cohealth

12/10/2026

We’re pleased to welcome Dr Catherine Stephan back to cohealth Bicheno as our visiting locum GP, supporting Dr Anthony Brown from 19–23 October.

To book, please call us on 03 6375 1455

11/10/2026

Do you know a business or organisation struggling to find or keep staff in rural Tasmania? Don't miss this great opportunity to learn more. Registrations for tomorrow's workshop closing soon.

Across Tasmania many industries face a common challenge: attracting and retaining the skilled people our communities need to thrive.

Whether in healthcare, aged care, social services, education, tourism, hospitality, agriculture, aquaculture or viticulture, we know that recruitment is only part of the solution.

The real challenge is ensuring that new employees, professionals and their families choose to stay, become part of the community, and build their futures here.

We invite you to join a free online webinar exploring the evidence behind community-based approaches that support workforce retention in rural and remote communities.

https://events.humanitix.com/why-settling-and-connecting-matters-building-a-stronger-workforce-on-tasmania-s-east-coast

09/10/2026

World Mental Health Day 2026

“Appreciate the Little Things” photographic competition in Glamorgan-Spring Bay attracted many thoughtful and inspiring entries showing what people do every day to keep them feeling mentally well.

Our winning entry was “Right Place, Right Time” by Lisa McConnon with a beautiful photo of the Bicheno Blowhole.

Runner up: “Sunrise Splash”, Back Beach Swansea by Melissa Quinn featuring Lilibet

Highly commended:
- Terns at Diamond Island - Pete Murphy
- Sunrise Fishing in the Boat - Kerri Long
- Lola and Flo at Denison Beach - Katrina Fox

Thanks to all entrants and our volunteer judges from the Glamorgan-Spring Bay Community Health Advisory

04/10/2026

It was great to see so many local faces at our Communi-tea event today appreciating the little things this Mental Health Week.

For those who could not make today's event, Raj, an inspiring community member, with generous support from local businesses and individuals, has put together a terrific week of come-and-try events for Mental Health Week in Bicheno and Coles Bay.

Why not check out some of the great options during the week or next weekend to recognise World Mental Health Day on 10th October and perhaps have a photo with one of the amazing Scarecrows about town and the coast.

03/10/2026

We have the wondrous Jess Florence at the cohealth Communi-tea today Sunday 4th October Bicheno Hall, providing free face painting.

Check out the wellbeing event calendar (copies available at the event tomorrow) for Jess’s other offerings during mental health week including yin yoga and live sound in collaboration with Adriana

03/10/2026

Are you ready for the Communi-tea clothes/book/toy swap?

Good quality and clean only please, drop to the hall before 11am if you can.

11am-12pm is SWAP ONLY with your swap-dockets

12pm-2pm everyone welcome to remaining items, gold or silver coin donation to the community mental health and wellbeing fund 💫

03/10/2026

We have the wondrous Jess Florence at the cohealth Communi-tea tomorrow Sunday 4th October Bicheno Hall, providing free face painting.

Check out the wellbeing event calendar (copies available at the event tomorrow) for Jess’s other offerings during mental health week including yin yoga and live sound in collaboration with Adriana.

03/10/2026

Kaz will be joining the cohealth Communi-tea tomorrow - have a chat with her about the benefits of EFT and try a taster session in the Hall.

Kaz Waters is an Advanced Clinical EFT Practitioner and Registered Nurse with over 20 years’ experience across emergency, intensive care and mental health. Based on Tasmania’s East Coast, she teaches practical, evidence-based EFT (tapping) tools to help people manage stress, anxiety and overwhelm, regulate their nervous system and feel more at home in their body.

03/10/2026

"It is good people who make good places" Anna Sewell, Black Beauty.

Join us this Sunday 4th October 11am - 2pm to appreciate some of the little things that make Bicheno a strong community, including free live music from Matilda Wilson and Rob Wardlaw.

Matilda is a coastal-born songstress with an acoustic folk sound. Her music is influenced by the rich environment and natural serenity of Bicheno, her hometown. With soulful vocals and lyrics that tell stories with profound relatability, expect an enchanting live performance with originals and covers.
Rob is an up and coming musician playing with bands and solo on the coast and beyond.

Join us at the cohealth Communi-tea where these amazing local muso's will perform solo sets.

03/10/2026

Are you ready for the cohealth Communi-tea clothes/book/toy swap?

Good quality and clean only please, drop to the hall before 11am if you can.

11am-12pm is SWAP ONLY with your swap-dockets
12pm-2pm everyone welcome to remaining items, gold or silver coin donation to the community mental health and wellbeing fund 💫

09/07/2026

❤️🖤💛 What a special day celebrating NAIDOC Week with our community! ❤️🖤💛

Thank you to everyone who joined us at the NAIDOC Week Family Day at Braybrook Community Hub. We started the day with a moving Smoking Ceremony from Uncle Graham Cooper, leading into many activities around the Hub to discover and enjoy—the Blak Market, live music, bush tucker, Na Djinang Circus and more.

