A recent news item highlights a program that has broadened job aspirations among young people in the Colac district. Three local young people took part and were exposed to the variety of career paths across the agricultural sector. The same listing page also features items on heifer prices recovering, a Probus club celebration, and an upcoming historic flower show. The provided text offers no detail on the program's organisers, its duration, or how many young people overall have taken part, so those specifics remain unstated.
The 2026 Warrion Flower Show is set to open tomorrow, inviting gardeners, flower enthusiasts and anyone wanting more colour in their lives to attend. Marking its 114th year, the event will be held at the town's public hall. The Colac Herald, which reported the event, is cited as the source of this update, with the story dated 27 October 2026.
Clubs across Australia are celebrating 50 years of Probus this October. The organisation brings social activity and enjoyment to retired and semi-retired people around the world. Local groups in Colac are taking part, including the Lake Colac Ladies Probus, the Probus Club of Colac and the Probus Club of Colac Otway, and the Colac Central Ladies Probus. Club office holders include presidents Margaret Morrow, Graham Sutherland and Lois Steffen, along with trips co-ordinator John Angel, secretary Lynette Genua and committee member Suzii Holt.
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A free workshop in Colac on Tuesday, October 27, will help farm businesses improve their office systems and make better use of accounting software. It runs from 8.30am to 2.30pm at the DEECA Office on Gellibrand Street. Participants are asked to bring a laptop and can work through examples using their own records or a demonstration program. Topics include emailing invoices, processing batch payments, reconciling accounts, tracking fuel, grain and livestock inventory, and creating custom reports. Attendees will also learn ways to manage emails, receipts, paper records and cloud-based storage.
Tamborine Mountain resident Betty Birch has died at the age of 83 after several years of illness. She is remembered for her devotion to family, her love of cooking and her collection of teddy bears. Born in Victoria in 1942, Betty later moved to Queensland with her husband Richard. The couple ran a bed and breakfast on Tamborine Mountain, where Betty took over the local shop Teddies on Tamborine. The shop drew collectors from across the country and overseas until changing retail habits and online shopping led to its closure.
Polwarth MP Richard Riordan has promised $2 million towards the redevelopment of the Birregurra Recreation Reserve. The pledge is conditional on the Coalition being elected at next month's state election. The money would go towards upgrading the reserve's pavilion, which would use modular designs from district business Echidna Built. Mr Riordan was photographed with Birregurra football captain Indy Paddick, netballer and reserve committee member Tamara Parker, and Echidna Built owner Chris Meade.
Colac Otway Shire Mayor Jason Schram has been directed to publicly apologise after an arbiter determined he violated the council's code of conduct. The finding followed complaints from two councillors, Chrissy De Deugd and Chris Potter, who alleged Schram failed to uphold standards of respect and fairness. The arbiter's report concluded that Schram's behaviour did not meet the required professional benchmarks for municipal leaders. This marks the first such finding against Schram during his tenure as mayor. The Colac Herald first reported the story on October 23, 2026.
Colac residents have again raised concerns about a growing carp population in Lake Colac and Barongarook Creek. An authority has revealed plans to reduce the number of carp in the waterways.
Colac residents have raised concerns about the number of carp at Lake Colac and Barongarook Creek. The noxious pest is becoming increasingly visible in the waterways. Pam Cuthbertson, who has lived in Colac for more than 70 years, says she has never seen so many carp in the area. An authority has also revealed plans to reduce the carp population.
The headline refers to a young seal returning to the sea, but the supplied text offers no details about the animal, its rescue, or where the release took place. The surrounding material consists of unrelated local news items, including a Colac service club raising $14,000 for community causes, funding for volunteer projects, road resurfacing, and a reminder to enrol to vote. Nothing in the text confirms the location or circumstances of the seal's release.
Residents in the Coragulac district are reportedly puzzled after a road was resurfaced roughly a year after it had been upgraded. Local people have expressed confusion over the decision, which they say came so soon after the earlier work. The headline indicates that funding is returning to Colac, though the available text offers little detail on the amounts or reasons behind the spending. Other local items listed on the page cover state election enrolment, a fundraiser and a trail anniversary, but none of these is explained in depth here.
A dog breeder in Larpent is pursuing a planning application to legitimise their existing operation and build a dedicated animal shelter. The application, submitted recently, aims to address the current lack of formal approval for the breeding activities. The proposed facility would provide permanent housing for the animals, ensuring their welfare and the breeder's compliance with local regulations. This initiative follows a period of informal operation, highlighting the breeder's commitment to establishing a lawful and sustainable business. The application is currently under review by the relevant authorities.
