, affordable and authentic; and promote Hepburn Shire’s cultural tourism.
Join as a Festa Amici for $100 and be recognised as a “Friend of the Festa” online and in the program. As well, you will receive a limited edition Swiss Italian Festa 2026 Poster, signed by the artist.
Become a Bronze Amici for $500 and have your logo on the program and materials, two ticketed event passes of your choice and a limited edition Swiss Italian Festa 2026 t-shirt or tote bag.
For Silver Amicis, for $2500, you receive your logo on all advertising, media and materials, a VIP launch invite, four ticketed event passes of your choice and a limited edition Swiss Italian Festa 2026 t-shirt and tote bag.
Finally, become a Gold Amici for $5000 and receive event naming rights, VIP recognition, advertising, branding and speaking opportunities along with complimentary access for two to all ticketed events with a ;imited edition Swiss Italian Festa 2026 poster, t-shirt and tote bag.
All Gold, Silver and Bronze Amicis are recognised across social media, website, signage, and media outreach.

History
The early Swiss Italian settlers came from both sides of the Swiss Italian border, particularly the Italian-speaking Swiss cantons of Ticino and Grisons, and the northern Italian provinces of Piedmont and Lombardy.

This August, Words in Winter returns to Daylesford and Hepburn for five days of curiosity, words and belonging.
The 2026 theme, Curiouser and Curiouser, is an invitation to lean in: to stories you haven’t heard, writers you haven’t discovered, and conversations that only happen when a community gathers around literature and creativity.
The festival happens at winter’s edge – acacias in bloom, bees returning, days quietly lengthening. And with them, us: emerging, curious, ready. Ready for the stories that pull us out of ourselves. Ready for the warmth of a full room and the particular magic of words shared out loud.
Programming this year runs across three pillars: The Curious Craft for writers and makers, Curious Histories & Untold Truths for storytellers and memory-keepers and Community Curiosities for everyone who calls this region home
From author panels at the town hall to workshops at Radius Art, every venue has a purpose and every event asks you to look a little closer.
The full program is out on June 28 with tickets for sale.

Artist Eloise Grills
Each year, Words in Winter partners with a local artist to feature their original artwork as the festival’s flagship image – and this year Words in Winter is thrilled to have Eloise Grills as the festival artist.
An award-winning writer and artist, Eloise is a beloved member of the community. Her work will vividly bring the theme Curiouser and Curiouser to life across our posters, program, and signage.
Her unique style, which blends whimsical illustrations with profound narratives, perfectly encapsulates the spirit of curiosity and exploration that defines the 2026 festiva

Established luthier Nick Carpenter, founder of Wildwood Instruments, is introducing a new banjo making course, adding to the range of popular instrument-making workshops he has on offer.
Based in the foothills of Mt Franklin, Wildwood Instruments is a boutique workshop dedicated to the craft of instrument making.
Nick’s short, hands-on courses are designed to introduce people to the rewarding world of luthiery, with existing offerings including making electric guitars and cigar box guitars.
The latest banjo course is one of the only courses of its kind in Australia. Conducted over a single day, the workshop provides students with all the components required to build a banjo from a supplied kit.
Under Nick’s expert guidance, participants will learn the precise steps involved in assembling, setting up, and finishing a quality instrument. It is an immersive experience in the art of instrument making.
By the end of the course, each student will leave with a beautifully finished, fully playable banjo that they have built themselves.
The course is open to anyone aged 16 years and over, and no prior woodworking or instrument-making experience is required.
To ensure personalised instruction, class sizes are limited to four participants. They will be held on July 18 – and then every two months. Cost is $499 per person.
Link: www.wildwoodinstruments.com.au

