West Gippsland Week

Prof Sara Charlesworth (RMIT) has been studying the Aged Care Syatem, and especially it's workforce, for some time here and overseas. In this conversation we explore the continuing crisis in the sector, and the lack of progress following the Royal Commission in Aged Care last year.

Melbourne University has been scoping out the potential of Geothermal Energy in the Latrobe Valley for some years. Here Prof Rachel Webster describes why it is so prospective in the Latrobe Valley and how it might be used immediately and in the long term.

The process of determining the uses for an area of State Forest declared last year as "an Immediate Protection Area" has started. Here forest campaigner Marg Thomas describes the process.

Federation university has produced a series of "Campus Vision" statements and are seeking community input. Here we talk about the campuses in Gippsland - Berwick and Churchill

The effectiveness of jail as a means of reducing crime has long been questioned by those who actually study the field, and the Justice Reform Project has been established to attempt to convince the community and especially politicians that there is a better way than continuing to build and fill jails.

Phillip Zylstra is an Associate Professor at Curtin University, and has studied Fire Ecology over many years. Here he discusses the limitations of current techniques, and his proposals for methods which work with the ecology to limit fire destructiveness.

Phil Ingamels recently retired after 20 years with the Victorian National Parks Association. Here he reflects on a couple of the major campaigns of recent times, and considers the future of the movement.

Apart from dramatic old vision of the Hindenberg disaster, and some political talk of hydrogen as our savior fuel, we don't know much about it. In this podcast we talk to Prof Vince Veheyen, an engineer from Federation University Churchill about the element and it's possibilities.

Mindfull Australia is an organisation seeking to bring training for Mental Health First Aid to the community, especially to young people. Here we talk to CEO Matt Runnalls about their programs, and what we can do to help ourselves cope.

Federation University (Victoria Australia) has announced a proposed restructure abolishing "schools" and the role of "dean", and put a call out for voluntary redundancy. Will the result be a University in anything but name? We talk to National Tertiary Education Union Branch President Matt Abbott about what we know (and don't know) about the proposals.