The Swanston Gazette • 27th May 2026

Hundreds Gather at The MCG to Raise Money for Youth Homelessness

Thousands of young Australians experience homelessness every day with no support, according to a Kids Under Cover report, but Melbourne City Mission wants to change this. The MCM aims to support the 8,000 15 to 24-year-olds who do not have a permanent home. “We want to make something visible that is often hidden, and that is the scourge that is youth homelessness,” Wappett said. The current cost of living crisis, coupled with issues such as family violence and mental wellbeing, has caused a spik...

Brunswick Voice • 21st May 2026

‘This would not be tolerated next to a school or hospital’

Parents at a Coburg early learning centre are concerned about the impact of constant noise from a construction site across the road is having on their children’s health and wellbeing.


For weeks, educators and children at Kids on the Avenue (KOTA) have attempted to cope with loud noises from earthmoving equipment at the site on the corner of The Avenue and De Carle Street.


The land, which was previously the Moreland campus of the Kangan Batman TAFE, is undergoing a transformation by Develop...

Brunswick Voice • 6th April 2026

Coburg artists prepare to look for a new home

SETTLED in a stripped out Coles supermarket which backs onto the Upfield path, Schoolhouse Studios has over the past half-a-decade become the artistic home for many Coburg creatives.But plans for a major redevelopment of underutilised carparking space in central Coburg has plunged the future of the cherished arts hub into uncertainty.

Under the City of Merri-bek’s ‘Coburg is Here’ concept, the site where the studios currently sit would be redeveloped into new apartments and...

The Swanston Gazette • 29th March 2026

Decline in Funding Sees Arts Institutions in Strife

Victoria has seen a $20 million decline in support for the arts industry over the past five years. Writers Victoria’s board chair Janice Gobey said the decline represented how little interest the Victorian Government has in the arts. “There’s no money to go around and there’s other competing priorities,” she said. At least 14 cultural institutions faced complete loss of support in 2025, with no certainty they would be able to remain functional. Victoria has an estimated debt of $187 billion, wit...

Brunswick Voice • 15th February 2026

Amyl’s bassist back in Brunny for a break from the road

WHEN he’s not on tour with one of the world’s hottest rock bands, Gus Romer escapes the chaos of life on the road by chilling out in Brunswick.  


After a huge year as bassist for Amyl and the Sniffers, Romer is finally back home and is taking time off before the band embarks on a US-UK tour in June.


“We’re taking our first-ever break,” he tells Brunswick Voice. 


In 2024-25, Amyl and the Sniffers went international, releasing their third album, the critically acclaimed Cartoon Darkness b...

The Junction • 27th December 2025

Adaptation in drought-ridden Barwon Region

Climate change is a driving force for change. While it causes the earth to warm and weather to become unpredictable, it has also created beneficial change in farming practices.
In times of droughts, farmers of the Barwon region have experienced great struggle. Their livestock have low food supply and crops are unable to germinate.
Today’s Victorian drought is known by the term ‘green drought’. For many across the region this has caused numerous issues. Andrea Montgomery works for the Upper Barwo...

Brunswick Voice • 14th December 2025

Coburg artist’s debut exhibition is a time capsule of a changing suburb

VISUAL artist Lanie Harris captures the heart of Coburg through watercolour painting in her new exhibition at Big Elma cafe.


For many years Harris has painted local homes and businesses, but in 2024 she started working on commission creating portraits of people’s houses for themselves. 


Now she will exhibit a collection of these works to the public presenting both homes and businesses that make up the area.


The locations she has chosen to be turned into paintings are those she has a dis...

Brunswick Voice • 6th November 2025

Indie musician explores new classical territory

EX-indie musician Nick Batterham breaks into classical composition with the release of his new album First Snow (Music for Piano and Strings).


The former guitarist of 1990s Indie pop-rock band The Earthmen changed tunes with his recent release that captures the sound of piano and string based music.


Batterham will launch the album at Tempo Robato in Brunswick next Monday, November 10.


Despite the genre change Pascoe Vale South-based Batterham still takes reference from his early days in...

The Swanston Gazette • 13th August 2025

The Albanese Government Announced Australia Would Recognise the State of Palestine

This follows similar announcements from Britain, Canada and France within the last month, adding to the 147 UN member states that recognise the state of Palestine. The Albanese government supported a two-state solution as the path out of the ongoing devastation of Palestine by the Israeli military. This solution to the crisis was proposed by the UN in 1947 to resolve rising political tension in the area following an increase in Jewish immigration from Europe. But since 1947 there have been repea...