✨ Last night we celebrated some of the extraordinary people who make Monash such a strong, connected and caring community at the 2026 Sir John Monash Awards.
This year we received 85 nominations across 10 categories, recognising volunteers, leaders, advocates and changemakers who give so much of themselves to help others, often quietly and with little or no fanfare.
More than 155 people joined us to celebrate their contribution, and it was a privilege to hear some of their stories and recognise the difference they make every day.
Congratulations to every nominee and award winner, and especially to our overall winner, Betty. At 91 years young and still going strong, Betty is an incredible example of a lifetime spent giving back to others. ❤️
Over the coming weeks Council will be sharing more about this year’s winners and the work they do across our community. ... See MoreSee Less
🎭 What a fantastic afternoon (and night) at the theatre!
We headed along as a whole family to see Huntingtower School’s production of Once Upon a One More Time and absolutely loved it. In fact, the girls enjoyed it so much they went back and watched it again the same evening!
There’s something pretty special about seeing the talent, energy and enormous amount of work that students put into a production like this.
A huge congratulations to everyone at Huntingtower involved, both on stage and behind the scenes. You certainly won some very enthusiastic fans in our family! 👏🎭❤️ ... See MoreSee Less
We have somehow reached a point where asking whether children should be able to watch sport without being bombarded with gambling advertising is treated as the radical position.
It isn’t.
The comparison with tobacco sponsorship is important. We were once told that sport couldn’t survive without tobacco money. We were also told regional television stations wouldn’t survive without tobacco advertising. Both did. Sport adapted, broadcasters adapted, new advertisers and sponsors emerged, and today the idea of cigarette companies plastering their brands across our major sporting codes or filling television ad breaks would seem extraordinary.
There is no reason gambling should be treated differently.
And the community is well ahead of the decision makers on this. Recent national polling found 77% of Australians support a ban on gambling advertising, including majorities across every political grouping surveyed. Support rises to 81% for banning gambling ads online and on social media, and 87% for banning them during the hours children and families are likely to be watching television.
Yet our major sporting codes have become addicted to gambling revenue, and political parties have become addicted to donations from the gambling industry. Governments continue to put the financial interests of those codes and industries ahead of what the overwhelming majority of Australians are asking for.
Governments are elected to represent and serve the people, not corporate interests. When such an overwhelming majority of the community is calling for action, but that action is resisted because powerful industries and sporting codes have become financially dependent on the status quo, we should be asking some serious questions about whose interests are actually being served.
We constantly hear the argument that sport can’t afford to lose this money. That’s not a reason to continue the harm.
If, in the absolute worst case, removing gambling money meant a top AFL or NRL player earning $1.5 million had to take a 25% pay cut and survive on $1.125 million a year, I think that’s a price we should be prepared to pay as a society.
This is not about banning gambling. Gambling is legal, and adults are entitled to make their own choices.
It is about whether we should allow an industry that causes real and well-documented harm to aggressively advertise and normalise its product, while also using inducements, promotions and direct marketing to keep people gambling, including people already experiencing gambling harm. That is especially concerning when gambling is tied so closely to something as deeply embedded in Australian culture and childhood as sport.
Australian research has linked gambling harm with suicidal thoughts, intimate partner violence and serious financial stress. A Victorian study found 4.2% of suicides between 2009 and 2016 were linked to gambling, with researchers warning the true figure may be higher because gambling problems are often concealed.
At the same time, suicide remains the leading cause of death for Australians aged 15 to 24. In 2024, more than one in four deaths among 15 to 24 year olds were from suicide, and one in five deaths among 25 to 44 year olds.
We also have governments across Australia rightly treating family and domestic violence as a national priority. In 2025, 52 Australian women were killed by gendered violence, an average of one woman every week.
These aren’t insignificant harms that we should simply accept to protect a lucrative revenue stream. If we are serious about reducing suicide, family violence and financial harm, then we also need to be prepared to tackle the industries and practices that contribute to them, even when doing so comes at a financial cost.
I’m proud that, as Mayor, Monash Council has arguably some of the toughest gambling policies in the country. As a government, we have acted and used the limited powers available to us to reduce gambling harm in our community.
