Police have been appealing for public assistance as they search for missing woman, Harriet.

The 23-year-old was last seen on Mollison Street in Kyneton about 8.15am on 30 May.

Police and family have concerns for her welfare due to her disappearance being out of character.

It is believed she may be driving a white 2013 Toyota Corolla sedan with the registration MCAODA.

Police have released an image of Harriet in the hope that someone can provide information on her current whereabouts.

She is described as being Caucasian, of medium build with long black hair.

Harriet was last seen wearing a black polo top, black pants and black sneakers.

Anyone with information was urged to contact Gisborne Police Station on (03) 5428 2500.

More than 150 people attended a community consultation at the Daylesford Town Hall last Saturday, June 1, over the proposed Hepburn Shire Town Structure Plans.

Among them was farmer Ned Powell, pictured above talking with Hepburn Shire Council Development executive director Ron Torres, who is concerned about the potential rezoning of his East Street, Daylesford farm land to residential.

Mr Powell said it was a shock for his family to discover the move on the draft plan for Daylesford and Hepburn Springs. Mr Powell said his family bought the farm in 1921 and had continuously farmed the property. And he says, despite the potential for profit, they were completely opposed to the idea of rezoning.

Mr Powell is concerned his rates could go up if the land was rezoned and it could also be subject to the state government’s windfall gains tax, introduced last year.

Many people have raised other concerns with The Local including that the plans are rushed, with a deadline of June 12 for community input.

Mayor Cr Brian Hood has said “getting it right is more important than timing”. However the proposed plans are pencilled in to be passed at the August council meeting.

The plans are part of Future Hepburn, which since its start four years ago has cost about $1.3 million. Community sessions on the town structure plans have been held throughout the shire.

Meanwhile, a community-led grass roots movement, Pastures NOT Pavements, has formed with farmers, residents, business owners and “the wider community of people that are concerned about the Daylesford and Hepburn Springs Draft Structure Plan”.

The group says it wants “to preserve active farmland that is essential to maintaining the rural character of our townships and not succumb to unnecessary ‘greenfield development’, because once it’s gone, it’s gone”.

The group wants to stop the rezoning of the East Street farmland, preserve productive agricultural land, protect the Smith’s Creek and farmland water catchment, remove Central Springs Road as a freight spine, support incremental and distributed housing growth within the town boundaries and prevent the business centre and traffic being drawn eastwards.

Link: www.participate.hepburn.vic.gov.au/future-hepburn

Words & image: Donna Kelly

Hepburn Shire Council is in such dire financial straits that Mayor Cr Brian Hood and two other councillors voted to defer the release of its draft budget until September.

At a special meeting of council on May 28, Cr Lesley Hewitt moved a motion which acknowledged the challenging financial environment that is confronting councils across Victoria and requested the CEO and Mayor write to the Local Government Minister to seek an extension of time to the September 2024 council meeting to adopt the budget, to allow the council to undertake further work including extensive community consultation.

The motion also requested that the CEO work with councillors to undertake additional councillor workshops, engage with the community during July and prepare an updated Financial Plan (10 years) for consideration at the September 2024 council meeting that addresses the long-term financial sustainability of the council.

It was voted for by Cr Hewitt, Cr Don Henderson and Cr Hood. Those against were Cr Jen Bray, Cr Juliet Simpson, Cr Tessa Halliday and Cr Tim Drylie. After alternative motions, the draft budget was moved to be released for public discussion.

Cr Hood, speaking on why the draft budget release should be delayed said it was “absolutely unacceptable and unsustainable to budget for deficits”.

“The draft budget does not meet the requirements of the overarching governance principles set out which relate to ensuring the ongoing financial viability of council.

“(It) does not prudently manage financial risk (and) in its current form it also does not meet the requirement to provide stability and predictability for the community. The limited mention of rates does just the opposite – it creates uncertainty.”

Cr Hood said in its current form the draft budget posed unacceptable risks and was outside the council’s stipulated risk appetite and policy in that it “recklessly projects a scenario of having no unrestricted cash available to buffer against unforeseen emergencies (such as the storm and flood events experienced in recent years).”

Cr Hood said the draft budget disclosed unfunded cash shortfalls in the order of $4m in each of years 2, 3 and 4 – a gap equivalent to 20 per cent of the council’s rates base or 12.5 per cent of its cash operating expenses.

“In reality the budget quantifies massive problems to the community with no solutions. It is simply unfair and unrealistic to present a budget with massive deficits and cash shortfalls for a review by the community in less than three weeks. Nothing constructive could be achieved in that period.

