Category: MIL-OSI

Monash Health is supporting early years educators to deliver positive, age-appropriate food education with the support of a co-designed Nutrition Resource Pack (NRP).

The NRP has been developed by Monash Health in partnership with Early Childhood educators to provide age-appropriate food education resources and ensure the content is relevant, accessible and easy to implement.

Following a successful pilot phase, 10 additional services have received the resource and participated in a workshop on food-related learning experiences in early childhood services.

Early childhood educators reported increased knowledge in providing positive food experiences for children and increased confidence in delivering food-related activities following the workshop.

By focusing on the play-based approach, the NRP supports educators to create positive food environments where children can explore, learn and develop. This aligns with prevention efforts to establish healthy habits early and reduce the risk of diet-related chronic disease.

For more information, see Nutrition Resource Pack | Monash Health.

This story was prepared by: Monash Health

Victoria’s first lived experience residential service has opened in Moolap, Geelong.

The Peer Healing Space is a free, residential mental health service for anyone aged 18 or older experiencing high levels of distress. It provides short-term mental health support, in a home-like setting.

Guests at the Peer Healing Space can choose what kind of support they receive; each day is shaped by them. While at the service they can:

• receive one-to-one support
• participate in optional group activities and outings
• include family or friends in their recovery, if they wish
• access any existing support they may be currently receiving or additional support they would like.

Led by Mind Australia, the service will be run by a highly experienced and skilled peer workforce. The workforce have lived and living experience of mental health challenges and are trained to provide a range of support. This includes connecting people to longer-term support or clinical services, if they choose, in partnership with Barwon Health.

We know the mental health system is stronger when people with lived and living experience are leading, shaping, and delivering services.

The Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System recommended a peer-led residential model, designed by and for people with lived experience.

The Peer Healing Space delivers on that recommendation and acts as an additional option for people who might not benefit from a hospital stay.

The service will run as a 12-month trial until June 2027, after which it will be evaluated.

Read more about the Peer Healing Space.

Pill testing will be available at Shadows of Wonderland music festival at the Port Melbourne Industrial Centre for the Arts (PICA) on Friday 1 May.

This will be the final festival included in Victoria’s 18-month pill testing implementation trial. The trial includes a mobile service for events and a fixed site service at 95 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy.

The pill testing service is free, legal and confidential. It is run by an experienced team of experts who provide information to help people make safer, more informed decisions.

The mobile service has attended four events this festival season. It has tested more than 1000 samples and had over 600 harm reduction conversations with festivalgoers. It also issued three general notifications for potentially dangerous substances across four events.

The service tested a record number of samples at the recent Pitch Music and Arts festival. During the 3-day event the service tested more than 670 samples and had more than 350 conversations with festival attendees.

Recent data shows there’s also strong demand for the pill testing service fixed site in Fitzroy. In the six months since opening, the Fitzroy service has tested more than 2300 drug samples, engaged 1300 people in harm reduction conversations and contributed important drug monitoring data.

To meet demand, the fixed site service will operate with extended hours on Thursdays and Fridays until the end of June 2026.

Read more about the Victorian Pill Testing Service.

The 5 Ways to Wellbeing is a mental health initiative, which aims to support the wellbeing of individuals by encouraging everyday self-care practice. In line with this and Mental Health Month, Bendigo Community Health Service (BCHS) partnered with 10 local cafés to give out 10 free coffees everyday throughout October 2025.

BCHS promoted the cafe and initiative through their social media pages, and an additional 12 posts were sent from the partnering cafes. The social media posts had strong engagement reaching more than 71,000 views and over 1,000 online interactions.

A total of 296 coffees were distributed over the month. Customers reported that the initiative created positive social interactions. One recipient described it as “a good mental health moment,” while another said it “made her day a little brighter.” The café staff noticed that it created opportunities for people to start conversations about mental wellbeing.

Seventy per cent of participating cafés said they would take part again in the future.

Visit 5 Ways to Wellbeing for further information.

This story was prepared by: Bendigo Community Health Service

cohealth’s Arts Gen team has recently partnered with Weenthunga Health Network to deliver the Balance program.

Balance is designed for young First Nations women who are building their careers in the health sector. The program is aimed to address continuing under-representation of First Nations people in the health workforce and also to address the impacts of cultural load.

During art-based workshops, the women explored boundary-setting, social connection and culture as strengthening factors for wellbeing. The sessions provided a safe and supportive environment to build confidence, strengthen cultural identity and share experiences.

The program culminated in a community exhibition at Brunswick Street Gallery to celebrate participants’ artwork alongside friends, family and community.

All participants reported positive changes in their confidence to assert boundaries, their social and cultural connections, and their mental health and wellbeing.

For more information, contact: arts.gen@cohealth.org.au

This story was prepared by: cohealth

Young people in Greater Geelong are demonstrating the power of peer-led prevention to help shape innovative responses to reducing vaping harm.

The Geelong Preventative Health Survey shows that vaping has increased significantly over the past 3 years, especially in young people, with 9 per cent of people aged 15 to 34 engaging in smoking or vaping. Nearly 40 per cent also report experiencing psychological distress, which indicates a need for mental health promotion strategies.

In response, the project brought together Headspace, Read the Play, the City of Greater Geelong Youth Advisory Group, Surf Coast College and Meli Community to support youth-led solutions. These agencies worked with young people to create co-designed resources to help resist or quit vaping.

Posters and other campaign materials have been developed to support peer conversations about vaping and seeking help. The resources promote youth-specific mental health coping strategies and links to local health and support services.

The program has been rolled out across 13 secondary schools, with early feedback showing promising change. One in five students reported that engaging in conversations about vaping and mental health is an important step in shifting social norms.

For more information, see the Barwon Health website.

This story was prepared by: Barwon Health

Women and girls are very likely to experience barriers to regular physical activity as they grow older and often need support to maintain their confidence, motivation and access to exercise.

Central Gippsland and Wellington Shire Council have worked in collaboration leveraging statewide and regional campaigns, such as ‘This Girl Can’ and ‘Gippy Girls Can’, to boost physical activity.

Their program supports girls and women’s confidence by providing an informal social event. The event includes a guest speaker, the screening of the Women’s Adventure Film Tour and also social connection.

This project has been delivered over the past two years in the rural towns of Heyfield and Sale. Women and girls have reported increased confidence to participate in physical activity, including new activities, after the social events.

The program has increased its reach into small communities through networking with community houses, sports clubs and recreational facilities. As a result, women and girls have had increased awareness and access to a wide range of physical activity opportunities including bush walking to yoga, football and parkrun.

See Gippy Girls Can for more information on this program.

This story was prepared by:

Anna Roberts
anna.roberts@cghs.com.au
Tel. (03) 5143 8844

Richard Read, a professional chef at Flemington Children’s Centre, is introducing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ingredients into the menu and creating opportunities for children to explore new tastes and cultural learning.

The new ingredients are used in existing recipes without altering the familiar flavours including replacing cinnamon for cinnamon myrtle and spinach for warragul greens. Recipes are adapted using FoodChecker to meet early childhood guidelines and maintain nutritional quality.

Introducing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ingredients has increased meal satisfaction and strengthened engagement with children and families. Many now request recipes to try at home and practical advice on how to incorporate these ingredients into everyday meals.

To date, this approach has incorporated cultural learning, an expansion of children’s food experiences, and an improvement in nutritional variety.

For more information, see Bringing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ingredients into early childhood menus.

This story was prepared by: HEAS