It’s time for other levels of government to do their bit.
Sport survived without tobacco money.
It will survive without gambling money too.
Great piece from Ayla Chorley. The public is ready for this. It’s time our sporting codes and governments caught up.
It was great to visit Glenallen School for the opening of their new Mini Woolworths, giving students the opportunity to build practical skills and confidence through a hands-on supermarket experience.
There was plenty happening throughout the morning, including motorised scooters with Waverley Toyota, bingo, AFL handball and planting activities. It was fantastic to see everyone so engaged and having such a great time.
Glenallen School does amazing work in our community supporting people of all abilities, and it is always a pleasure to see firsthand the opportunities they create for their students.
A big thank you to Woolworths Group, Waverley Toyota and the entire Glenallen School community for putting together such a terrific event and continuing to create inclusive opportunities for young people. 👏 ... See MoreSee Less
I had the privilege of conducting an individual citizenship ceremony in my office for a Monash resident who, due to being immunocompromised, was unable to attend one of our larger ceremonies.
Becoming an Australian citizen is an incredibly significant moment, and everyone should have the opportunity to mark it in a way that works for their circumstances.
It was a pleasure to be able to make that happen today.
Congratulations on becoming our newest Australian citizen! 🇦🇺 ... See MoreSee Less
If you haven’t already, please make sure you complete your Census and include everyone staying in your home tonight.
The Census helps governments plan for the services and infrastructure our community needs, including schools, health care, transport and local services.
An accurate count matters, so please make sure Monash is counted. ... See MoreSee Less
🗑️ This would be a disaster for waste reduction in Victoria, and an extraordinary overreach into local government.
We constantly hear that councils should stick to “roads, rates and rubbish”. Yet now the Victorian Opposition wants the State Government to dictate exactly how councils collect that rubbish.
There are distinct responsibilities for each level of government. Waste collection is one of the most fundamental services delivered by local councils. Councils design, contract and pay for these services based on the needs of their communities. A blanket State Government mandate for weekly red bin collections tramples all over that our democratic system of Government.
This feels like a classic populist policy, designed to sound good in a headline rather than deal seriously with the long-term challenge of reducing waste.
Good public policy should not just be about what is easiest or most popular today. It should be about leaving a better system for future generations, reducing the amount of waste we bury in the ground, using resources more responsibly and changing behaviours over time.
Forcing councils back to weekly red bin collection would effectively double household landfill capacity. It would mean more waste being buried in the ground, more garbage trucks on our streets, more fuel use and emissions, and significantly higher collection costs. Those additional costs will ultimately be passed directly on to ratepayers through their waste charges, in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.
It also sends completely the wrong message. We should be helping households get food waste into FOGO and recyclables into recycling, not making it easier to send more waste to landfill.
If the State Government wants to set statewide environmental and waste reduction targets, that is entirely appropriate. But councils should be able to determine how local waste collection services are delivered to meet those targets.
You cannot tell councils to stick to “roads, rates and rubbish” and then announce that you are going to take control of the rubbish.
This might be an easy political promise to make today for short-term political gain, but ratepayers will be left paying the bill and future generations will be left dealing with the environmental consequences. ... See MoreSee Less
🚆 Is Airport Rail really Melbourne’s transport priority?
I joined Raf Epstein on ABC Radio this morning to talk about Melbourne Airport Rail and where it should sit among the many transport projects our growing city needs.
We have growth areas still waiting for electrified rail, bottlenecks that need fixing, missing rail extensions and suburbs crying out for more frequent and reliable public transport.
And whenever I ask why Airport Rail needs to be the priority, the first answer is often, “because every other major city has one”. That’s not a reason to spend upwards of 15 billion dollars.
Have a listen to our discussion in the comments. 🎧 ... See MoreSee Less
✨ Last night we celebrated some of the extraordinary people who make Monash such a strong, connected and caring community at the 2026 Sir John Monash Awards.
This year we received 85 nominations across 10 categories, recognising volunteers, leaders, advocates and changemakers who give so much of themselves to help others, often quietly and with little or no fanfare.
More than 155 people joined us to celebrate their contribution, and it was a privilege to hear some of their stories and recognise the difference they make every day.
