Plus health smarts and marsupial matchmakers. Welcome to Galah Weekly, our award-winning newsletter keeping you up to date with regional headlines that matter, plus other delightful things from life beyond the city. By Dean Southwell, whose dog just doesn’t contribute.
Rural and regional patients don’t just struggle to access the healthcare they need, they’re under pressure to be smarter about the health system in order to get the help their city counterparts take for granted.
Researchers have found health literacy is critical for rural residents, who need to be better informed when making decisions about how and when to seek help in settings where even seeing a GP can be a challenge.
The study, published by the Australian Journal of Rural Health last week, cited examples of rural patients delaying access to care because of the time and travel involved.
This week a National Rural Health Alliance report called for a $1 billion a year fund to address rural health inequity. The Forgotten Health Spend highlighted the $8.35 billion it says regional Australians miss out on each year because of lack of health services.
Meanwhile, in Mount Gambier the shortage of GPs is now so severe virtually none of the clinics in SA’s second-largest city are accepting new patients. One practice manager said some people had become abusive when told they could not see a doctor.
The ABC TV series Muster Dogs created legions of fans who will probably be delighted to learn that the contribution of farm dogs to the national economy has been valued at $3 billion a year.
An ANZ study has found Australia’s estimated 270,000 farm dogs drive productivity across all areas of the farm supply chain.
The largest productivity gains are in labour, where working dogs are estimated to save farmers $800 million a year in wages. That extra unpaid labour allows many farms to run more livestock, worth about $250 million a year. There’s also an estimated saving of $100 million in extra fuel and mechanical maintenance.
Plus, a good, calm dog delivers benefits that include better livestock welfare and improved lamb survival rates worth up to $150 million a year.
It’s not all work for dogs, though. Just west of the Gold Coast a minibus packed with dogs is a sign that doggy daycare with a difference is about to start.
The bus provides pick-ups for animals heading to trainer Jo McVilly’s IronBark Dog Park, described as Queensland’s largest dog adventure park.
Sydney-based Sophie Cape has won the $100,000 Hadley’s Art Prize for a work created in the NSW south after floods and landslides last year.
Cape turned to painting after injuries ended a career as an elite athlete. She said her work, Thunder shifts the shivering sands, was a portrait of survival and decay, beauty and destruction.
Mooloolaba artist Denise Lamby won the $10,000 Hadley’s Residency Prize for an artwork created with thousands of teabags. An exhibition of the 29 finalists shows in Hobart until 21 September.
Six joeys born on the NSW north coast represent a 100% success rate in the first season for Australia’s first wild koala breeding program.
Koala Conservation Australia played matchmaker to find genetically diverse koala pairs for the program, which differs from zoo programs in which koalas are bred and raised to be familiar with humans. Instead, these koalas are bred for eventual release into the wild and live in enclosures with full-height trees for natural feeding.
The program is seen as complementing efforts to restore and protect habitat for koalas, which are endangered in NSW and predicted to be extinct by 2050 without radical action.
In northern Qld, three captive-raised northern bettongs have been released into a predator-free sanctuary near Townsville as part of efforts to save that critically endangered species.
Two Canberra medicos who wanted to alleviate the housing crisis have helped 15 homeless women into their own tiny homes.
Mental health liaison Susan Boden and a GP friend established the Eden Tiny House Project, which offered $55,000 and some basic training to women facing homelessness to build their own tiny homes on wheels. The women had to contribute about $40,000 of their own money as well as buying or renting the land for the homes.
Meanwhile, about 25 hectares of Bundaberg bushland donated to a Qld not-for-profit organisation to build affordable housing has proven divisive, with the local landcare group saying the land should have been incorporated into a neighbouring nature reserve.
Meat and Livestock Australia is hoping to attract producers with an eye for social media to help make their customers feel good about eating red meat.
MLA is running its second social media academy in November, aiming to give participants the skills in TikTok video-making and other strategies to engage customers.
Last week the ABS released figures showing Australian beef production had surged in 2024-25, while lamb and mutton supply was also at high levels.