NAIDOC Week reminds us that we are fortunate to live and work on lands that First Nations peoples have cared for over more than 65,000 years. These lands, skies and waterways are home to the world's oldest continuing cultures, rich in strength and connection.

Thank you to City of Maribyrnong and everyone involved in making the day so memorable. We walk with First Nations peoples together towards justice, truth-telling and a more equitable future.

30/06/2026

Free mental health and wellbeing support is now available for people in Maribyrnong!

Together with Health, cohealth has opened the Mental Health and Wellbeing Local in Maribyrnong. This new service offers free mental health and wellbeing support to people aged 26 and over who live in the LGA.

You don’t need a Medicare card or a doctor’s referral to get support from this service. Whether you’re feeling stressed, overwhelmed, or worried by life’s challenges — we’re here to help.

Our friendly team of social workers, peer workers, psychologists, counsellors, and other mental health workers can be found at 575a Barkly St West Footscray.

Call us on 9448 5522 to book an appointment or to see how we can support you. We’re open from 9am – 5pm, Monday – Friday.

Thank you to Department of Health for continuing to bring free mental health and wellbeing support to communities in Melbourne.

Find out more on our website https://www.cohealth.org.au/service/mental-health-and-wellbeing-local/

30/06/2026

Join cohealth and City of Maribyrnong for a NAIDOC Family Day!

The community is invited to join us for this free event, which will have workshops, performances, a community lunch, live music, a Yarning circle, a Blak Market, and more. Come and celebrate "Fifty Years of Deadly" with a day of learning, listening, creating, and sharing.

📅 Wednesday 8 July
⌚ 10:30am - 2:00pm
📍 Braybrook Community Hub

For more information: https://www.maribyrnong.vic.gov.au/Community/Community-and-Cultural-celebrations/NAIDOC-Week/NAIDOC-Family-Day?

You’re invited to attend our free Family Day event with cohealth on Wednesday 8 July as part of NAIDOC Week.

It will be a jam-packed day with Blak Market Stalls, a Circus workshop from Na Djinang Circus, a podcasting workshop with Caroline from and much more!

🕙10.30am-2pm
📍Braybrook Community Hub.

This year’s theme, “Fifty Years of Deadly’ celebrates the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, culture and sharing stories from Elders.

NAIDOC Week is Sunday 5 July to 12 July. All events throughout the week are free and everyone is welcome.

Find out more and register: https://www.maribyrnong.vic.gov.au/Community/Community-and-Cultural-celebrations/NAIDOC-Week/NAIDOC-Family-Day

19/06/2026

“Everyone deserves a space to have fun and be active together where they can socialise with no judgement.”

This is what one young person told us at our most recent youth event, and we couldn’t agree more!

When the Queerdos (the wonderful LGBTIQA+ and allies youth group at cohealth 🌈) said they wanted to do some sport, staff from our Youth team got busy planning a fun morning of basketball and connection to mark IDAHOBIT.

The priority was to give young people a really safe and inclusive way to participate in sport, said Practice Excellence Coach, Youth Mental Health, Jasmin Langford.

“For many q***r young people, they might be playing sport in early childhood, and when they get older, they drift away and can’t get back to it. So, we knew there was a need for this type of event”.

A huge thank you to Leah from Basketball Victoria for coming down to coach—supporting the young people to have a go, learn new skills, and rediscover old ones.

With a podiatrist on hand and support from our Health Promotion team, young people were measured for shoes and comfortable clothes to play in.

“You’re definitely going to build way more confidence by coming here first and being with people who are similar to you and supportive,” said Llewi, another young person attending the event.

“Being able to see a space that’s open to everyone can be super encouraging.”

17/06/2026

“My community is incredibly diverse,” says Sara Mohsen, an Egyptian-Muslim bicultural worker. “There isn’t one single narrative for everyone.”

Sara is talking on Listening Beyond the System, a podcast produced by cohealth’s bicultural program and supported by the Victorian Bicultural Network.

The podcast takes a close look at mental health, care, and resilience in Victoria’s refugee and migrant communities from the perspectives of those working in communities.

Sara speaks about the sense of responsibility those in her community have towards each other, and how family, faith, and values support the resilience needed in a foreign country.

The podcast sheds light on the way mainstream mental health services and systems can create barriers for people from migrant and refugee communities when accessing mental health support.

“I’d say a big barrier is that the professionals or the practitioners in these mainstream mental health organisations don’t look like the people that they’re serving,” says Nanchok Chol, a South Sudanese lived-experience worker and another podcast guest.

“Much of the information that is out there about mental health comes from a very ‘white-lens’ approach.”

With insights on culture, migration experiences, language, and community connection, the podcast is a powerful and important tool for anyone working in the mental health space.

Importantly, it also celebrates the ways in which those in refugee and migrant communities advocate for one another and lift up their communities.

