The Region is home to the prosperous and vibrant regional cities of Bendigo, one of the State’s largest and fastest growing regional cities, and Mildura, the major regional city for the north of the Region and the largest urban centre on the edge of the outback. Echuca, Swan Hill, Castlemaine, Gisborne, Kyneton and Maryborough are also important centres, offering employment and lifestyle services.

The Region is home to the prosperous and vibrant regional cities of Bendigo, one of the State’s largest and fastest growing regional cities, and Mildura, the major regional city for the north of the Region and the largest urban centre on the edge of the outback. Echuca, Swan Hill, Castlemaine, Gisborne, Kyneton and Maryborough are also important centres, offering employment and lifestyle services.

The Region is home to the prosperous and vibrant regional cities of Bendigo, one of the State’s largest and fastest growing regional cities, and Mildura, the major regional city for the north of the Region and the largest urban centre on the edge of the outback. Echuca, Swan Hill, Castlemaine, Gisborne, Kyneton and Maryborough are also important centres, offering employment and lifestyle services.

Climate change impacts are already being felt in communities across the region. The pressure is being felt in sectors like local water, food production, and health and wellbeing.

While it is important that we all take steps to reduce our emissions to mitigate against further future climate impacts, such as embracing renewable energy, we also need to reduce our current and future vulnerability by taking adaptation action.

Adapting to climate change involves taking practical actions to manage current impacts and future risks to build resilient communities and systems across the region.

Big ideas and extraordinary talent drive our creative sector, which spans the performing and visuals arts, music, design, digital game development, film and television, fashion, literature and publishing, and more.

We’re proud of our local artists and creative professionals and support them to develop and maintain thriving careers here in Victoria.

From solo practitioners, grassroots collectives and small businesses to major organisations and institutions, we support the sector at all levels. We do this through a range of programs and initiatives that raise the profile, reach and impact of Victorian creatives, and by investing in a strong creative ecosystem.

The Region is home to the prosperous and vibrant regional cities of Bendigo, one of the State’s largest and fastest growing regional cities, and Mildura, the major regional city for the north of the Region and the largest urban centre on the edge of the outback. Echuca, Swan Hill, Castlemaine, Gisborne, Kyneton and Maryborough are also important centres, offering employment and lifestyle services.

As Loddon Mallee’s business ecosystem expands, so does its workforce needs. The region envisions growing its tertiary offerings to keep up with industry demand, while building a reputation for innovation. Initiatives like SuniTAFE’s SMART Farm training hub, or the reputed La Trobe School of Rural Health are prime examples of a region invested in ‘growing its own’.

Centres like Mildura and Bendigo are large enough to attract marquee tertiary institutions and global businesses, yet small enough to be able to foster meaningful relationships between the two.

The Fraunhofer Initiative uniting La Trobe University, the City of Greater Bendigo, and Bendigo Regional Manufacturing Group is one example of many.

The Region has irrigated dairy and horticulture in the local government areas adjacent to the Murray River as well as large-scale cropping and grazing throughout the Region.

Intensive animal husbandry is of growing importance in certain locations in the southern part of the Region.

Agriculture and food production play a major role supporting the economy of rural communities, small towns and regional centres.

The extensive food processing industry adds value to the agricultural produce within the Region, creating jobs and increasing the economic output from the Region.

Bendigo Health is a leading regional health service, with around 5000 staff and a catchment area covering a quarter of the size of Victoria. The three main campuses of Bendigo Health are in Bendigo, with many services extended to regional settings including areas such as Mildura, Echuca, Swan Hill, Kyneton and Castlemaine.

The organisation provides services in emergency, maternity, women’s health, medical imaging, pathology, rehabilitation, community services, residential aged care, psychiatric care, community dental, hospice, palliative care, cardiology, cancer services and renal dialysis to the people of the Loddon Mallee region.

In addition to operating a large acute hospital we offer subacute services including inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation, a regional psychiatric service, residential care, specialist clinics, dialysis and a range of outreach services such as hospital in the home.

Is Australia’s housing crisis self-inflicted? If so, then we need a series of reforms to reverse it
The best long-term solution to the structural problems of the rental crisis is to build more public and/or affordable housing.

Make renting more Sustainable. Increase rent assistance or look at rental caps, similar to countries in Europe and some US states, long term tenancy agreements with incentives for all parties to the agreement.

Build to Rent
The Build to Rent property sector is growing in Australia – this new class of housing is focused on providing high quality purpose designed and built rental stock, creating an additional housing choice for Australian renters with greater security and service.

Build to Rent developments are typically owned by institutional investors for the long term and the owner could be the developer/ongoing building manager. The format provides tenants with the flexibility of renting with the security of home ownership.

Build-to-Rent developments are usually large-scale residential properties specifically designed, built and managed for long-term ownership and rental.

Social Housing
In the 40 years between 1981 and 2021 the percentage of all Australian households living in social housing (i.e. state owned and managed public housing or community managed housing) has ranged from 4.9 per cent in 1981 to 3.8 per cent in 2021. Such a drop in the proportion of social housing raises the question of has Australia achieved the balance right, and also just what is the right level of social housing for Australia?

In 2018 Statistics Canada said 628,700 Canadian households, more than one in ten renter households nationally (13.5% of 4,652,500), were living in social and affordable housing.
In New Zealand, as of 30 June 2021, there were 74,337 public housing households. This equates to 4.0% of households living in social housing.

In England (in 2018) 17% of households (3.9 million) lived in social housing, while the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development publishes that 1.2 million households live in public housing, which is 0.98 per cent of all housing.

The region has gold, mineral sand and rare earth mining, and renewable energy sectors.

The region is home to Fosterville Mine – the largest producer of gold in Victoria. Since commencing exploration in 2005, it has produced over 3.5 million ounces. Simulations by the Geological Survey of Victoria predict significant gold deposits in the vicinity of 75-million ounces, with multiple million-ounce occurrences, still to be unearthed.

Antimony is the second-most valuable metallic commodity in Victoria after gold, and on Australia’s critical mineral list. Loddon Mallee is home to Australia’s largest antimony producer located in the City of Greater Bendigo. The mine is estimated to contain 17,800 tonnes of antimony – a mineral essential for hardening lead in storage batteries and producing semiconductors.

VHM Limited has exploration tenements in the region for zircon and other rare earth minerals critical in the manufacture of industrial permanent magnets and high energy density batteries required in production of electric vehicles and essential for the renewable energy market.

Initiatives that lead to planning and development of tourism infrastructure and services that increase visitation and spend across the Region and attract investment.

This will include initiatives that increase opportunities for Aboriginal people through cultural tourism in areas such as Gunbower Forest, as well as other initiatives that leverage projects already undertaken to improve tourism in the Region, such as the Ports of the Murray River strategy, our arts, cultural and recreational precincts, and other iconic natural and cultural heritage assets such as our significant Goldfields heritage.

These initiatives will help improve the quality of assets and customer satisfaction thereby leading to increased tourism, more jobs and, ultimately, protection of our culture, heritage and natural assets.

The region has a broad mix of industries including horticulture, dairying, broad acre cropping, mineral sand and rare earth mining, renewable energy, and tourism sectors.

There are local circular economy projects such as biochar production where wood waste is converted for use in agriculture.