By Donna Kelly

First of all, Happy New Year! It’s 2024 already – and the years just keep rolling around. My lovely Nan told me once that time goes faster as you get older, and it’s true. But getting older is also a privilege not open to everyone.

So who’s complaining.

This edition came out on January 1 and, as usual, we decided on a retrospective edition with just a few of the stories we wanted to share again, including the sad loss of a couple of wonderful community stalwarts. Vale Harold and Serge.

Of course, you can’t cover everything and some things are best left in the past.

We mostly try to be a good news publication but it’s hard sometimes. You know what I mean. It’s not that we are not thinking about those situations but just not bringing them to the fore. I hope everyone is OK.

And I hope you have enjoyed the past year of editions of The Local – we love putting it all together and have a fantastic crew who do all the hard yards. Thanks to all of them for their work, commitment and, most of all, friendship and support.

Also thanks to our advertisers. I hope that you do support them. It is not because of us, but because of them, that you have a lovely free read each fortnight. Have a look through the pages each edition and if you can thank them by using their services it would be much appreciated.

Now, as I said most of this edition is looking back but we do have new adverts, check them out, and also a bit of a distressing story on the potential closure of the Hepburn Wildlife Shelter by the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action. Or DEECA. Formerly DELWP.

If you check out our story on page 4 by journo Eve Lamb you will read that the departmental threats come after the shelter, that’s been operating for 22 years, has refused to reapply to renew its authorisation (or licence) due to the imposition of conditions which its operators say are “unrealistic, unreasonable and absurd”.

Those operators are Gayle Chappell and Jon Rowdon. Both very experienced and trained wildlife carers who have basically put their lives on hold for those 22 years and dedicated themselves to saving wildlife. Day in, day out, night in, night out, theytake in injured wildlife and nurse them back to health.

There is no funding. They are helped by amazing volunteers who wash and dry bedding, make up formulas, feed animals around the clock, provide compassion, raise funds and collect donations of
sheets and blankets and anything that could possibly help an animal in need.

As far as I know no injured animal has ever been knocked back. They all get the care, and love, that they need in the most stressful time of their lives. I remember seeing Jon in town during the 2009 bushfires and he looked exhausted. Fifteen years ago – and still they continue with their life’s work.

I don’t know what’s going on with the department, but surely the fix is a helping hand not a fist. Maybe some of the department’s cost to change its name could have gone to wildlife shelters. I don’t think an injured joey gives a stuff if the overriding wildlife body is DEECA or DELWP.

Hmmm. Maybe if the shelter is shut down we take any injured wildlife to the nearest DEECA office? And if it’s after five, perhaps we drop them off at a manager’s home for the night. I am sure they wouldn’t mind doing the 2am feed.

This is just bureaucracy gone mad. This is an essential service. You help not hinder. Gee, a thank you might even be nice as well, for 22 years of service to the community. Oh, stop the press, read page 4 about a fundraiser at the Hepburn Golf Club! It’s such a great cause. Just sayin’…

By Donna Kelly

Kyle and I are having an orphans’ Christmas this year. I literally am an orphan now, and one of his parents lives in another state and one in another country.

Now it may sound sad, especially if you are used to big celebrations, but we have had some of our best Christmases alone.

Two were in Queensland, one in Cairns and one on the Gold Coast. The Cairns one was quirky. We bundled up some chicken and bread rolls and champagne (simple tastes) and headed to some waterfalls known as the Crystal Cascades.

It was really hot and muggy and we ate and drank a little and then decided to go for a swim. But the water was dark and we kept thinking about crocodiles and in the end we freaked ourselves out and packed up the picnic.

We then headed back into town, watched a James Bond movie at the cinema and then had dinner at a Chinese restaurant – which was packed with Chinese tourists oddly enough. Wouldn’t you think they would be at an Australian restaurant sampling kanga and emu meat. Eating the coat of arms of Australia.

Quick fact. The emu and the kangaroo were chosen for the coat of arms because neither of them can walk backwards. So Australia is always moving forwards. Hmm.