“I’m really just proud of all of the communities that are taking up space and autonomy to create the changes that they want,” says Nanchok.

Find out more on our website and listen to the podcast for Refugee Week: https://www.cohealth.org.au/news/listening-beyond-the-system-bicultural-workers-podcast/

05/06/2026

We welcome this week’s release of the Independent Review into our GP services.
We’re extremely grateful to everyone in our communities who shared their experiences and contributed submissions.

The Review’s recommended reforms are an important win for our Collingwood, Fitzroy and Kensington communities because they set a clear plan to strengthen General Practice services and make them more sustainable for the future.

It reflects what clients, clinicians and others in the community health sector have been advocating for over many years—that there needs to be a different approach to funding multidisciplinary care in communities that have complex needs.

cohealth accepts Recommendations 10-13 of the Review, which are identified for implementation by the organisation, and work to progress these recommendations has already begun. We will continue advocating for the funding and policy changes needed.

Full details of the recommendations can be found on our website: https://www.cohealth.org.au/cohealth-welcomes-the-release-of-the-independent-review-into-its-gp-services.

Importantly, cohealth clients will continue to have access to their much-loved local GP services.

The year ahead provides an opportunity to show what’s needed from government and cohealth to make sure that these services can be sustainable and meet our clients’ unique needs.

With any improvements we make over time, cohealth’s aim is for our clients’ experience of care to stay true to what they have told us matters most: That they feel heard and understood, that they have enough time at their appointments, and that they trust the team that cares for them.

02/06/2026

Last week, we joined Ngwala Willumbong Aboriginal Corporation in North Richmond to celebrate Reconciliation Week. It was such a meaningful morning of connection, healing, and reflection. Mob gathered for a bbq and bush tucker lunch to yarn and share space in a healing circle with Uncle Michael.

27/05/2026

How can you address the impact of colonisation at work? How can you make reconciliation part of your day-to-day?

This is the focus of Offset, a workshop series offered to staff across cohealth.

The series, developed by our Health Promotion team, asked how staff can carry the colonial load that their First Nations coworkers often carry?

Across three workshops, staff explored what acting in allyship looks like by sharing knowledge, experiences, and barriers, asking questions, and finally creating art.

The group shared many individual and collective takeaways, reflecting on how they could better recognise the colonial load on their First Nations coworkers and what they could do to offset that load away from them.

The artwork created in the final session reflected the learning that had occurred and encouraged staff to continue thinking deeply about how they can show up for their First Nations coworkers.

”You can see and feel how needed this sort of work is,” one staff member said. “It is the ‘what’s next’ to understanding the issues of colonisation in this country and in the health system."

Thank you to for facilitating such an open, honest, and engaging workshop series.

This year, Reconciliation Week asks Australians to go “All In” for reconciliation every single day. Reconciliation is not just the responsibility of First Nations people; it’s up to all of us. In both our work and personal lives, we can all walk on the journey to reconciliation.

26/05/2026

Today, we remember, acknowledge, and reflect on the Stolen Generations and the ways that the pain felt then has been felt across generations. With this pain also comes a story of survival and strength, and that story has been passed down.

We’re asking ourselves how we, as healthcare workers, can continue to contribute towards healing and reconciliation and shift the burden of the colonial load away from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and staff we work with. Healing is ongoing and must be woven through everything. We can support healing by working with a willingness to understand the past and how its impacts are felt today by so many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community members.

Artwork by Jamie Crooks, Jaimee Sweet and Tim Ware.

21/05/2026

Sometimes you just want to speak to someone who gets it. Someone who knows what you’re going through and can truly put themselves in your shoes.

At our Mental Health and Wellbeing Locals, this is exactly what community members who are supported by our peer workers get.

Peer work, says Zoe*, “provides a unique space for people to truly feel heard, held and helped.” In this space, people who have gone through their own mental health challenges and recovery can share their experience with others.

Zoe is part of the peer workforce at the new Mental Health and Wellbeing Local in Wyndham. Here, the team support Wyndham community members with empathy, understanding, and guidance.

“I moved into this space because I wanted to have a greater impact within my community,” says Zoe. “The Wyndham area is quite diverse and multicultural, but within many cultures, mental health is still a taboo topic. I would say the biggest barrier is a lack of understanding.”

However, peer workers can break down barriers by sharing their own experiences and pathways to recovery. Being able to say “I’ve been there too” is a powerful way to reduce stigma and create shared understanding.

“When I mention I have had my own journey with mental health, the guardrails come down,” says Zoe. “People almost immediately feel comfortable opening up about their experiences.”

You can find the Mental Health and Wellbeing Local in Wyndham at 1 Watton Street Werribee. Free support is available for anyone aged 26 and over. You do not need a Medicare Card or a doctor’s referral.

Give us a call today to make an appointment on 9448 5522 or email us at [email protected].

Find out more about our Mental Health and Wellbeing Locals on our website https://www.cohealth.org.au/service/mental-health-and-wellbeing-local/