Image: Contributed

Professor Keir Reeves has spent the past decade working across the goldfields corridor of Ballarat, Creswick, Daylesford and Clunes – a stretch he describes as “a remarkable part of the country” – building upon an impressive career in higher education, history and preserving community identity.
The historian, and director of Federation University’s Future Regions Research Centre, has centred his work on how regional communities engage with history, while also advocating for broader access to higher education.
That work has been recognised with a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the 2026 King’s Birthday honours for his service to regional higher education.
Growing up in Castlemaine after moving from Melbourne in the mid-1980s, Professor Reeves delivered the morning newspapers and played local footy – an upbringing that grounded him in regional life and sparked an early fascination with the goldfields’ layered past.
“I grew up around people who were passionate about history. I loved the old buildings and the many wonderful stories of the goldfields personalities,” he said.
That early interest developed into formal study in history, heritage and economics and later into an academic career that wasn’t initially planned. His first role was tutoring at the University of Melbourne – an experience that, at the time, seemed far from the start of a profession.
“I never really imagined becoming an academic or a professor. I thought if I could just run a good tutorial, that would be enough.”
His career later included roles at the University of Melbourne and Monash University, as well as research fellowships in the United Kingdom, Japan and Europe. He has also worked internationally in tourism studies and historical interpretation, including projects in England, Belgium, Vanuatu, Turkiye and Fiji.
Returning to regional Victoria, and now living in Smeaton, became the turning point that has defined the focus and impact of his career.
“I’ve spent the past decade here at Federation, working on projects across the Ballarat, Horsham, Ararat campuses and the broader goldfields region. For me this award is not only a personal recognition but also reflects the support I have received from my students, colleagues as well as members of cultural and community organisations throughout my career,” he said.
His work explores how communities engage with history and heritage to shape identity, tourism and local development, alongside the vital role of universities in regional areas.
He maintains a strong focus on widening participation in higher education, particularly for students from regional and non-traditional backgrounds, reflecting a long-held belief that education should open doors rather than close them.
“I’ve always been interested in how people get on their journey and I’m inspired by people from the country pursuing higher education – it still drives what I do. What excites me is seeing people who might not have gone to university being able to start that journey locally and succeed,” Professor Reeves said.
“Like many I’m drawn to those experiences – the people who didn’t necessarily have the easiest run at education but found a way through,” he said.
At Federation, that commitment has translated into supervision of more than 20 PhD completions, many involving students who are the first in their families to enter higher education or who have taken non-linear pathways into academia.
Professor Reeves describes that aspect of his work – supervising and mentoring postgraduate researchers – as among the most rewarding of his career.
“In part this recognition also belongs to them. It’s a privilege to support their work and to see where they go with their careers.”
Beyond the university, Professor Reeves has been active in historical societies, festivals and heritage initiatives across regional Victoria, working to connect academic research with community outcomes.
He played a key role in convening the Australian Historical Association conference in Ballarat – the only time the national body met there – and has supported a range of regional cultural and heritage as well as economic development projects.
Professor Reeves said the role Federation played in its regional communities – expanding opportunities and strengthening communities through education – was central to his work and reflects the enduring value of the humanities and social sciences in helping people understand both their past and their place in the world.
“This honour, for me, reflects the regional higher education story and what it can make possible for people and communities,” he said.
“I’ve been fortunate to do this work in the goldfields, which is such a special place. It has shaped my research, my teaching and my sense of purpose – and it’s a reminder that that place still matters in both history and education.”

Words & image: Federation University

Sometimes you just get lucky.

This was the fate of the large kangaroo who was found down a mine shaft in the bush near Creswick, just lucky. The bush is full of mine shafts, remnants of the gold mining era.
Many of them have been filled in, but there are still too many out there that are uncovered and these are a deep pit of death for any animal unlucky enough to be trapped inside.
Most animals know their patch of bush; they know where the hazards are, and the dangerous areas to avoid.
But when they are frightened, such as happens when trail bike riders roar their machines around, the animals of the bush just try to get away from the scary noise, and can end up caught in a fence, jumping in front of cars or going down a mine shaft. This is not something that would ordinarily happen, it is a flight response to fear.
A local couple walking their dog were alerted to the kangaroo’s plight, when their dog ran over to the mine shaft and started whining. They quickly got in touch with the local wildlife rescuers. When the wildlife rescuers arrived, they decided that the best course of action was to tranquilise the kangaroo. They were lowered halfway down the shaft, where they could tranquilise him with a dart gun. He was then lifted up and out of the mine shaft.
The kangaroo was coated in mud from being down the wet mine shaft. He was weak from lack of food and hypothermic from having cold, wet fur over a prolonged period of time.
At the Hepburn Wildlife Shelter volunteers helped provide a flow of buckets of warm water to wash the mud from the tranquilised kangaroo. He was then kept in a warm room, and fed good quality hay, kangaroo pellets and grated apple with sweet potato.
It took him a couple of weeks to recover from his ordeal. Gayle Chappell tells me that he was an exceptionally good-natured kangaroo and a delight to nurture back to health.
After he had recovered, he was released back to his home territory.
Hepburn Wildlife Shelter is raising funds to help complete a joey hospital. If you can help out please head to the GoFundMe page that’s raising funds to help us finish the joey hospital this winter. Link: https://gofund.me/09179bd3b

Dr Marita McGuirk is a field ecologist and environmental scientist, and a volunteer at the Hepburn Wildlife Shelter. Marita writes monthly columns about the shelter and the animals it cares for. If you would like to donate or volunteer, or just to find out more information, head to www.hepburnwildlifeshelter.org

So far, the build has been a lot of hurry up and wait, with our hard-earned money haemorrhaging from the account, from all the associated fees.

