A new exhibition in Melbourne explores how migrant families stay connected across borders through everyday digital messages and photographs. Titled 聞鳥憶君, it runs from 7 to 21 November 2026 at GAMA Studio in Brunswick and features debut works by seven artists with lived experience of migration. Curator Chait D'Cruz drew on her father's journey from Calcutta to Melbourne. The exhibition covers humour, pride and daily life, not only trauma. A programme of events includes an opening night, a discussion on cultural curation and music, jewellery sales and a closing performance by Joyce Liu.
Raffaele Ciuca Bridal, a Brunswick bridal boutique, is marking 70 years in business with a debut at Melbourne Fashion Week. The boutique will send some of its most sought-after pieces down the runway at Melbourne's Immigration Museum on Friday October 23. The runway will feature designs from Steven Khalil, Nicole+Felicia and Vivienne Westwood, with accessories chosen as a nod to the boutique's history. The business began in 1952 when Raffaele Ciuca, a 21-year-old Italian tailor, arrived in Melbourne. His daughter Patricia Pallozzi, the general manager, says his tailoring skills still guide the business today.
Hundreds of Greek Australians and visitors gathered in Brunswick on Sunday, 18 October, for the second annual Greek Festival. The event was organised by Saint Eleftherios Greek Orthodox Church and included live music, traditional dancing, Greek food and homemade sweets. Visiting Greek parliamentarians and Greece's Consul General in Melbourne attended. The festival also aimed to pass Greek customs on to younger generations and share them with the wider community.
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Comedian Mark Trevorrow, performing as his character Bob Downe, shared the stage with drag queen Stan Munro at the Kyogle Bowlo on Saturday, October 17. The pair played to a packed crowd. Munro, who said Trevorrow makes him laugh easily, first met him 30 years ago at Daylesford, Victoria. Munro, 86, calls himself the oldest living Les Girl and has written a book, Secrets of a Showbiz Dame. He will be interviewed for Antiques Down Under and speak about the book in Sydney on November 7.
Police officers and members of Melbourne's Greek Australian community gathered at St Basil's Greek Orthodox Church in Brunswick on Sunday to honour Saint Artemios, the patron saint of police. The annual celebration was organised by the Victoria Hellenic Police Association. A Divine Liturgy was held, with an icon of the saint donated by the Hellenic Police. Priest Emmanuel Lykopandis, a spiritual adviser to state and federal police, then led a prayer service. The day ended with a barbecue in the church grounds.
A Greek Australian community forum in Brunswick, Melbourne, discussed the future of multiculturalism in Victoria ahead of the state election on 28 November. Speakers from several parties and migrant organisations took part. George Lekakis, chair of Victoria’s Multicultural Review, outlined its 41 recommendations. Greens MP Anasina Gray-Barberio said only seven had been adopted by the Labor government. Liberal candidate Theo Zographos did not attend and no replacement was found. The organisers plan to continue the conversation beyond the election.
Hoppers Crossing finished day one of its clash with Coburg on 8-318 in the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association north-west. Brett Smith made 112, his second straight season with a century in round two. Captain-coach Simon Lambert said the side showed a much better effort than in round one against Brunswick. Justin Goegan finished 42 not out. In Werribee, the Snowdogs were bowled out for 160 against St Bernard's OC, and Jonathan Burton took 4-2.
More than 100 women have told Four Corners they lost work after becoming pregnant or having a child. Abby McCawley says she was fired from her role at Ray White Brunswick in Melbourne's inner north, a day after a company post had praised her. The real estate agency says her employment ended over workplace behaviour, a claim she disputes. She is now suing in the Federal Court. Lawyers say pregnant workers face daunting hurdles, and advocates are calling for stronger legal protections.
Point Cook has become the most expensive Wyndham suburb for houses, according to quarterly median data from the Real Estate Institute of Victoria. Its median house price fell 1.2 per cent in the September quarter to $850,000, still more than $100,000 above Williams Landing. Williams Landing's median dropped 20.9 per cent to $740,000. Across metropolitan Melbourne, median prices softened 0.7 per cent, with the median house price at $943,000. Mount Eliza recorded the strongest quarterly house price growth, rising 9.1 per cent to $1.8 million.
Regional Victoria's property market grew in the third quarter, with house prices up 1.2 per cent to $673,500, according to the Real Estate Institute of Victoria. Cheaper homes held up better than premium ones, with lower-quartile prices in metropolitan Melbourne falling less than upper-end prices over the September quarter. Median prices in Melbourne softened 0.7 per cent over the quarter. Real Estate Institute of Victoria chief executive Toby Balazs said the market was resilient despite higher borrowing costs and cost-of-living pressures, and called on the next state government to review auction and property sale reforms.
Five Greek Australian restaurants have been named in the Good Food Guide's 100 Essential Victorian Restaurants list. Kafeneion earned the highest score among the five, at 15 out of 20. Patris, a Brunswick restaurant that opened in February, received a score of 14 out of 20. Co-owner Stella Andrianna Michael said the recognition was significant for the small business, linking the restaurant's identity to her family's migration story.
Thousands of people are expected in New Farm later this month for the Brisbane Pride Rally and March, which Brisbane Pride organisers say could be the biggest single-day celebration of queer life the city has seen. The march runs along Brunswick Street on Saturday, October 24, and ends at New Farm Park, where Fair Day features a main stage, markets and food vans. Joanne is headlining, with RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under stars Vybe and Coco Jumbo also performing. The festival runs through October 31.
Greek Australian historian Dr Themistocles Kritikakos spoke to more than 60 attendees at Laconian House in Brunswick on 4 October. The lecture, hosted by the Pallaconian Brotherhood of Melbourne and Victoria Leonidas, focused on his book on Armenian, Greek and Assyrian genocide recognition in Australia. He examined violence and displacement affecting Greeks in Asia Minor, Pontus and Eastern Thrace. Dr Kritikakos said growing interest in the history, across generations, is shaping new understanding of the past and its relevance today.
Nerissa and Hiran run Lankan Tucker, a Sri Lankan food business rooted in family recipes. It operates from a hidden spot off Lygon Street in Melbourne's College Square. The business began with workplace deliveries and moved into food festivals and night markets. Collaborations with venues such as Fitzroy Bowls Club and Patient Wolf have brought the food to new audiences. Nerissa says the business keeps its roots while finding new ways to reach people, marking 10 years of trading.
Melbourne's weekly median asking rent for houses and units stayed at a record $600 in the September quarter, Domain's Rent Report shows. Growth was sharpest in prestige suburbs with limited rental supply. Middle Park's median house rent rose almost 40 per cent over the past year, while Eltham led unit rent growth at 15 per cent to $575 a week. Domain economist Dr Nicola Powell said the overall median may signal an affordability ceiling, making rent hikes harder for landlords to push through. Anika Legal said it is seeing more renters forced to move after rent increases.
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The Brunswick Greek Festival returns on Sunday, 18 October, at St Eleftherios Church on Albion Street in Brunswick. The event opens at 11am and aims to share Greek heritage with local residents. Visitors can enjoy souvlaki, homemade sweets and coffee, along with traditional dancing, live music and a DJ. Market stalls, raffles, competitions and children's activities are also planned. Organisers describe the day as a chance for the Greek Australian community and its neighbours to come together and celebrate their traditions.
