Melbourne has a highly diversified economy with particular strengths in finance, manufacturing, research, IT, education, logistics, transportation and tourism.

Melbourne houses the headquarters of many of Australia's largest corporations, including five of the ten largest in the country (based on revenue), and five of the largest seven in the country.

It is the Australian base for a number of significant manufacturers including Boeing Australia, truck makers Kenworth and Iveco, Cadbury, Alstom and Jayco.

It is also home to a wide variety of other manufacturers, ranging from petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals to fashion garments, paper manufacturing and food processing.

The city also has a research and development hub for Ford Australia, as well as a global design studio and technical centre for General Motors and Toyota

CSL one of the world's top five biotech companies, and Sigma Pharmaceuticals have their headquarters in Melbourne. The two are the largest listed Australian pharmaceutical companies. Melbourne has an important ICT industry, home to more than half of Australia’s top 20 technology companies.

Melbourne has a highly diversified economy with particular strengths in finance, manufacturing, research, IT, education, logistics, transportation and tourism.

Melbourne houses the headquarters of many of Australia's largest corporations, including five of the ten largest in the country (based on revenue), and five of the largest seven in the country.

It is the Australian base for a number of significant manufacturers including Boeing Australia, truck makers Kenworth and Iveco, Cadbury, Alstom and Jayco.

It is also home to a wide variety of other manufacturers, ranging from petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals to fashion garments, paper manufacturing and food processing.

The city also has a research and development hub for Ford Australia, as well as a global design studio and technical centre for General Motors and Toyota

CSL one of the world's top five biotech companies, and Sigma Pharmaceuticals have their headquarters in Melbourne. The two are the largest listed Australian pharmaceutical companies. Melbourne has an important ICT industry, home to more than half of Australia’s top 20 technology companies.

Ballarat is home to two major tertiary institutions – Federation University and Australian Catholic University Ballarat Campus – renowned for courses in nursing, education, IT, engineering, science and much more. Federation University also has its accompanying TAFE school based in the centre of town.

Climate change is likely to impact on the Ballarat community over the coming decades. There are expected changes in the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events, changes to the water cycle affecting agriculture and other key industries, and concerns about the ongoing threat of natural disasters such as bushfires and floods. In terms of a growing population, the impact of such changes can have increasingly significant impacts.

Australia’s per capita production rate of greenhouse gases is one of the highest in the world. It is estimated that by improving the way we design, build and live, Victorians could save at least 50% of the energy that we use. As part of being an informed community, Ballarat needs to play its part by moderating its contribution to climate change/ reducing carbon emissions, and work to become more resilient to climate change impacts.

Agriculture is one of the largest employers in the Grampians region, employing 7,804 people and producing outputs worth $2.3billion.

The region is one of the world’s largest grain, pulse and oilseed growing regions and exports about 60 per cent of the total harvest. The regional economy is heavily reliant on agricultural production, which contributes millions of dollars each year to the Victorian economy and is fundamental to Horsham’s strength.

Recognised as a UNESCO City of Craft and Folk Art, Ballarat is the perfect place to switch off and choose your own analogue adventure.

Horsham Regional Art Gallery has an impressive collection of Australian photography and contemporary art. The Ararat Regional Gallery hosts a dynamic textile collection while the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery is home to a stunning collection of Australian colonial, goldfields and contemporary art.

The Museum of Australian Democracy Eureka, on the site of the Eureka Stockade, is Australia’s newest museum dedicated to democracy. The Eureka Flag, is on loan from the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, is the centrepiece of the museum’s exhibitions.

The Grampians hosts a range of festivals including the iconic Stawell Gift, the Horsham Awakenings Festival, Nati Fringe Festival, Grampians Grape Escape food and wine festival, Daylesford Chill Out, Clunes Back to Booktown, Ballarat Heritage Weekend, Grampians Wildflower Festival, the Ararat Jailhouse Rock Festival, the Grampians Jazz Festival, the Ballarat Beer Festival and the Ballarat Royal South Street competitions.

Grampians Health Ballarat is the main public referral health service to the Grampians region of Victoria, with a catchment population of over 250,000 people. A teaching, training and research provider, we deliver care across all health settings, including: in home, community programs, aged care and all hospital admissions.

Grampians Health Ballarat is committed to providing excellence in care for its patients, staff and communities – with a vision to deliver world-class health care, an engaged workforce, effective leadership, and a strong connection to the community and region.