The second Queensland orphans’ Christmas saw me working for the day. I was a Japanese speaking driver guide – back in the 90s – and the day started with picking up my itinerary from a darkened Gold Coast office about 3am then driving to collect my passengers from Brisbane Airport about 4.30am.

Then it was a day of fun, taking them to their hotels, then off to a sheep/ whipcracking place for breakfast, then Movieworld for the day, then out to dinner.

Kyle, who was not working that day, kept calling asking when I would be back. I finally turned up about 9pm and found a veritable seafood feast spread out on the floor as an indoor picnic. It was fantastic but had not been without difficulty.

Kyle had gone to buy all the goods from a local supermarket but at the checkout his card was declined. The staffer, instead of saying “do you have another card?” said nastily “you don’t have any money in your account”. So Kyle said something equally unpleasant back and stormed off.

Of course, he rallied, worked out his finances and returned, after a shift change, and shopped again. He is nothing if not determined.

Not sure what we will do this year, but I am sure lots of food and drink will be involved. And a few calls to friends and family. Maybe a present or two.

It’s been another funny, peculiar, not ha-ha, year. Covid is still sort of wandering around, but at least we don’t have that same fear which I don’t think anyone from other states understand.

And that terrible accident has taken its toll on many people and continues to be in the headlines.

So I hope you get a chance to have a bit of a silly season. I think we all need a bit of silliness or joy or whatever makes you smile. And drink the champagne (unless you are an abstainer!) and eat the pavlova and spread a bit of good cheer.

Our next edition is out January 1, 2024. The New Year. So this is my chance to say thanks for reading, for advertising, for supporting and for enjoying a publication that is all about Connecting the Community.

Have a wonderful Christmas, or whatever it is that you do, and catch you in the New Year. I hope it’s a good one, without any fear. Just sayin’…

By Donna Kelly

I thought Heather Mutimer’s story on Madame Xenia Borovansky, the niece of the great Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, and who moved to Daylesford, was fascinating. It’s on page 13 (this edition of TL if you want a read).

You never know who has been/is here, in this region. I often wonder about the former life of the Glenlyon Primary School. I used to be able to imagine the kids running around outside, sitting in two classes by the two blackboards, things slowly changing all the way to gaining pen licences.

Now, of course, it’s more of a house, and it takes some imagination to think about kids in the kitchen and living area – but their footprints are still there. Some would be long gone, others still living in the region with their schoolday memories.

Hopefully they were halcyon days, and not too terrible with a mean teacher wielding a strap. And if they were I hope they went on to bigger and brighter things.

It’s not all about schooling, as we all know. I know lots of people who wish they had been encouraged to take up a trade rather than stay at school for that piece of paper.

Although, by the age I am now, which I need not divulge, many are keen to get off the tools with sore knees and backs and joints that need little groans to get moving in the morning. Still better than the alternative.

I also really liked Eve Lamb’s story on The Daylesford Foundation. This is a fantastic group of people who just get in there and get things done. They don’t ask for publicity, they don’t ask for recognition. The only reason we managed to finally get a story on them is because they want more young people to know about their scholarships.

So if you know someone who needs a hand, a young person who could do with a leg up, then get in touch with them. They are good people and they know how to make a difference.

I also loved chatting to signwriter Robbie Holbery for the story on page 5. We talked for about 40 minutes about this and that. Yes, he’s a great signwriter but was also with the Carlton Football Club, had the Hawthorn Football Club asking for him to recreate a shop window for its museum and was a regular runner in the Stawell Gift.

He keeps to beautiful copperplate and does everything by hand. Doesn’t even use anything to steady his hands as he works on the glass windows of shops from Melbourne to Daylesford and anywhere in between.

And he takes the time to chat to passers-by, loves a compliment and is very complimentary about everyone he meets. In that 40 minutes he never had a negative word to say about anyone or anything.

And who but a wonderful person would spend Covid, not cleaning out their pantry, or lamenting the state of the world, but writing wonderful copperplate letters of hope to complete strangers from old phone directories and posting them off without a return address? What a great guy.