“While there has been limited discussion/debate today on the budget’s contents there has been absolutely no discussion on what the next three weeks’ consultation looks like.

“When informing the community of further deficits, no cash buffer, no major capex projects, possible service cuts and rate hikes what do we expect them to do with that info in three weeks and what do we expect their reaction to be?”

In a media briefing the day before the draft budget was released, Cr Hood, speaking on behalf of the council as mayor, said financial issues had arisen from the cumulative effect of sub-CPI rate capping ($5.8m over the past three years), high inflation in construction and other costs, cost-shifting from other levels of government, mostly state, and waste charge changes effective from 25/26.

Cr Hood also said Hepburn Shire had a small population, a low rate base and an overly ambitious service offering from the council.

The council is looking at asking the state government for a rates variation from the current government cap, cuts of operating costs of $1.5 million, new borrowings of $5.5 million for capital expenditure and the Daylesford Town Hall, the completion of only ongoing and renewal works, and slashing full-time staff from 190 to 174.

Public consultation is open until June 13, with its adoption set for June 25. Link: www.participate.hepburn.vic.gov.au/draft-budget

Words: Donna Kelly

Braemar College music students, Evie, Luca, Polly, Arlo and Ari, are excited to be performing before the fireworks on the opening night of the Woodend Winter Arts Festival on June 7 at Buffalo Stadium Woodend.

The four-day festival, taking place over the King’s Birthday long weekend in Woodend, will deliver a feast of music, words and ideas.

World class performers will be joined by some of Australia’s brightest minds for a series of special performances and thought-provoking discussions. More than 100 artists will perform during the festival throughout Woodend.

The diverse program includes highlights such as a performance by Southern Spanish guitarist Paco Lara, who will be performing Flamenco of Southern Spain, accompanied by flamenco dancer Deya Giner.

Jazz great Paul Grabowsky will showcase the piano across centuries, performing selections from his album Solo, while twice ARIA-nominated Nat Bartsch will transport the audience into the realm of new jazz with her award-winning ensemble.

London-based pianist Piers Lane will perform Chopin, Smetana and Mozart, while Woodend’s own Jacqueline Ogeil, (the director of Music at Braemar College), leads Accademia Arcadia’s performance of the Early Solo Concertos on the Cristofori piano.

Australian tenor Daniel Thomson returns from Europe to perform Schubert Lieder with John O’Donnell, who will also conduct two performances of Bach’s mighty St John Passion with Ensemble Gombert and Accademia Arcadia.

In addition to the music offered The Words & Ideas program has a selection of debates and discussions on challenging contemporary issues ranging from ‘city versus country’ to ‘machines versus humans’.

Expect to hear from bright minds such as Nobel Prize winner Peter Doherty and broadcaster/journalists Gideon Haigh, Elizabeth Finkel, George Megalogenis and Don Watson.

Words & image: Sandy Scheltem

Following community engagement, the Greater Bendigo City Council has recently voted to begin a process to sell seven City owned properties that are not planned for future use.

The properties to be put up for sale include:

• 53 Eaglehawk Road, Ironbark
• 10 Sibley Place, Strathdale
• 101 Alder Street, Kangaroo Flat
• 5 St Johns Close, Kangaroo Flat
• 17 Edwin Street, North Bendigo
• 27 Hamelin Street, White Hills (part of)
• 11 Carolyn Way, Maiden Gully (part of)

City of Greater Bendigo Mayor Cr Andrea Metcalf said eight properties were identified as part of an ongoing review of City owned property holdings.

“Seven of the eight properties have been determined as surplus to the City’s needs and Council has authorised the CEO to undertake the land assessment, preparation and sale processes of the properties with the proceeds from any sale deposited into the Public Space Reserve or the Land and Buildings Reserve,” Cr Metcalf said.

“However, a property located at 3-4 Lindsay Court, Strathfieldsaye will be retained at this stage to allow officers to undertake further investigations regarding the future needs, constraints and opportunities of the site.

“The City has a commitment to consult with the community in line with its Community Engagement Policy and the Local Government Act 2020 and residents were invited to make any comments on the potential sales on its Let’s Talk community engagement website for a five-week period.

“During the community engagement period the Let’s Talk webpage was viewed 3,355 times from over 902 unique visitors. 

“In addition to the Let’s Talk webpage, signs were placed on all of the properties and letters were sent to nearby residents and landowners.  

