Nelson Park School in Corio has unveiled a $6.4 million learning centre, featuring four classrooms and two specialist areas for senior students. The state-funded project includes an administration building, decking and landscaping, aimed at fostering independence and life skills. Lara MP Ella George officially opened the facilities, highlighting the investment's focus on modern, inclusive spaces. The school supports 350 students with mild intellectual disabilities, offering tailored programs with therapist and wellbeing support. This follows a $10 million upgrade of the school's Libau campus in 2024, which added flexible learning spaces and specialist facilities.
Police are appealing for public help to locate 47-year-old Belmont man Adam, who was last seen on Corio Street about 9am on 13 October. Police and Adam's family are concerned for his welfare because he has a medical condition that requires medication. Victoria Police has released an image of Adam in the hope someone can recognise him. Anyone who sights Adam, or has information about where he is, is asked to contact Geelong Police Station.
Victoria's taskforce has issued temporary 90-day closure orders on 62 stores linked to organised crime in the first month of its crackdown on illicit tobacco. None of the closures have been in regional Victoria, where the shops remain open. Police and Tobacco Licensing Victoria have also seized over two million illegal cigarettes, more than 40,000 vapes and over $500,000 in cash. Opposition MP Danny O'Brien called the effort too slow and too weak. Taskforce officials say they will visit stores across the state at short notice, including on weekends.
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House values in several Geelong suburbs have dropped over the past three months, according to new PropTrack figures. Corio, Norlane, St Albans Park and Whittington had grown 10 to 14 per cent over the past year, but their median house values fell in the latest quarter. The decline followed a fourth Reserve Bank interest rate rise this year. Maxwell Collins director Nick Lord said investors and self-managed super funds had been pulling back as borrowing became harder. Buyers agent John O’Brien said investors were now focused on rental yields of about 4 per cent.
Victoria has shut 61 stores in four weeks under new laws targeting illicit tobacco sales. Authorities seized millions of illegal cigarettes, 40,000 vapes, 120kg of loose tobacco and $500,000 in cash. The closures apply to businesses alleged to be linked to organised crime, with 90-day closure notices placed on shopfronts. Investigators are focusing on stores tied to crime networks, including offshore syndicates.
Victoria Police and Tobacco Licensing Victoria have shut down 61 stores linked to organised crime for selling illicit tobacco. The agencies issued 90-day closure notices and seized over two million cigarettes, 40,000 vapes, 120kg of loose tobacco and $500,000 in cash. The crackdown targeted stores in Deer Park, Geelong, South Geelong, Corio, Thomson, Werribee, Colac, Forrest, Footscray and Lalor, with more raids planned across the state.
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.
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.
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.
A Geelong-region state MP has claimed more than $60,000 in taxpayer-funded allowances for a second Melbourne home since early 2024, despite appearing to miss 70 per cent of parliamentary sitting days. South Barwon MP Darren Cheeseman was expelled from the Labor Party in April 2024 after allegations of persistent, inappropriate behaviour towards staff, and has sat as an independent since. The allowance helps regional MPs living more than 80 kilometres from Melbourne. Mr Cheeseman declined to respond to questions from the ABC. Victoria has no public record of MP attendance, and the Greens and former premiers support introducing one.
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.
A five-bedroom character home in Drumcondra, near Geelong's foreshore, has sold for $2.3 million after barely three weeks on the market. The buyers, who are moving from the Mornington Peninsula to be closer to family, had previously lived in the suburb. Agent Malinda Leonard of Jellis Craig Geelong said the property drew two potential buyers during the campaign. The home was originally built in 1914 and combines its period features with a modern extension and a solar-heated pool. It last sold for $1.08 million in 2010.
Aireys Inlet Primary School will host its annual Aireys Fair on 31 October, running from 9am to 3pm. The fair, which has run for more than a decade, is organised by a committee of parents with help from grandparents, relatives and the wider community. It will be held alongside the Aireys Inlet Market, with rides and activities on the oval overlooking the ocean. A community-run bookstore will also operate, with all profits going back to the school.
The Community Broadcasting Association of Australia has concluded its annual conference in Geelong. Around 400 volunteers, staff and board members from across the sector attended. The conference explored the future of community broadcasting and its role in connecting communities and giving a voice to underrepresented groups. Among the attendees was Lizzie Wait from Nambucca Valley Radio in Tewinga, south of Coffs Harbour, who was attending for the first time.
Three volunteer emergency services in Wyndham will share in state government funding for vehicles and equipment. Wyndham Vale CFA, Wyndham SES and Wyndham West SES are among 350 organisations set to receive part of more than $31 million from the Volunteer Emergency Services Equipment Program. The round will deliver almost $20 million for vehicles, more than $5 million for facility upgrades and more than $1 million for other operational equipment. Werribee MP John Lister, a volunteer emergency service worker himself, said he was proud to back local volunteers.
Pavement art showing native Wyndham waterway species will appear around Wyndham in the coming weeks as part of the Waterways of the West trail. Melbourne artist Ulla Taylor is creating the anamorphic chalk works, which feature the Murray Cod, Rakali, Growling Grass Frog and local waterbirds. The trail aims to raise awareness of protecting aquatic habitats. The artworks are at and around Lollypop Creek, Dianella, Point Cook and Werribee community and town centres. Because they are chalk, they will fade over time, so visitors are encouraged to go early.
The Greek Community of Geelong has marked 70 years since it was founded in April 1956 by a small group of Greek immigrants. Those first members met on Swanston Street to elect a board, and the community later built a church and a Greek school. Today it has around 300 to 400 families. President Andrew Alexander says the community is now focused on engaging young people and planning its next 25 years. He credits the sacrifices of the first immigrants for the community's achievements.
The 46th Werribee Craft Festival will return to the Encore Events Centre on 6 and 7 November. Local crafters of all ages, from two junior stallholders to an 85-year-old, will show their work. Committee member Carmen Littley said the festival aims to be accessible and inclusive, and to give back to the community. Each year the committee supports an organisation in Wyndham, with past projects including a palliative care garden refurbishment at Werribee Mercy Hospital. Visitors can also enjoy lucky door prizes, a free photo with Santa and a Christmas cookie decorating workshop.
Premier Ben Carroll has promised to cut emergency department wait times by 20 per cent if Labor is re-elected. Speaking at University Hospital Geelong, he said 12 hospital emergency departments would be expanded by 25 per cent. The plan also includes 1500 new health workers, among them 750 nurses, and 250 more beds. Health Minister Ingrid Stitt said the changes would allow more than 210,000 patients to be treated each year. The state average emergency department wait is currently 15 minutes, though some patients wait more than two hours.
Emergency department wait times at Werribee Mercy Hospital would be cut if the Victorian state government is re-elected next month. The government has promised to reduce wait times by up to 20 per cent across Victoria, which it says will help more than 210,000 patients each year. The plan includes a 25 per cent expansion to 12 hospital emergency departments, hiring 1500 health workers including 750 nurses, and adding 250 beds. Premier Ben Carroll said more nurses would mean patients are seen sooner.
A Geelong woman has shared her three decades of gambling on poker machines during Gambling Harm Awareness Week, which runs from 24 to 31 October. Punters lost more than $152 million in the City of Greater Geelong and Borough of Queenscliffe in 2025-26, the highest amount recorded locally. Jan, a recovering gambler, said she hopes her story will show others that recovery is possible. After reaching out to Meli's Gambler's Help, she said she regained control of her life.