Finally, I received some very nice notes about the last edition of The Local. It was a tough one to write, with the accident still very much vivid in everyone’s minds, and from what people said, we did well. We wrote with compassion and sincerity and love. And that’s what we try to do each edition. Well, less of the love perhaps, but certainly the sincerity.

We really do try to “Connect the Community” and I think we did that in the last edition. I hope you are getting ready for the silly season. Sometimes we need a bit of silliness. Just sayin’…

By Donna Kelly
I think most people heard about the tragedy in Daylesford last week. An alleged robbery and someone dying as a consequence. I don’t want to go into it more than that.
But I watched in horror at the social media onslaught – photos of the scene, jokes about the death, talk of karma and assumptions of drug use which may or may not be right.

Now of course you can’t defame a deceased person. And they can’t be charged. So it’s open slather time for some. But honestly, there are many things to consider, perhaps the first being humanity.
We are all pretty much just a few steps from helplessness and even homelessness.
Losing a job, an illness, not having a supportive network, a few bill payments missed.
Then there’s the slippery slope of drugs and alcohol. Most people I know have tried
a few drugs at times, some continue with them daily with no real side effects. And
everyone I know has a drink now and again, also many daily. But for some it becomes
a problem and it’s an easy break from the stress of life. Maybe bad choices follow,
maybe they don’t. But we are all still human.

Then there’s the family. I don’t know where they are but I do know the internet
reaches everywhere. And they will probably read comments they don’t need to see.
Everyone is someone’s son or daughter, and often a brother or sister, or a husband or
wife, or mum or dad. Few are immune to the slippery slope.
Finally, there are the people who were involved. This incident is now part of their
life. And they are locals who certainly don’t need to see this over and over again in
their Facebook pages.
We live in the wonderful region of the Central Highlands and most of us have
great lives. We work, play, have friends, gather for festivals and spend our money
at some pretty nice cafes and restaurants. But behind the facade are people doing it
tough. Just talk to Michelle at the Community Op Shop about the people they help
daily. Or the wonderful 5000 Club and Good Grub Club volunteers feeding the
masses and providing a chance at companionship for a few hours a week.
Maybe chat to the churches who offer clothing during winter to people perhaps
sleeping in their cars or couch surfing. And yes, people sleep in their cars in our
region. There’s also a nice spot behind the Daylesford visitor centre that gets a bit of
use, which I find ironic as the cashed-up visitors head to the front doors to find out
how to spend their money.
Look, I am not preaching. I am a journalist and have done some stories in my
time that I am not particularly proud of. All quite legal and above board but some
that kept me awake at night as I wondered how the family would feel reading the
news about a wayward relative in the morning. It was sometimes awful and I would
never dream of doing that now – and that’s why we concentrate on good news.
But these days social media can take things to a whole new level. Everyone has
a camera on them, everyone is ready to comment, everyone wants to know what
happened as quickly as possible, even if it is still under investigation. I get that people
are curious but maybe just take a breath, think about your own family, and how you
would like them to be treated. I am guessing with respect.

Oh, The Rex report. I talking to my brother about it. He is in Queensland and
works for a council. “They should take it to a council watchdog,” he said. “We have
those in Queensland.” “Yes,” I said. “We have them in Victoria too. It’s with them.”
Just sayin’…

