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Hundreds of leaked internal documents have revealed how Victoria's mental health watchdog was progressively weakened by the state government over 18 months, with its powers, budget, staff and independence slashed to the point it can barely perform its oversight role. The disclosures come as the new single commissioner takes over with half the resources of a year ago.
3 Oct 2026· 3 sourcesMotorcyclists in Victoria are taking their fight to parliament, demanding urgent action on the state's pothole-riddled roads, which they say pose a serious safety risk. An audit by the Victorian Auditor-General's Office found almost half of Victoria's roads are in poor or very poor condition.
3 Oct 2026· 3 sourcesOne Nation has promised to revive Victoria's native timber industry if it wins government at the November election, two years after the state's Labor government ended native forest logging. The Coalition has also committed to restarting the industry, though details of how it would work remain unclear.
3 Oct 2026· 2 sourcesVictoria is heading into what analysts describe as the most unpredictable state election in living memory, with a 12-year-old Labor government seeking a rare fourth term, a Coalition opposition ahead in the polls but needing to win a long list of seats, and an unprecedented surge in One Nation support fragmenting the vote.
3 Oct 2026A 3.1-magnitude aftershock struck near Leongatha in South Gippsland early Saturday, hours after a magnitude 4.8 earthquake shook Melbourne and regional Victoria, Geoscience Australia has confirmed. The federal agency reported almost 15,000 felt reports by 3 am and said no major damage was expected from what it described as one of the strongest tremors in the region in two decades.
3 Oct 2026· 11 sourcesWhen Melbourne restaurant Chin Chin was asked to create a sit-down 'Feed me' menu for the 2026 Melbourne Cup Carnival, executive chef Benjamin Cooper knew the selection had to be just right. In an interview, Cooper discussed how the restaurant's signature four flavour components — sweet, sour, salty and spicy — were tailored to match the excitement of the spring carnival, while ensuring individual taste preferences were catered for.
2 Oct 2026· 2 sourcesVictoria’s restaurant scene endured a year of openings and closures, but critics say the quality of new venues was the strongest this decade, prompting The Age Good Food Guide to double its usual shortlist from five to 10 finalists for New Restaurant of the Year.
2 Oct 2026· 2 sourcesNine months after its much-anticipated reopening, Melbourne’s City Square remains largely deserted, with vacant retail outlets, boarded-up windows and temporary fencing a stark contrast to the city’s hopes for a vibrant civic space. A couple eating lunch and children chasing seagulls on the grey pavers were the only signs of life during a recent visit.
2 Oct 2026· 2 sourcesThe State Theatre at Arts Centre Melbourne reopens this Saturday after a multimillion-dollar renovation, its first significant upgrade since the venue opened in 1984. The project, delivered six months ahead of schedule and on budget, has preserved the theatre's signature crimson-and-gold character while quietly improving its acoustics.
2 Oct 2026· 2 sourcesA family of four was rescued from rising floodwaters under a bridge in South Melbourne on Thursday, as record rainfall deluged the city. Emergency services responded to more than 120 calls for help, and the State Emergency Service has warned of further flooding across Victoria into the weekend.
1 Oct 2026· 3 sourcesMelbourne's Malthouse Theatre will stage a satirical Australian reimagining of Gone With the Wind as part of its newly unveiled 2027 program, transplanting the American Civil War to a contemporary Australian setting where culture wars and splits in the political right take centre stage.
1 Oct 2026· 2 sourcesA 25-year-old woman who was covertly filmed showering at a public pool in Melbourne says she spent months unknowingly fearful of the accused's identity after a suppression order prevented his name and face from being published.
1 Oct 2026· 3 sourcesYiaga, the Melbourne restaurant that opened in Fitzroy Gardens just a year ago, has won the Visa One to Watch award from The 50 Best Restaurants, capping an extraordinary first year for chef-owner Hugh Allen.
1 Oct 2026· 2 sourcesThe first Melbourne Fringe festival reviews are in, with critic Tyson Wray awarding four stars to Mary-Agnes O'Loughlin's solo debut 'Glimpses of Heaven' and arguing the production is 'deserving of a main-stage season in future runs to come.' The show, which runs at The Motley Bauhaus until October 4, draws on the performer's experiences growing up with her mother, comedian Fiona O'Loughlin, and her well-documented battles with addiction.
1 Oct 2026· 2 sourcesThousands of doctors from Victoria’s major hospitals will walk off the job on Thursday afternoon in an escalation of a long-running pay and conditions dispute. The four-hour industrial action will see doctors gather outside Parliament House in Melbourne, with the union warning that fatigue and under-resourcing are putting patients at risk.