The project was also advertised on social media and via newspaper advertisements.  Word of mouth within neighbourhood Facebook groups also helped to promote the project and generate interest. 

“Over 140 individual pieces of feedback were received, including survey responses, written submissions, email enquiries and phone calls, and a petition with 70 signatures was received. Internal City business units were also consulted, and all feedback received was considered.

“The City manages a portfolio of 1,500 assets valued in excess of $600M. As part of the City’s strategic asset management and long-term financial plan, the asset portfolio is continually reviewed.

“These reviews include strategically acquiring land when needed, disposing of surplus land, repurposing land to respond to the community’s changing needs, and retaining land to maintain existing levels of service.

“As the assessment, preparation and sale process could take some time, Council has requested the CEO to provide quarterly reports about the process as it progresses.”

The City of Greater Bendigo has started construction of new $520,000 accessible public toilet facilities and a changing place in Elmore and a new $210,000 changing place in Heathcote.

City of Greater Bendigo Property Manager Daniella McClure said the City is committed to providing accessible public toilet facilities in line with its Public Toilet Strategy and to improving disability access across the Greater Bendigo community.

“The new Elmore public toilet facility will feature five unisex cubicles, two DDA compliant unisex cubicles and a Changing Place to provide suitable facilities for people who cannot use standard accessible toilets,” Ms McClure said.

“During construction portable toilets for use by the community and visitors to the township are available a short distance away in the Elmore Miniature Railway carpark located at the Southern (Bendigo) end of Elmore.

“A new Changing Place facility to serve the Heathcote and wider community is currently being constructed adjacent to the existing Barrack Reserve public toilets which were opened in 2019.

“There will be no closure of the existing public toilet facilities while the new changing place is being constructed.

“Both projects have been funded by the City of Greater Bendigo with grants of $110,000 for Elmore, and $180,000 for Heathcote, from the Victorian Government.

“The Heathcote Changing Place is expected to be complete by July 2024 and Elmore is expected to be completed before the end of 2024.”

Changing Place facilities provide a secure public toilet featuring a fully accessible toilet with space on either side for carers, moveable ceiling hoist, height adjustable adult size change table, privacy curtain, additional seating and a safe and clean environment for people with severe and profound disabilities.

Changing Places allow people with disabilities to participate more fully in activities and events, access shops, services and education facilities without having to worry if there are suitable toilet facilities available.

Access to Changing Places is available 24 hours, seven days a week to holders of a Master Locksmiths Access Key (MLAK).  

The MLAK system is fitted to elevators at railway stations, Changing Place amenities in council areas and national parks across Australia and on items of play equipment.

People with disability can purchase a MLAK master key which will open all public facilities fitted with this specially designed lock.

The City of Ballarat is celebrating a successful Ballarat Heritage Festival, with thousands of people flooding to Ballarat over 10 action-packed days.

Initial estimates indicate more than 25,000 people attended the festival held over May17-26, with about $2 million expected to have been injected into the Ballarat economy.

In total, there were over 130 events held, with many sold out including the Ballarat Old Gaol Tours, the night and day tours of the Mechanics Institute and their 135th Devonshire Tea, and the Great Takeaway as part of Craft Lab 24.

Monuments, by Australian artist Craig Walsh, brought thousands of people into the CBD by brilliantly projecting three local faces onto large trees and sharing the stories of their varying cultural backgrounds.

Jenna Oldaker’s creative immersive display sharing a Wadawurrung story in a re-purposed shipping container was another huge hit that highlighted and celebrated Indigenous heritage in the area.

Other events and activities that proved popular were the Ballarat Antique Fair, the Vintage Car Show, the Wadawurrung Culture and Language Session, the Eureka Centre talks and the Drinks That Made Ballarat at Itinerant Spirits.

City of Ballarat Mayor, Cr Des Hudson said the event had been brilliant in highlighting and celebrating the city’s diverse heritage.

“Every year the Ballarat Heritage Festival delivers in so many different ways and this year was no exception,” he said.

“We could not be happier with how the event unfolded and the early feedback we’ve heard from event holders and the general public has been glowing.”

Among those celebrating the success of the festival was Cody Winward, who showcased traditional and modern flower making techniques in the Ballarat Mining Exchange as part of Craft Lab 24.

The event broke all previous Craft Lab records in terms of attendance with more than 5300 people through the doors, including more than 3200 on the first weekend alone.