A Larpent dog breeder is seeking a permit, according to the headline of this story. Its body instead consists of unrelated local news items, including a report that independent federal MP Dr Helen Haines remains in critical condition after being struck by a car outside her Wangaratta office, which is described as an alleged attack. Other listed items cover a Colac awareness campaign, a grants announcement for first responders and a store's shift arrangement. Because the text offers no detail on the permit itself, no further particulars can be confirmed from it.
Free Children's Week events will be held in Torquay and Winchelsea next week, giving families activities, crafts and entertainment. The Surf Coast Shire and local early years services are hosting the events. In Torquay, activities run at Elephant Walk on Tuesday 27 October from 10am to noon, including a Science Kidz show. In Winchelsea, families can join nature play and science experiments at Riverbank Playground on Thursday 29 October from 12.30pm to 2.30pm. Children's Week runs nationally from 24 October to 1 November.
New nursing labs have opened at The Gordon's Geelong City Campus, giving 416 Diploma of Nursing students hands-on clinical training in simulated hospital wards. The Gordon chief executive Joe Ormeno said the facilities include assistive technology for deaf and hard-of-hearing students, wheelchair access, adjustable furniture and low-stimulation spaces. Deputy premier Gabrielle Williams said the labs are the first stage of The Gordon's TAFE Centre of Excellence in Disability Inclusion. Work on the remaining stages is underway, with the centre due for completion next year.
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A 62-year-old man from Caroline Springs has been charged after an alleged incident in a change room at the Brimbank Aquatic and Wellness Centre on Sunday 25 October. Police allege he used a recording device to film several people in a change room cubicle around 11.10am. He faces charges of producing child abuse material and producing intimate images. Brimbank council says it has terminated his membership and banned him from all council leisure centres. He is bailed to appear before Sunshine Magistrates' Court on 23 March 2027.
Wyndham local David Hatfield says he was 12 when his mother was diagnosed with bowel cancer, and she died within nine months of a later liver cancer diagnosis. In 2025, Mr Hatfield, 48, was diagnosed with kidney cancer after an emergency visit to Stawell Hospital during a holiday in the Grampians. He says being diagnosed himself gave him a deeper understanding of his mother's experience. Ahead of Canteen's Bandanna Day on 29 October, he is asking people to listen to the stories of those affected and support the organisation's work.
Authorities have shut 100 shops under newly granted powers aimed at stamping out the trade in illegal tobacco. Since those powers took effect on 9 September, the VIPER Taskforce and Tobacco Licensing Victoria officers have confiscated over four million unlawful cigarettes, roughly 70,000 vaping devices, three tonnes of leaf tobacco and close to $1 million in cash. The drive is directed at criminal networks that profit from the illicit product, including groups run from overseas. Retailers across a string of Melbourne suburbs have been inspected, and the operation is still underway.
A new $770,000 dog park at VR Michael Reserve in Lalor is now open for dogs and their owners. The park has separate active and quiet zones designed for dogs of different sizes, ages and temperaments. Facilities include accessible pathways, shelters, seating, drinking fountains, solar lighting, shade trees and landscaping. The project followed community feedback and key improvements identified in the VR Michael Reserve Master Plan. Whittlesea council contributed $470,000, with the Victorian government providing $300,000.
Victoria will add 11 AI-powered cameras to its bushfire detection network, covering more than 1.4 million hectares before the 2027-28 fire season. The $3.8 million project is jointly funded by the Victorian Government, Hancock Victorian Plantations and Green Triangle Fire Alliance. The cameras will scan landscapes around the clock for smoke and fire, flagging possible incidents for investigation. Installations are scheduled across western and eastern Victoria by November 2027. Officials say the network will give firefighters more time to respond. Most of the monitored area is non-plantation land.
Old glasses cannot go in household recycling bins because they are made from mixed plastics and metals. Many optometrists, including Specsavers, take part in the Opticycle program, which accepts prescription and non-prescription glasses. Some stores also take contact lens blister packs. The glasses are separated into lenses and frames, and the materials are recovered. They are then used to make products such as pavers, bricks, blocks and eco-aggregates, while metals are recycled into new uses. Recycle Mate can help people find a nearby drop-off point.
Apartment residents and renters across Victoria will be eligible for rooftop solar rebates under an expanded state government program. Eligible applicants can receive up to $2,800 per apartment, capped at $140,000 per building. The changes raise the maximum building size from 50 to 150 lots and let owners corporations allocate up to 20 per cent of generated solar energy to common property. Applications are open until June 2027. Savings for individual households will depend on installation costs, electricity use and how power is shared among residents.