1 Oct 2026· 2 sourcesVictoria Racing Club chairman Neil Wilson will stand down after next month's Melbourne Cup Carnival, ending a 14-year association with the club that included roles as both chief executive and chairman.
1 Oct 2026· 2 sourcesSt Philip's School in Blackburn North, Melbourne, will close at the end of the current term after a review found enrolments were critically low, leaving parents of students with learning difficulties and neurodivergence scrambling to find new schools for 2027.
1 Oct 2026A new Good Food collection rounds up 18 stories on Melbourne eating out, featuring a pizza inspired by Light & Tangy chips, Italian classics at Cellar Bar, a reimagined Delmonte (formerly King & Godfree) and smash burgers served from a corner store.
1 Oct 2026· 2 sourcesA company tied to top Melbourne chef Scott Pickett has collapsed under a $2.3 million tax debt, bringing the number of Pickett-associated businesses in liquidation to eight. Nord Arc Hospitality, a firm established to pay employees across Pickett's restaurants, entered liquidation in mid-September, just weeks after the closure of one of his fine-dining venues.
30 Sept 2026· 2 sourcesThe Liberal Party is facing a local revolt in the must-win seat of Pakenham, with members saying they are unwilling to volunteer after the party executive sidelined them and preselected soccer club volunteer Radmila Dyson. The outer south-east Melbourne seat is one of the most marginal in Victoria, held by Labor by just 0.39 per cent, and will also be contested by One Nation's Victorian leader Warren Pickering.
30 Sept 2026· 2 sourcesVictorian Opera's production of Benjamin Britten's 1954 chamber opera The Turn of the Screw, playing at the Palais Theatre until October 1, has received a three-star review that praises the singers and conductor but criticises the large venue for draining the work's intended claustrophobic tension.
30 Sept 2026· 2 sourcesMalvern's new Helios Hotel is not a pub or hotel, but a three-storey modern Greek restaurant seating 300 on Glenferrie Road, opened by Athenian chef Ioannis Kasidokostas and his wife Maria Tsilfoglou.
30 Sept 2026· 2 sourcesHomelessness services have warned that Victoria's new $27.8 million assertive outreach program to reduce rough sleeping will struggle to meet demand, with crisis accommodation centres already full before lunchtime and inadequate housing options available.
29 Sept 2026· 3 sourcesDoctors at the new Footscray Hospital in Melbourne's west are warning that a lack of operational funding and staffing has left about 170 beds unopened, at least two operating theatres closed, and patients requiring urgent surgery waiting up to three days for treatment. The median emergency department wait time has risen to 31 minutes, more than double the statewide average.
29 Sept 2026· 3 sourcesA play that was banned in Melbourne in 1936 for its portrayal of Nazis is returning this month as part of Melbourne Fringe, with the directors staging it partly on a flatbed ute in homage to the original production's evasion of police.
29 Sept 2026· 2 sourcesDarebin City Council is facing calls to overhaul its graffiti policy after revelations that complaints about offensive graffiti are being blocked by security systems or diverted before reaching council staff. A petition calling for a policy review was presented to councillors after a Jewish resident spent six months trying to get the council to remove graffiti targeting Jewish people from a cafe wall near her home.
29 Sept 2026· 2 sourcesMore than a dozen firefighting crews are today battling a large factory fire in Melbourne, according to multiple reports.
28 Sept 2026· 3 sourcesVictorian police have apologised to the family of John Makai, a 58-year-old father of 10 who died in 2023 after being held in a Broadmeadows police cell for five hours without medical treatment for a serious head injury.
28 Sept 2026· 6 sourcesA university building designed by the modernist architect behind the National Gallery of Victoria is a step closer to demolition, after Heritage Victoria recommended against listing it on the Victorian Heritage Register. The University of Melbourne plans to replace the John Medley Building on its Parkville campus with a new central education building.
28 Sept 2026· 2 sourcesA fully renovated two-bedroom unit in Melbourne's Noble Park has sold for $670,000 at auction, with a first home buyer couple beating downsizers to the keys. The result came during a weekend when auction volumes fell to less than a third of the previous week's tally because of the AFL grand final long weekend.
28 Sept 2026· 3 sourcesThe National Gallery of Victoria's former head of IT, James Hosking, has been accused of issuing hundreds of fake invoices over several years to steal $8 million from the institution, Victoria's independent anti-corruption commission revealed on Thursday.