“Craft Lab 24 has been an incredible experience to grow relationships with fellow artists, give confidence and reassurance to artisans like myself, gain practical business knowledge and has given the platform to interact with an aligned audience,” he said.

“Having come from a town where I could only dream this would happen, I am immensely grateful to be sitting amongst Craft Lab 24.”

Charles Zhang from the Chinese Australian Cultural Society Ballarat was one of the three faces brilliantly projected onto Sturt Street trees throughout the festival as part of renowned artist Craig Walsh’s display.

Mr Zhang said it was an honour to see his face displayed so prominently to share the story not only of his Chinese ancestry, but Ballarat’s broader multicultural heritage.

“People from the Ballarat Chinese Community were feeling so proud about living in this city with one of their images projected on the major trees,” he said.

“We appreciate what this city has done to bring cultural harmony. It’s been a fantastic experience to be part of this great project, I am highly impressed by the artist’s work.” 

Images & Words: Supplied

The City of Greater Bendigo is undertaking smoking and vape-free trials at a number of public sites in Greater Bendigo until Friday June 28, 2024.

The trial areas include:

• Civic Gardens
• Library Gardens
• Dai Gum San
• Canterbury Gardens
• Tom Flood Sports Centre
• Funloong Playspace – Hargreaves Mall (already legislated smoke and vape-free location)
• Lake Weeroona Playspace (already legislated smoke and vape-free location)
• Eaglehawk Playspace (already legislated smoke and vape-free location)
• Ewing Park Playspace and Skate Park (already legislated smoke and vape-free location)
• Barrack Reserve Playspace, Heathcote (already legislated smoke and vape-free location)

City of Greater Bendigo Community Partnerships Manager Andie West said the Victorian Government has already introduced legislated areas like play spaces, skate parks and sporting venues where people cannot smoke and vape.

“The City carried out consultation with young children between 2021 and 2023 who told us they wanted to see more areas where smoking and vaping is banned,” Ms West said.

“In response to this feedback from local children we are now trialling a number of areas that may become smoke and vape free in the future.

“The trial involves placing signage at the trial locations to inform them of the trial and to raise awareness that some of these areas are already smoke and vape free zones.

“Through the trials we want to find out if the wider community supports more smoke and vape-free locations across Greater Bendigo.”

“If the trial is successful, further consultation will be undertaken before any formal changes are made. The City will only make more sites smoke and vape free if the community supports it.”

The consultation is being undertaken with a funding grant from VicHealth and in partnership with Bendigo Community Health Service, Bendigo Health, Heathcote Health, Department of Education and Sports Focus.

Members of the community are invited to have their say by completing a short survey on the City’s Let’s Talk website until Friday June 28.

Emergency services have found a body believed to be that of missing Gordon man Matthew, three days after he was last seen in Newlyn.

Police said the body was found in the Leonards Hill area, south of Daylesford, on Monday, June 3.

“The deceased is yet to be formally identified but is believed to be missing Gordan man Matthew,” a Victoria Police spokesperson said.

“The death is not being treated as suspicious at this stage.”

Emergency services, including VICSES volunteers, spent the weekend and Monday searching for the 34-year-old.

His family held concerns for his welfare as he had a medical condition. SES units from as far as Bacchus Marsh and Castlemaine assisted the search effort, with dirt bikes also used.

The City of Ballarat has released its Draft Footpath Construction Strategy for community review and feedback in recent days.

The Draft Footpath Construction Strategy guides how the City of Ballarat prioritise and fund where new footpaths are built to improve safety, transport choices, health and wellbeing, as well as supporting local economic activity and productivity.

It also identifies where new footpaths are needed most, where sealing of existing unsealed footpaths should take place, and highlights missing links in the city’s footpath network.

Feedback from the local community will inform the final Footpath Construction Strategy and those keen to participate can provide feedback on the Draft Footpath Construction Strategy up until 5pm, Sunday 23 June at mysay.ballarat.vic.gov.au/footpath-strategy.

The strategy features an equitable approach to the construction of footpaths, outlining a community-informed prioritisation framework for identifying which gaps in the footpath network should be built first.

The strategy is designed to improve accessibility for communities most in need including, but not limited to, carers, people with disability and those without access to private transport.

The City of Ballarat held extensive community consultation in the development of the Draft Footpath Construction Strategy.

It also helped guide the development of a number of key recommendations.