You can still grab one of our special Galah bundles from our online shop in time for Father’s Day on Sunday 7 September.
If all that’s not enough food for thought, don’t forget our fantastic Galah Issue 13, the Elements issue, is on its way in November. You can pre-order Issue 13 with free shipping by clicking the link here.
Every year in the Qld city of Toowoomba a team plants more than 150,000 seeds, bulbs and seedlings to prepare for a carnival that features more than 80 events around the city. At Toowoomba, Qld, 12 September- 6 October. Read more
Daylesford artist Micky Allan uses a dentist’s drill to engrave glass panels, sometimes on both sides, before placing them over works on paper. The Power of Delicacy aims to give a simultaneous sense of simplicity and complexity. At Castlemaine Art Museum, Vic, until 26 October. Read more
Nine ancestral woven objects stand alongside 10 new works by contemporary Bundjalung, Yaegl, Gumbaynggirr, and Kamilaroi (Gamilaroi) artists who have breathed new life into ancient weaving traditions. At Lismore Regional Gallery, NSW, 13 September-9 November. Read more
Live music, public art and street eats feature in a family-friendly event that celebrates the people, places and history of the Tweed region. At Tweed Regional Museum, Murwillumbah, NSW, 6 September. Read more
A childhood lived outdoors in country NSW with four brothers had a huge influence on artist Amy Cuneo. Now based in Wollongong with her husband and three sons, Cuneo says care-giving and life as a mother is central to her art.
How would you describe your art? My work is a colour-curious celebration of the everyday. I’m interested in tying together beauty and the mundane. It's my way of making sense of life and particularly motherhood.
How has motherhood influenced your work? Motherhood has taught me the power of being interruptible. I’m someone who can get pretty carried away with artistic visions and projects, and becoming a mum has given me so much respect for the quiet everyday tasks that care-giving demands. As a mother you hold so many lives and perspectives in your hands and heart, which add depth to your work.
How do you juggle work and children? In 2020 we found out during a prenatal test that our third son, Asa, was going to have Trisomy 21 (Down syndrome). While everyone else was dealing with a pandemic, we were dealing with a new reality. Asa needed to have open heart surgery at eight weeks old so we spent three months in hospital. The reality of raising him has meant I've needed to be more flexible. Some weeks, my studio time is just watercolours at the dining room table while he’s playing. His life has brought me a fresh perspective and appreciation for all of life. Now I’m able to say, “for today this is where I need to be”. I also just use all the spaces in life.
Put Your Hand Where It Hurts was the title of your most recent exhibition. Why? Asa is four now and while he’s starting to use some words, he mostly uses sign language to communicate. When he’s in pain I say to him, "put your hand where it hurts". It's a little nod to him but I also find it a beautiful thought that maybe our world itself might be trying to place its own hand on its sore places.
Tell us about Celebrate T21 and how you’re involved in that? Celebrate T21 empowers and advocates for people with Down syndrome. I was asked to mentor a young adult with T21 and to create an art workshop she could deliver to community groups. Rachael Young is an amazing artist in her own right and through our time together we have developed an abstract art workshop that she has delivered to community groups and schools.
A Victorian couple whose hands-on approach to milling aims to give customers a genuine appreciation for the grains behind the flour has been recognised in the 2025 delicious. Harvey Norman Produce Awards.
Rutherglen-based Courtney Young and Ian Congdon’s Woodstock Flour, which began milling grain from a family farm near Berrigan in NSW, took the Artisan Trophy.
In Galah Issue 3’s Against the Grain, the couple told editor-in-chief Annabelle Hickson of a philosophy that wants the taste, diversity and source of grain to be considered in the same way wine is celebrated.
Michael Wohlstadt, of The Dairyman Barossa, won the Producer of the Year Award and other winners included Victoria’s Meredith Farm Produce.
We’d love to hear about the news, events and people that should be making the headlines in the Galah Weekly newsletter. Share what’s new(s) in your neck of the woods with us at newsie@galahpress.com