28 Sept 2026· 3 sourcesResidents in Melbourne's inner west were blindsided when 15-metre power poles — more than double the height of the old wooden ones — appeared on their streets, carrying 160 times the voltage to supply a nearby data centre. Electricity distributor Jemena has since paused works and acknowledged its engagement with the community 'could have been better'.
27 Sept 2026· 2 sourcesThe AFL Grand Final parade rolled through Melbourne on Friday with a festive atmosphere as thousands of fans lined the streets despite the threat of rain, with Brisbane Lions captain Lachie Neale receiving a mixed reception and Fremantle skipper Alex Pearce declaring his club's supporters the most passionate in the league.
25 Sept 2026The daughter of a mining executive killed in a 2007 plane crash is suing her mother in Victoria's Supreme Court, claiming she was promised a share of the family's Macedon farm and gave up her inheritance rights on the strength of that promise.
23 Sept 2026· 2 sourcesA re-elected Labor government would recruit an extra 1,500 police officers and build a new training facility in Melbourne’s south-west, Premier Ben Carroll announced. The pledge aims to increase Victoria’s police workforce to just over 17,000 and addresses a bottleneck at the state’s only permanent police academy in Glen Waverley.
13 Sept 2026The San Francisco 49ers defeated the Los Angeles Rams in the first NFL regular-season game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday, with the team immediately signaling its desire to return as Victorian government and league talks continue.
11 Sept 2026· 3 sourcesA 34-year-old mother driving a 4WD has lost control and rolled her vehicle shortly after picking up children from school near Bacchus Marsh on Tuesday afternoon, killing two children and injuring six others.
9 Sept 2026· 3 sourcesA second child has died after a single-vehicle crash west of Melbourne on Tuesday afternoon, with police confirming an 11-year-old boy succumbed to his injuries overnight after a seven-year-old girl died at the scene.
9 Sept 2026· 4 sourcesTwo men have each been sentenced to 34 years in prison for the brazen daylight murder of underworld figure Gavin 'Capable' Preston outside a Melbourne cafe in September 2023. Jaeden Tito, 25, and Rabii Zahabe, 26, were found guilty in May of killing Preston and attempting to murder his friend AJ Maghnie. The Supreme Court heard the pair were hired as contract killers by an unknown enemy and drove from New South Wales to carry out the attack.
8 Sept 2026Homicide detectives are investigating after a man was shot dead in a Thomastown public park on Sunday night. Police have not yet released further details about the victim or a suspect, but are actively searching for the gunman.
7 Sept 2026· 3 sourcesA man has been shot dead outside a property in Melbourne's north, with homicide detectives launching an investigation and a manhunt underway as police appeal for information.
7 Sept 2026· 4 sourcesA Melbourne man who beat, starved and controlled an Indonesian woman as a slave in his Point Cook home has been sentenced to six years in prison, with a non-parole period of four years, after a judge described his treatment of the victim as 'callous and cruel'.
4 Sept 2026Residents in a Melbourne council area are reportedly required to inform the government every time someone visits their home, raising significant privacy questions. The exact scope and purpose of the requirement remain unclear.
30 Aug 2026· 3 sourcesA mother who was stabbed alongside her sick son in an alleged unprovoked attack in Melbourne's CBD has spoken of the lasting fear the incident has inflicted on her family. Cherie Holt, whose 10-year-old son is undergoing treatment for a serious medical condition, described the assault as 'one of the worst moments' of their lives, as police continue to investigate the circumstances of the attack.
28 Aug 2026The cost of restoring Melbourne's damaged colonial monuments has surpassed $1 million, with recent vandalism including the decapitation of a King George statue and the breaking of Queen Victoria's marble limbs, despite enhanced security measures around the city's heritage sites.
28 Aug 2026· 3 sourcesA coalition of aviation enthusiasts and heritage advocates is calling for RAAF Base Point Cook to be placed in a community trust rather than sold to private investors, as the Australian government weighs the future of the historic site in Melbourne's south-west.
28 Aug 2026· 2 sourcesA new analysis by urban affairs reporter Royce Millar suggests Melbourne's future as a megacity hinges on channelling its booming population towards major transport hubs and regional towns, rather than allowing continued suburban sprawl. An interactive map accompanying the report allows residents to see how many more people could live in their suburb by 2101 under such a scenario, sparking debate about the city's long-term planning.
27 Aug 2026· 3 sourcesAccording to new data published across multiple news outlets, the typical Melbourne home is now worth less than it was five years ago. The median home value reached a high in 2022 and has not returned to that level, marking a prolonged stagnation in the city’s housing market that contrasts with stronger recoveries in Sydney and Brisbane.
27 Aug 2026· 3 sources