As chair of the Grampians New Energy Taskforce (GNET) Mr Benjamin oversees working groups to maximise the economic and community benefits of investment and innovation in new and renewable energy.

Mining at Ballarat Gold Mine aims to maintain a production rate of 40,000 to 50,000 ounces of gold per year from underground drilling programmes targeting resources adjacent to existing workings and which have significant additional potential for mine life extension.

Steeped in gold rush history the Grampians is home to Sovereign Hill, the Silo Arts Trail and natural attractions including the Grampians National Park, Mt Arapiles and the Little Desert National Park.

A year-round calendar of special events and festivals ensures there’s always a special reason to visit this regional centre, which is Victoria’s third-largest city. These events include the award-winning Ballarat Heritage Festival, the Ballarat Begonia Festival, the bi-annual International Foto Biennale, Sovereign Hill’s Winter Wonderlights and a celebration of incredible local wines at Pyrenees Unearthed Wine and Food Festival.

We want to get our contamination rate of recycling bins down to zero and reduce how much waste is going to landfill. Up to 16% of items that are placed in our recycling bins cannot be recycled.

Not transporting waste back to landfill would save about 22,000km each year. That equals about 200 semi-trailers loads, or 4900 tonnes, from Ballarat to Melbourne, and would save about 75 tonnes a year of greenhouse gases from reduced heavy vehicle transport each year.

Stretching from the western edge of Melbourne to the South Australian border, the Grampians region includes the major townships of Edenhope, Nhill, Warracknabeal, Horsham, Stawell, Ararat, Beaufort, Ballarat, Bannockburn, Daylesford and Bacchus Marsh.

Steeped in gold rush history the Grampians is home to Sovereign Hill, the Silo Arts Trail and natural attractions including the Grampians National Park, Mt Arapiles and the Little Desert National Park.

Agriculture and food production are major industries across the Grampians, with extensive dryland farming in the Wimmera Southern Mallee sub-region. Opportunities across the region include artisanal food and beverage production, broad acre intensive cropping and diversified agriculture.

The Grampians region is positioned to capitalise on renewable energy, manufacturing, tourism and intensified agriculture production.

Stretching from the western edge of Melbourne to the South Australian border, the Grampians region includes the major townships of Edenhope, Nhill, Warracknabeal, Horsham, Stawell, Ararat, Beaufort, Ballarat, Bannockburn, Daylesford and Bacchus Marsh.

Steeped in gold rush history the Grampians is home to Sovereign Hill, the Silo Arts Trail and natural attractions including the Grampians National Park, Mt Arapiles and the Little Desert National Park.

Agriculture and food production are major industries across the Grampians, with extensive dryland farming in the Wimmera Southern Mallee sub-region. Opportunities across the region include artisanal food and beverage production, broad acre intensive cropping and diversified agriculture.

The Grampians region is positioned to capitalise on renewable energy, manufacturing, tourism and intensified agriculture production.

Stretching from the western edge of Melbourne to the South Australian border, the Grampians region includes the major townships of Edenhope, Nhill, Warracknabeal, Horsham, Stawell, Ararat, Beaufort, Ballarat, Bannockburn, Daylesford and Bacchus Marsh.

Steeped in gold rush history the Grampians is home to Sovereign Hill, the Silo Arts Trail and natural attractions including the Grampians National Park, Mt Arapiles and the Little Desert National Park.

Agriculture and food production are major industries across the Grampians, with extensive dryland farming in the Wimmera Southern Mallee sub-region. Opportunities across the region include artisanal food and beverage production, broad acre intensive cropping and diversified agriculture.

The Grampians region is positioned to capitalise on renewable energy, manufacturing, tourism and intensified agriculture production.

Stretching from the western edge of Melbourne to the South Australian border, the Grampians region includes the major townships of Edenhope, Nhill, Warracknabeal, Horsham, Stawell, Ararat, Beaufort, Ballarat, Bannockburn, Daylesford and Bacchus Marsh.

Steeped in gold rush history the Grampians is home to Sovereign Hill, the Silo Arts Trail and natural attractions including the Grampians National Park, Mt Arapiles and the Little Desert National Park.

Agriculture and food production are major industries across the Grampians, with extensive dryland farming in the Wimmera Southern Mallee sub-region. Opportunities across the region include artisanal food and beverage production, broad acre intensive cropping and diversified agriculture.

The Grampians region is positioned to capitalise on renewable energy, manufacturing, tourism and intensified agriculture production.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.