By Donna Kelly
I received some mail late last week. Snail mail. A padded envelope. Small. I opened it and inside was a blank piece of A4 paper. Nothing written on it, just a USB stick taped on. Hmmm, I thought. That’s going to be interesting.
And it would have been. But when I opened the document it was marked “confidential” so, of course, I quickly shut it down.
It was a leaked report by the Local Government Inspectorate. Yep, the one on Hepburn Shire Council and dealings with The Rex. And a few other things. The one that the Inspectorate refuses to release but never says why. As in the email I received last week after asking again why the report had not been released.
“Good morning Donna, Again, thank you for your enquiry. Unfortunately, as I mentioned in my previous email two weeks ago, we are unable to share any information at this time.” They are nothing if not polite.
I also talked to Hepburn Shire Council to see if they had asked again for the report to be released – just to clear up a few things. That would be nice, after all this time. CEO Bradley Thomas said the council had been in regular contact with the Local Government Inspectorate regarding the release of the report and “we have been calling for the release for some time – we can’t speculate on the reasons for the delay, but encourage you to contact the LGI directly”.
Now, I don’t know if I can share this document. I feel like it is in the public interest for ratepayers to know what happened with the purchase of The Rex. After all, councils don’t have money, it is our money. And there is the truth defence.
But The Local is not a big newspaper with lots of lawyers and money to back it up. Actually things got a little tight over the past few years. So if I publish it, or excerpts because it is pretty long, and I/The Local get sued, it would probably be the end of your free read. Even if I/The Local eventually won, because the court costs would kill us off. Which is really unfair because the report is probably the best story I have ever had the chance to publish. I reckon it would be a real page-turner. But I will ask people who are smarter than me about that, so watch this space.
But in the meantime, I don’t get why the Local Government Inspectorate is being so cagey. Surely they carried out a report for a reason and if they found something right, or wrong, they would publish that and enforce more regulation if necessary to stop it happening again. I think we all pretty much agree, in hindsight, and maybe in foresight, buying The Rex was not the best idea.
The Local Government Inspectorate has as its motto or charter that it is “Encouraging higher standards of integrity, accountability and transparency in local government”. But where are all of those in the Inspectorate? No one has been held accountable, there is a lack of transparency and until the report is published we don’t know how the integrity went down.
I think the current Hepburn Shire Council and its ratepayers, or shall we call them shareholders, deserve more than this. If the council was a company and it ran a business like this, the shareholders would be up in arms and there would be all sorts of people involved in the integrity, accountability and transparency of those making the business decisions.
The whole Rex debacle was a huge waste of money and has caused financial ripples across the shire and is not over yet. Bleakley Street units anyone? But if the report is never released isn’t that just another huge waste of money? Again, our money. (Oh, full disclosure, I may have taken a little peek.) Just sayin’…

By Donna Kelly

Konnichi wa. Finally heading back to Japan after quite a few years away. Well, not until April but time does fly.
I reckon it’s been a good five years – with Covid mixed up in there – since I last arrived in the land of the Rising Sun and I really miss it.
I lived in Japan for about three years in my early 20s and just fell in love with the place. I would call it my spiritual home but I am not sure if you are allowed to say that now. You can’t say you have a spiritual animal – only indigenous people can claim that, or so I believe.
I don’t know if this will still happen but the first hint of being “home” is the smell of cigarette smoke in the airport. Yes, inside the airport. Japan must be, or was, the last bastion of smoking inside. Now I don’t like cigarette smoke but it just triggers something. As I said, that home feeling.
Then there are the people. Love them. They know how to have a good time, are friendly and always ready to offer directions, a random umbrella or something from their home you have mentioned you like. I found that one out the hard way.

Oh, next is food. I know a lot of people who think Japanese food is all about raw fish but it is so much more than that. Soft, white bread sandwiches with no nutritional value at all, iced coffees so cold you get an ice-cream headache and so many things on sticks. Stick foods are so underrated. And if you really want to try a few different things, head to the basement of your local supermarket. Lots of free snacks to tempt you.
Then there’s the booze. Asahi Super Dry is my beer of choice but I don’t mind a nice cold Sapporo either. Tried a lot of them when I visited the Sapporo factory in Hokkaido many years ago. And the sake. One-Cup Sake is a wonderful invention – the perfect size and it just heats itself up somehow. (Even though drinking hot sake is a little gauche these days…) Once, again, head to your local department store but go up to the roof for an affordable beer hall. Like a year-round Oktoberfest.
Accommodation could be a bit hit and miss in the old days but now it’s all pretty modern unless you choose a ryokan or inn for the experience. Do that and you will probably find yourself sleeping on a futon mattress on a tatami floor and exercising your thigh muscles over a squat toilet. But all good fun. Well, the squat toilet on the shinkansen (bullet train) was interesting. Trains do move side to side quite a bit.