The last bite out of our time schedule has come from the Hepburn Shire Council. Sherridon Homes thought we were putting in our amendment to the council and we thought they were doing it, putting us back another month.
However, because we have a principal and interest loan, even though we have only used $19,000 of the mortgage we are still expected to come up with $2700 per month. FFS.
It happened because we originally had settled on a home from another builder, which was becoming a little out of our reach, so decided on the Sherridon 305 which required an amendment to the original plans.
There are two types of amendments – the usual amendment which is quite a vigorous process and a “secondary consent”. The latter, which fortunately we fell into due to the building envelope being similar, is a simpler, faster pathway for minor, non-transformative changes that bypasses public advertising and third-party appeals.
So with the money paid, another $318 (I know it’s only money and you can’t take it with you – but I am happy to spend it on more fun things while I am still here) and the application lodged here we are again, this time waiting for HSC.
Mind you, we only sent them in on May 28 and the council has been pretty busy with the draft budget and other things. But I can see another month floating by as we come up with our next mortgage repayment.
We did though have a small win, thanks to a dinner with friends from Ballarat.
The lovely people from the State Revenue Department decided to throw a tax on the land which is about to be built on. That was mostly because the council had stopped calling it Lot 1 of our address and had given it its own name, and because we are on a corner block, a different street name.
So they came for us with a land tax bill just south of $1000.
But at that dinner, for my birthday, my Ballarat friend, who had the same thing happen, advised us that they had been able to get out of the tax. Hmmm.
We reached out to the State Revenue people and it turns out we have a case.
The land in question is still attached to our land, there is currently no buildings on it or, for that matter, a fence as well as something about its zoning.
The upshot of this is if you do get hit with one of the new taxes, don’t just pay it, ask the question.
The downside, and salt in the wound of the land tax, is that you have to continue to pay it until they make a deliberation and then, only then, refund you what you have paid if they got it wrong.
The slab is not down yet but nor is it the end of the month. Thoughts & prayers.
Words: Donna Kelly

Bendigo Art Gallery’s landmark redevelopment has reached a milestone with a striking new façade design.

Woven by Aunty Marilyne Nicholls is a tribute to First Nations culture, based on her renowned coil-weaving practice.

The 20-metre-wide artwork will be embedded into the façade of the new gallery.

Once complete, the gallery will inject $35 million into Bendigo’s economy every year and create 170 ongoing jobs.

The redevelopment also includes a second-floor exhibition space, innovative learning centre and a theatrette.

During construction, around 260 jobs will be created.

Local company Fairbrother Construction has been appointed as the project’s head contractor.

The state government is investing $21 million, alongside $9 million from the City of Greater Bendigo, $4 million from the Gallery Board and $9.3 million from philanthropic donations.

The state government is strengthening School Community Safety Orders to better protect staff and school communities.

Deputy Premier and Minister for Education Ben Carroll has announced legislation to strengthen and simplify the School Community Safety Order Scheme.

It’s about making every school a safe place to learn and work, with consequences when those expectations are not met.

It allows principals to ban adults from school grounds, related places or from contacting school staff.

It also makes it easier to act against harmful behaviour on social media, messaging and other online platforms.

These reforms recognise that abuse doesn’t stop at the school gate.

The changes follow an independent statutory review and targeted consultation with the school sector and community.

Feedback was clear – staff want stronger protections especially against online abuse.

Reforms will also simplify how and when immediate orders can be issued, cutting red tape and making the Scheme easier to use.

Further changes will streamline the system making it more effective for principals while maintaining fairness for those subject to orders.

Introduced in 2022, the Scheme is a last resort tool to manage the risk posed by a small minority of adults who engage in harmful, threatening or abusive behaviour.

School Community Safety Orders will remain a last resort, used only when other options have failed or are not appropriate.

The state government is delivering a major upgrade to the Alfred – and the nurses and doctors who work there will help design it.

Minister for Health Infrastructure Melissa Horne has joined frontline workers to give them a life-sized look into the $292 million project.

Architectural plans were projected onto open floor space so staff could walk through their new working environment.

This gives frontline workers and clinicians a chance to see how teams will move and how patients will be treated.

By testing patient flow with beds and wheelchairs, workers are helping shape the final designs.

This upgrade will deliver new inpatient wards and Intensive Care Unit.

It will also upgrade critical systems and wards across the Main Ward Block.

Final designs of the upgrade are set to be completed later this year, and the project will be completed in 2030.

The project will make sure the Alfred can continue to deliver life saving work for generations to come.

Victorians will no longer need to face lengthy wait times or spend thousands of dollars to get care for ADHD.

On Monday, expressions of interest will open for GPs to undertake training to safely diagnose, treat and prescribe medication for ADHD.

Currently, adults can only be diagnosed and prescribed medication by a psychiatrist, while children must see a paediatrician or a psychiatrist.

That means too many people facing high out-of-pocket costs and long wait times of up to six to 12 months.

Right now, the average comprehensive assessment costs upwards of $2,000.

The training which starts from September will be delivered by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.

It will mean GPs can diagnose and treat ADHD in adults and children six years and over.

This saves families time and money.

It also helps people get the support they need sooner to tackle the challenges of living with ADHD – giving them the best chance to excel at school, in the workplace, and throughout their lives.

The training will also help ease pressure on specialty areas, including psychiatry and paediatrics.

As more people better understand the condition, the demand for ADHD assessments is growing.

It’s estimated up to 163,000 Victorian children and 320,000 adults may be living with ADHD.