Key recommendations of the draft strategy include:

• Undertake regular demographic analysis of population segments to ensure a clear understanding of which communities may have greater needs from the footpath network
• Explore opportunities to apply special rate and charge schemes to footpath provision, where willing residents could help co-fund their local footpath, if the path is not earmarked for construction
• Engage with Wadawurrung Traditional Owners on each year’s Footpath Construction Plan to support landmarks or sightlines of cultural significance near planned footpath construction
• Investigate opportunities to improve personal security, physical safety, accessibility and connectivity of footpaths to ensure women have equal opportunities to benefit from footpath construction, and
• Prioritise footpath gaps for construction according to a framework that prioritises primary and secondary pedestrian routes aligned to the Principal Pedestrian network, as well as local connectivity, adjacent road speed and suburb and locality footpath index of need.

City of Ballarat Councillor Mark Harris thanked the community for having their say in the first round of community consultation and encouraged all residents to now provide feedback on the draft strategy.

“Community feedback highlighted the importance of footpaths providing access to a range of local destinations,” he said.

“The draft strategy identifies a framework to promote local living so that footpaths can now be prioritised in a way that aims to provide a complete network between activity centres.

“The strategy will work to ensure footpaths are accessible to all, prioritising construction where coverage is poor, and in the locations where people have the strongest reliance on footpaths for mobility.”

Community consultation, which was held from 5 February until 3 March, worked to understand how residents use the footpath network and to gather feedback on the proposed decision-making framework.

Workshops were held with key stakeholders including the Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation and City of Ballarat’s Ageing Well, Community Inclusion, LGBTIQA+ and Youth Services teams. Two community pop-up sessions were also held at the Ballarat Farmers Market and the Skate Park Leagues Competition.

More than 460 residents contributed to the consultation, with 264 surveys completed and 580 contributions made to the interactive pin-drop map.

The Ballarat City Council has endorsed its draft Ballarat Airport Strategy and Master Plan to go out for community’s review, at its recent May scheduled meeting. 

Almost 200 submissions from residents informed the draft plan, along with those of more than 50 Ballarat business leaders.  

Both groups were overwhelmingly supportive of the airport, with 80 per cent of businesses stating that an airline service operating from Ballarat Airport would benefit them, and more than 70 per cent of residents similarly backing the concept.

The purpose of the Ballarat Airport Strategy and Master Plan (STAMP) is to provide the City of Ballarat with a strategic planning document that will set out the potential role and uses of the Airport and explore future opportunities for growth.

The STAMP reflects much of industry’s feedback:  

• businesses in Ballarat and Western Victoria would like greater connectivity to other areas of Australia to have direct access to new markets and suppliers;  
• significant productivity gains would arise from having an interstate airline service available in the region;  
• visitation to Ballarat and Western Victoria would increase, benefiting the region’s economy, in particular, our tourism partners; and
• upgrades to the airport would also increase the capacity for emergency services.  

Some of the responses received from the community – which have also been incorporated into the draft strategy – include:  

• the creation of noise-abatement strategies to address concerns about aircraft noise;  
• an appropriate development plan to effectively manage the costs of upgrading the airport; and
• the proposed completion of studies to minimise the environmental impacts of the airport and its operations.

Despite these concerns, however, residents were largely supportive of developing the airport and viewed the economic growth opportunities arising from an upgraded airport as the primary benefit, along with the time and cost savings derived from removing the secondary travel to Melbourne airports.  

City of Ballarat Councillor Samantha McIntosh said it is great to see the community’s feedback incorporated into the strategic direction of Ballarat’s Airport.  

“This strategy will help us direct a 20-year plan where we could eventually see our airport accommodate large turboprop and medium jet aircraft with the capability to operate passenger and freight services and increase capacity for emergency services” she said.  

The draft Ballarat Airport Strategy and Master Plan will now be available for the community to review and ask questions via the council’s My Say webpage.

Alternatively, the community are being invited to attend the drop-in sessions, to view the plan and concepts and chat with the City of Ballarat project team.  Sessions remaining ahead include:

Ballarat Airport: 9am Thursday 6 June 2024 at the Ballarat Airport Terminal Building, Ballarat Airport.  

Lucas: 5pm Thursday 13 June 2024 at the Lucas Community Hub, Coltman Plaza Lucas.  

The Riddells Creek community will benefit from improved safety and connectivity with a new pedestrian crossing soon to be built after the Macedon Ranges Shire Council received a state government grant.

Macedon Ranges Shire Council is one of the 40 Victorian councils to share in more than $2 million under the annual Transport Accident Commission’s (TAC) Local Government Grant Program, with funded projects to use Safe System principles to reduce crashes involving pedestrians and cyclists.