This time, to shake things up a bit, Kyle and I are taking our 13-year-old grand-nephew from New Zealand. Hmmm. Here’s the short version. The nephew came out to visit last autumn, on his own, and we hit it off. All three and then one night Kyle went to bed a bit early and the nephew and I stayed up a bit later, chatting. I may have had a glass of wine, or two. And I asked innocently where he would most
like to travel and he said “Japan”. And I said “we can take you” and he said “great”.
And while I forgot about the conversation the next thing we had the call from New Zealand about how excited he was to be going to Japan with his aunt and uncle.
Oh well. Just a few extra fares. And I do think it is going to be a lot of fun introducing a teenager to a whole new culture. And he’s still a really nice teenager – no angst happening yet. So all will be well. We are going to start some Facetiming early next year to get him and Kyle up to speed with a few Japanese phrases. Konnichi wa (hello), oyaho (good morning) and arigato (thank you). Kyle already has beeru ippon kudasai (one beer please) followed after a few by o’terai wa dochira desu ka (where is the toilet?) down pat.
Honto ni, tanoshimi ni shiteimasu. Just sayin’…

By Donna Kelly
Wow, 10 years. It is a cliché but it really does feel like yesterday that we put together a little Word document and wandered the streets asking if people would like to advertise in it. For some reason many did. And thanks to them the first edition came out on September 2, 2013.
The front cover was Verna Baker’s grandchild watering daffodils, inside we featured artist Keele Breen and a nude, almost, Ian Tinetti. There was even a story on the Bridport Street bus shelter getting a makeover from a group of travellers.

The Local was meant to be a monthly publication but from the get-go we realised there was a real need for local news and a bit of fun. So that was the only monthly edition and after that we went fortnightly.
(You may remember during that first year of Covid we went weekly because we thought everyone needed a good read and real information. We also started Legends of Lockdown to give recognition to those helping others during that scary time. But it nearly killed us, being weekly, and we went back to our regular programming after a year.)
Still mostly it has been a lot of fun and we get great feedback on what we do. Sometimes we hold the council and the pollies to account, but that’s just part of the gig, mostly we focus on bringing you good news – to counter all that terrible stuff we see on TV each morning.
When we started Kyle asked what would happen if we ran out of stories. I told him not to worry – and we have never run out. People are always doing amazing things here and I really believe everyone has a story to tell. Well, almost everyone.
We have also had wonderful support with advertising from our clients, all of whom we know which is a really nice feeling. One of our policies is a “no arsehole rule” and we stick with that. We have told the team never to continue to deal with them and we have even lost a couple of advertising deals because they were not our sort of people. I know not many businesses can do that, but it is a great feeling. Also, we are too old to put up with crap. 🙂
But all the clients we have are lovely people and I hope you support their businesses because they are the reason you have a local community paper to read, for free. And while the world is slowly going digital I know many people still like their printed copy of The Local. So a promise that it will continue in print and online – unlike many other local papers run by much bigger companies than The Local Publishing Group.
With the anniversary I have also been thinking about my “best of” list over the years. Best front cover is easy – the council coming on a missile to get the geese – although the actual day they were taken was awful. Most interesting stories of mine have to be on The Rex. It was just the issue that kept on giving. From choosing a site, buying the building, Bromley paintings done before building works, building works, stopping building works, to council deciding to sell and the sale.
But then it gets hard. We have such a talented team, there are too many stories, great graphics and photos to choose from. So, a big shout out to our team and all those who have worked with us over the years. Many have stayed the course, including Nick and Lindsay, our wonderful sub-editors, who have been with us from the first edition. Now also working with Chester the Cat.
I hope that you have enjoyed reading The Local over the past 10 years and will keep reading for another 10 perhaps. After that it might be time for a new generation to come along. In the meantime, you’re stuck with us. Just sayin’…