Congratulations to every nominee and award winner, and especially to our overall winner, Betty. At 91 years young and still going strong, Betty is an incredible example of a lifetime spent giving back to others. ❤️
Over the coming weeks Council will be sharing more about this year’s winners and the work they do across our community. ... See MoreSee Less
1 CommentsComment on Facebook
🇦🇺 A special night welcoming our newest Australian citizens at tonight’s City of Monash citizenship ceremony.
It’s always a privilege to preside over these ceremonies and share such an important moment with new citizens and their families.
Congratulations and welcome! 🇦🇺 ... See MoreSee Less
0 CommentsComment on Facebook
🎭 What a fantastic afternoon (and night) at the theatre!
We headed along as a whole family to see Huntingtower School’s production of Once Upon a One More Time and absolutely loved it. In fact, the girls enjoyed it so much they went back and watched it again the same evening!
There’s something pretty special about seeing the talent, energy and enormous amount of work that students put into a production like this.
A huge congratulations to everyone at Huntingtower involved, both on stage and behind the scenes. You certainly won some very enthusiastic fans in our family! 👏🎭❤️ ... See MoreSee Less
0 CommentsComment on Facebook
I agree with this 100%.
We have somehow reached a point where asking whether children should be able to watch sport without being bombarded with gambling advertising is treated as the radical position.
It isn’t.
The comparison with tobacco sponsorship is important. We were once told that sport couldn’t survive without tobacco money. We were also told regional television stations wouldn’t survive without tobacco advertising. Both did. Sport adapted, broadcasters adapted, new advertisers and sponsors emerged, and today the idea of cigarette companies plastering their brands across our major sporting codes or filling television ad breaks would seem extraordinary.
There is no reason gambling should be treated differently.
And the community is well ahead of the decision makers on this. Recent national polling found 77% of Australians support a ban on gambling advertising, including majorities across every political grouping surveyed. Support rises to 81% for banning gambling ads online and on social media, and 87% for banning them during the hours children and families are likely to be watching television.
Yet our major sporting codes have become addicted to gambling revenue, and political parties have become addicted to donations from the gambling industry. Governments continue to put the financial interests of those codes and industries ahead of what the overwhelming majority of Australians are asking for.
Governments are elected to represent and serve the people, not corporate interests. When such an overwhelming majority of the community is calling for action, but that action is resisted because powerful industries and sporting codes have become financially dependent on the status quo, we should be asking some serious questions about whose interests are actually being served.
We constantly hear the argument that sport can’t afford to lose this money. That’s not a reason to continue the harm.
If, in the absolute worst case, removing gambling money meant a top AFL or NRL player earning $1.5 million had to take a 25% pay cut and survive on $1.125 million a year, I think that’s a price we should be prepared to pay as a society.
This is not about banning gambling. Gambling is legal, and adults are entitled to make their own choices.
It is about whether we should allow an industry that causes real and well-documented harm to aggressively advertise and normalise its product, while also using inducements, promotions and direct marketing to keep people gambling, including people already experiencing gambling harm. That is especially concerning when gambling is tied so closely to something as deeply embedded in Australian culture and childhood as sport.
Australian research has linked gambling harm with suicidal thoughts, intimate partner violence and serious financial stress. A Victorian study found 4.2% of suicides between 2009 and 2016 were linked to gambling, with researchers warning the true figure may be higher because gambling problems are often concealed.
At the same time, suicide remains the leading cause of death for Australians aged 15 to 24. In 2024, more than one in four deaths among 15 to 24 year olds were from suicide, and one in five deaths among 25 to 44 year olds.
We also have governments across Australia rightly treating family and domestic violence as a national priority. In 2025, 52 Australian women were killed by gendered violence, an average of one woman every week.
These aren’t insignificant harms that we should simply accept to protect a lucrative revenue stream. If we are serious about reducing suicide, family violence and financial harm, then we also need to be prepared to tackle the industries and practices that contribute to them, even when doing so comes at a financial cost.
I’m proud that, as Mayor, Monash Council has arguably some of the toughest gambling policies in the country. As a government, we have acted and used the limited powers available to us to reduce gambling harm in our community.