The council will receive $75,345 to construct a pedestrian crossing on Station Street, just before Hamilton Street, allowing safer passage between the shops and Riddells Creek Station.

Council’s Director Assets and Operations, Shane Walden, thanked the Victorian Government for supporting the priority works highlighted by the community during consultation on the Draft Riddells Creek Movement Network Study.

“The study addresses transport concerns in Riddells Creek, particularly regarding traffic, parking and pedestrian safety, and has been informed by detailed research and community feedback,” he said.

“A lack of pedestrian crossings was identified as a major issue within the study and by the community, with Station Street specifically listed as a problem area.”

“It is fantastic to be able to address this area of concern and improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists.”

The project will begin with planning and construction undertaken during the 2024/25 financial year.

There are countless young people in Ballarat that make an incredible contribution to the city and the time is now for them to have their moment in the spotlight.

Nominations have now opened for the City of Ballarat 2024 Youth Awards and people are being encouraged to think about someone they know who is worthy of an accolade. Nominations close at 5pm on Monday 17 June, 2024.

Since 2005, the City of Ballarat Youth Awards have recognised the outstanding contributions that young people make to the Ballarat community.    

The awards shine a light on the leadership, innovation, kindness, and exemplary commitment to community that young people demonstrate.  

Open to people aged 12-25, the awards are designed to celebrate the achievements of young people, as well as recognising influential adults who empower our youth and create opportunities for them to thrive.  

City of Ballarat Mayor, Cr Des Hudson encouraged people to nominate a young person they believed was worthy of an award.

“Every year I’m blown away by what I am seeing young people achieve and the contribution they make to Ballarat,” he said.

“We would love to see the nominations flow through once again this year because we know that there are so many young people in the community who are doing incredible things.”

This year, there are 10 nomination categories and all nominations are considered for two overall major award categories.

Award categories in 2024

• Personal Growth Award  
• Group Project Award  
• Leadership in Sport & Recreation Award
• Young Creative Award
• Positive Leader Award  
• Compassion and Care Award  
• Youth Volunteer Award  
• Influential Adult – Volunteer  
• Influential Adult – Worker  
• Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Award
• Major Award, 12-17 years old
• Major Award, 18-25 years old

The City of Ballarat Youth Awards Event Ceremony will be held on Friday 9 August 2024 at the Wendouree Centre for Performing Arts. All nominees will be recognised and invited to attend this special event.  

For more information on the awards and to access the nominations form, visit the Youth Awards page on the City of Ballarat website. 

Words & Image: Supplied

The Macedon Ranges Shire Council has endorsed a new policy to guide how it manages complaints and behaviour deemed to be “unreasonable” into the future.

At its recent scheduled May meeting the council rubber-stamped its new Complaint and Unreasonable Behaviour Policy.

Endorsement of the new policy follows a period of community consultation held over February-March this year.

The updated Policy aims to improve complaint handling and to recognise and manage unreasonable
behaviour.

It is also hoped to reinforce the council’s commitment to providing a high standard of customer service in
line with its Customer Service Charter.

The CFA’s ‘Prevent Detect Escape: Home Fire Safety for people at higher risk’ e-learning module has recently been updated and is now available to complete for free, online.

The autumn leaves have fallen, and the weather has become cooler. We are all curling up on the couch and turning on our heaters for the months ahead. The CFA says this is a perfect time to turn our minds to home fire safety. 

A concerning 62 per cent of the people who died in home fires between 2003-2017 had a disability. The significant statistic was the catalyst for CFA to develop the ‘Prevent Detect Escape’ e-learning module with Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) in 2022. 

More than 4,000 people have now completed the module, and we received feedback from more than 1,000 of them. 

Some of the comments the CFA has since received include the following:

“The module is very informative and practical. I will bring this topic to family discussion and share it with my elderly neighbour, particularly the Escape Plan.”

“Overall, clear and would assist members discussing this with their community.”

“Makes me think of more action in the home in case of a fire. Will be discussing a plan with my children ASAP.”

“It was great. Better than just reading content. I find listening and watching videos much more engaging.”

“As a burns survivor, I think this type of training is a must for EVERYONE.”

The CFA received some suggestions for improvement, and has since updated the module. The updated module includes:  

• new scenario-based learning 
• improved accessibility features 
• hoarding information 
• clearer smoke alarm information 
• quizzes at the end of each section 

The CFA is encouraging everyone to complete the hour-long e-learning module which can be found on the CFA website.