By Donna Kelly

Had some interesting chats with Hepburn Shire Council CEO Bradley Thomas and Mayor Brian Hood last week.
The council put out a media release which says aggressive behaviour towards Hepburn Shire Council staff is on the increase and reaching unprecedented levels.
Mr Thomas said in the release that recent incidents had highlighted the lack of respect shown by some people towards council staff.
“Staff are regularly feeling intimidated after being approached in the street or in other public places, like the supermarket, and verbally abused, sometimes shouted or sworn at. We acknowledge that we don’t always get things right and sometimes mistakes are made, but that does not excuse poor behaviour towards staff.”
Later Mr Thomas said over the phone that it was a phenomenon that was happening in many council areas – mostly country. He thinks that with the end (sort of) of Covid, and the sky-rocketing cost of living, that people have had enough and feel they have the right to have their say.
Cr Hood said council staff, and councillors, were entitled to have a safe workplace. “Verbal abuse and threatening behaviour is simply not acceptable, and that includes cowardly online abuse. Council will do everything within its powers to protect its staff and councillors. We will not tolerate aggressive, abusive or threatening behaviour.”
Cr Hood said he was not a psychologist but, in his latest mayoral report to council, also called out the irresponsible behaviour of some media which “emboldens some elements of the community and fans the flames of dissent”.
Now, when I read that I was a bit annoyed. But after talking to Cr Hood I think it is more about mainstream media and not local media.
Also, The Local is very much a professional outfit, accredited as a newspaper through the Victorian Country Press Association and the federal Country Press Association. We employ qualified, professional journalists to write our stories and they are done with the utmost consideration. Yes, now and again, we might have a bit of a rant about council, but I think it is pretty much merited. The Rex, handing over aged care, the drooping Bleakley Street units, terrible satisfaction survey results.
But, that is no reason for anyone to harass or intimidate council staff or councillors, who are only doing their job, and probably for a pretty limited salary. Complain sure, but always remain respectful. And do it in the right way.
Sadly, keyboard warriors abound, saying things online they would never say to anyone’s face, and many people don’t realise just how small our rate base is. We are lucky to get roads, rates and rubbish done. And I know we still pay rates while the roads remain rubbish but most of them belong to the state government and not the council.

When we started The Local, Kyle asked if we should open an office in Daylesford. No, I said, no way. When I worked at The Advocate, in the Coles carpark office, people would line up to pop in and rage away for 30 minutes. One woman spent her time telling me I was a piece of shit – and then left saying “I feel better now”. I did feel like shit after that. I have been emailed: “Do you want to die?”. True story.
So next time you need to vent your spleen about a council issue, make a reasoned call, send an email or maybe decide if it’s just you having a bad day.
People might think I am mellowing in my old age but I just think we all should be treated respectfully. Who knows what’s going on in the background? Just sayin’…

WORDS in Winter is coming up soon – end of August – so I thought I would take a trip down memory lane and my own love of words.
I learnt to read and write when I was pretty young. Not my doing as much as my parents. As a little kid, Dad used to read to me before I went to sleep but he generally fell asleep before he got more than about a page done, and I realised if I ever wanted to get to the end of the book, I had to learn to read myself. So I did.
Mum had been a teacher after leaving school and, while she had to give up work once she married, taught me how to write, and even how to write my name in cursive. I tried doing that at school in prep but was told that would have to wait another couple of years. Mum was ahead of her/my time.
At primary school I had some great teachers but the librarian was the best. She encouraged me to read so many books and to write to the authors. I got quite a few letters back which was really encouraging to a young girl.
In high school I joined the editorial team of the annual school magazine, subbing work sent in by other students. I continued writing to authors, snail mail, and getting return correspondence. I also took on work experience at the then Frankston Standard when I was in form 3 (year 9 now) and realised I wanted to be a journalist. I tried to get into RMIT’s journalism course but failed, instead heading to Monash Uni for a Bachelor of Arts. Actually, it was the Chisholm Institute of Technology with campuses at Frankston and Caulfield. I had not done either maths or a language in my final year of secondary schooling so could not gain entry into a “real” university.
I was pretty happy when Monash took over the institute many years later and I could claim my new degree status. Other students who went to the “real” Monash were not so pleased. But I digress.
After uni I went for cadetships at the Herald Sun and The Age. Not a chance. Both their written tests asked which relative you had working at the paper. Nepotism at its finest. Part of the journalism world.
But never fear. The work experience, which I had continued ad hoc, was going to pay off with a cadetship coming up at the Frankston Standard. Hmmm. Nope. The daughter of a woman working there got the position. But I did find myself at the Southern Peninsula Gazette. Finally.
The rest is history. Gigs at papers including The Cairns Post, The News in Karratha, The Centralian Advocate in Alice Springs, The Courier Mail in Brisbane, Quest Newspapers in Logan, and even TNT magazine in London, before moving to Glenlyon. Then it was The Advertiser in Bendigo, The Courier in Ballarat, The Advocate in Daylesford and finally, The Local.
And I still love words. Hearing them from people I am interviewing, crafting them into a story, dreaming up a headline or an intro, seeing them printed on the page. It’s a lot of fun and also a privilege – sharing lives and stories and events. Sometimes helping people. Sometimes just knowing it’s a great read.
Hopefully you can get along to an event at Words in Winter. Like-minded people sharing words with each other and their audiences. I know there is a trend to use acronyms and abbreviations, short texts to communicate with friends, but there is nothing like hitting the last full stop on a really great story. Or even an average column. Just sayin’…

