A motion at the April council meeting, moved by Cr Zoe Cook and seconded by Cr Rob Amos, endorsed a stage three advocacy prospectus by Healthy Loddon Campaspe for additional funding from the Victorian Government.
The motion recommended that council note Healthy Loddon Campaspe’s achievements of the initiative to date and acknowledge the advocacy undertaken by the Healthy Loddon Campaspe partnership ahead of the Victorian Government Budget.
The partnership is seeking four additional years of funding to build on seven years of health and wellbeing programs across the shire, with the current stage two funding set to end in June.
Central to the discussion were the results of the 2019 Active Living Census and the 2025 ALC, with the health and wellbeing survey conducted last year involving more than 8000 residents region-wide.
Cr Cook noted that while the official results were expected to be released this year, the data put out around Christmas indicated that food insecurity had grown since the 2019 census.
Cr Cook acknowledged that food insecurity was something that many people in the shire currently faced, noting that the latest data had been backed up by knowledge on the ground from organisations such as Foodshare.
Cr Amos described the 2019 census statistics on food insecurity as “worrying” for the community and “not good enough”.
Data from the 2019 ALC showed 23.6 per cent of households in Rushworth and district had run out of food in the previous 12 months, with Rochester following at 12.6 per cent and Stanhope and district at 6.9 per cent.
It also indicated a shire-wide average of one in 10 households being food insecure and not having enough food to eat, with some areas increasing to one in four households.
Data from the 2025 ALC shows that while progress has been made, significant health inequities remain, particularly in communities that have historically been least supported.
“The Healthy Loddon Campaspe has done great work in our Campaspe Shire and, hopefully, they will be able to continue this with their advocacy,” Cr Cook said.
Cr Amos also expressed his support for the funding bid, saying he hopes this funding continues “so that they can continue the really good work that they do”.
If successful, stage three funding would allow for activation programs to continue, along with the delivery of a 2029 ALC, building on 2019 and 2025 results.
The motion passed with all councillors in favour of supporting Healthy Loddon Campaspe’s bid for stage three funding.