It’s time for other levels of government to do their bit.
Sport survived without tobacco money.
It will survive without gambling money too.
Great piece from Ayla Chorley. The public is ready for this. It’s time our sporting codes and governments caught up.
#EndGamblingAds #GamblingReform ... See MoreSee Less
1 CommentsComment on Facebook
It was great to visit Glenallen School for the opening of their new Mini Woolworths, giving students the opportunity to build practical skills and confidence through a hands-on supermarket experience.
There was plenty happening throughout the morning, including motorised scooters with Waverley Toyota, bingo, AFL handball and planting activities. It was fantastic to see everyone so engaged and having such a great time.
Glenallen School does amazing work in our community supporting people of all abilities, and it is always a pleasure to see firsthand the opportunities they create for their students.
A big thank you to Woolworths Group, Waverley Toyota and the entire Glenallen School community for putting together such a terrific event and continuing to create inclusive opportunities for young people. 👏 ... See MoreSee Less
0 CommentsComment on Facebook
🇦🇺 A very special citizenship ceremony today.
I had the privilege of conducting an individual citizenship ceremony in my office for a Monash resident who, due to being immunocompromised, was unable to attend one of our larger ceremonies.
Becoming an Australian citizen is an incredibly significant moment, and everyone should have the opportunity to mark it in a way that works for their circumstances.
It was a pleasure to be able to make that happen today.
Congratulations on becoming our newest Australian citizen! 🇦🇺 ... See MoreSee Less
4 CommentsComment on Facebook
📋 Tonight is Census night.
If you haven’t already, please make sure you complete your Census and include everyone staying in your home tonight.
The Census helps governments plan for the services and infrastructure our community needs, including schools, health care, transport and local services.
An accurate count matters, so please make sure Monash is counted. ... See MoreSee Less
0 CommentsComment on Facebook
🗑️ This would be a disaster for waste reduction in Victoria, and an extraordinary overreach into local government.
We constantly hear that councils should stick to “roads, rates and rubbish”. Yet now the Victorian Opposition wants the State Government to dictate exactly how councils collect that rubbish.
There are distinct responsibilities for each level of government. Waste collection is one of the most fundamental services delivered by local councils. Councils design, contract and pay for these services based on the needs of their communities. A blanket State Government mandate for weekly red bin collections tramples all over that our democratic system of Government.
This feels like a classic populist policy, designed to sound good in a headline rather than deal seriously with the long-term challenge of reducing waste.
Good public policy should not just be about what is easiest or most popular today. It should be about leaving a better system for future generations, reducing the amount of waste we bury in the ground, using resources more responsibly and changing behaviours over time.
Forcing councils back to weekly red bin collection would effectively double household landfill capacity. It would mean more waste being buried in the ground, more garbage trucks on our streets, more fuel use and emissions, and significantly higher collection costs. Those additional costs will ultimately be passed directly on to ratepayers through their waste charges, in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.
It also sends completely the wrong message. We should be helping households get food waste into FOGO and recyclables into recycling, not making it easier to send more waste to landfill.
If the State Government wants to set statewide environmental and waste reduction targets, that is entirely appropriate. But councils should be able to determine how local waste collection services are delivered to meet those targets.
You cannot tell councils to stick to “roads, rates and rubbish” and then announce that you are going to take control of the rubbish.
This might be an easy political promise to make today for short-term political gain, but ratepayers will be left paying the bill and future generations will be left dealing with the environmental consequences. ... See MoreSee Less
19 CommentsComment on Facebook
🚆 Is Airport Rail really Melbourne’s transport priority?
I joined Raf Epstein on ABC Radio this morning to talk about Melbourne Airport Rail and where it should sit among the many transport projects our growing city needs.
We have growth areas still waiting for electrified rail, bottlenecks that need fixing, missing rail extensions and suburbs crying out for more frequent and reliable public transport.
And whenever I ask why Airport Rail needs to be the priority, the first answer is often, “because every other major city has one”. That’s not a reason to spend upwards of 15 billion dollars.
Have a listen to our discussion in the comments. 🎧 ... See MoreSee Less
6 CommentsComment on Facebook