By Donna Kelly

IT’S funny. Not ha-ha, the other one.
I have run a couple of briefs, back on page 11 (of the latest hard copy edition of The Local) if you want a look, about a positive ageing expo and another program called Living and Ageing Well in Hepburn. As in Hepburn Shire.
They are all about living well as we age, having fun, making connections, staying healthy etc. Positive stuff. Mind you, between us, I don’t find getting older that great. I know the alternative is not much fun but even at my age I am waking up with a few creaks and groans, and what the hell are those age spots doing on my hands already?
(You do know the photo above was taken about 15 years ago and I refuse to update it…oh, and my driver’s licence photo is also about 20 years old. They had a time when you could keep the same photo for another 10 years and then Covid hit and they didn’t want anyone turning up at VicRoads offices – winning.)
But back to positive ageing. Just as these media releases came in I also got calls and emails from older people, and in some cases their children, who are meant to be receiving assistance from home care organisation Benetas – but they are not. Some have waited six weeks for help with cleaning their house. Some are so frustrated they just want to stop the service altogether – even though they need some help. And in some cases, they are still being billed even when no-one turns up to their home.
But who do you go to? Who listens to the complaint? All of these people have talked to someone at Benetas but pretty much with no result. I wrote to state health minister Mary-Anne Thomas, who is also our Macedon MP, and received an email that said: “Thanks for getting in touch. This falls info (sic) Federal Government jurisdiction, I have now forwarded to the office of Catherine King and someone will be in touch. Kindness.” That’s helpful, not.
Of course, I had already written to Catherine King, the federal Ballarat MP, and she did reply with some information and contacts. Back to page 11 again if you want a read.
I also went onto this website – www.health.gov.au/topics/aged-care – which does have a lot of stuff about aged care, rights of older people and how to complain. But if you don’t know how to find your way around a website you are stuffed. I clicked onto a fact sheet about the complaints process and it led me to an Adobe page which needed me to enter a password. I don’t have a password. It also had a pretty dodgy looking domain name and I don’t like clicking on things that look dodgy.
Anyway, who will help these people? One woman rang on behalf of her mother saying she was a middle-aged daughter doing her best to keep her mum happy and healthy at home – all that positive stuff. But the reality is that if services are not being provided then no amount of wonderful positive ageing expos are going to really do anything. Lots of good words I am sure, and “engaging guest speakers” but what is the point if our most vulnerable people are being neglected.
Hepburn Shire Council, who passed the service to Benetas a year ago after deciding to get out of the aged care field, say it is a federal service and not their thing. But surely when they handed that responsibility over it was done with due diligence and some assurances that all would be well. They did eventually email and say people can talk to the council’s Positive Ageing Officer. Hmmm.
I really feel the frustration of these people. I don’t imagine they like even asking for help. I wonder if there is room for a volunteer/person link up. Someone who checks in on vulnerable people. Maybe do a few dishes. Have a chat? I know there are liability issues but we as a community might be able to do better. Just sayin’…