🟠 A billing boost and fire recovery

WHAT’S ON THIS WEEK 🎟️

• THURSDAY 15/01/26, 10.30AM-NOON | KPop Demon Hunters Disco

• SATURDAY 17/01/26 & SUNDAY 18/01/26, 6.30PM | Ozact’s The Tempest

• SATURDAY 17/01/26, 3PM-MIDNIGHT | Yarra Valley Rodeo

• Sunday 18/01/26, 5-10PM | Sunset Sounds

• EVERY WEEKDAY TO THURSDAY 15/01/26, 11AM-5PM | January Children’s Festival - SkyHigh Mount Dandenong

• WANDIN EAST — EVERY DAY TO FRIDAY 16/01/26 | Cherry Picking @ Cherry Hill Orchards

📰 THIS WEEK’S HEADLINES

🧑‍⚕️ More than 40 percent of Victorian GPs bulk bill, but at what cost?

Victorians are now twice as likely to find a bulk billing GP compared to last year, according to the newest annual report from online healthcare directory Cleanbill.

But as GP clinics struggle to balance their bottom lines, is enough being done to ensure a high quality of care?

Bulk billing is a service provided by some GP clinics where all charges are put through Medicare, with no out-of-pocket charges required from the person attending the GP clinic.

Published on Monday, Cleanbill’s fourth annual Blue Report highlighted that 701 – or 43.6 percent – of Victorian GP clinics said they offered bulk billing to all clients – more than double of last year’s figure of 302.

Launching in 2022, Cleanbill is an independent healthcare directory. Its work involves researchers phoning and surveying every GP clinic in the country on their billing practices. The latest “Blue Report” covers the period from November 1 to mid-December.

In November, the Federal Government introduced subsidies for clinics that bulk bill every patient.

Bulk billing clinics are eligible to earn an extra 12.5 percent on the current Medicare rebate paid by the government, while clinics in more remote locations receive more – up to about 190% of the Medicare subsidy received by metropolitan GP clinics.

Cleanbill founder and chief executive, James Gillespie, said it was uncertain how many would continue to use the new incentives in the long term.

“Often, clinics would advise us that…they're only doing it for six to 12 months to determine what the effect will be on their bottom line and they may yet switch back if the effect isn't what they want to see,” Gillespie told the Eastern Melburnian.

According to the report, the average cost for people visiting GPs in Victoria was $48.18 – a 14.7 percent jump compared to the average charge of $42.01 the year prior.

Gillespie said this was increasing because GP clinics that do not bulk bill have seen little to no change to their bottom line.

“As a result, a lot of those GP clinics have continued to increase their out-of-pocket costs,” said Gillespie.

Caroline Johnson, who works in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs as a GP and is an Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne, said many clinics that spent longer with their patients and saw fewer patients were not able to justify bulk billing.

“You've already created a strong financial disincentive to spend more time with the patient,” said Johnson.

Read the full story here.

🤝 A network of support: How Melbourne’s eastern suburbs reacted to the weekend’s bushfires

Fires blazing throughout Victoria over the weekend saw plumes of smoke drifting across Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.

Countless emergency alerts were sent out to Victorians across the state from Friday night onwards, as a number of fires burnt through communities near Alexandra in the state’s north-east, exacerbated by temperatures as high as 46 degrees and windy conditions.

The extreme heat experienced across the country’s east had been forecast as some of the worst conditions since the 2019/2020 Black Summer bushfires.

Police confirmed on Sunday that human remains had been found near a fire-affected road at Gobur, a remote area east of Seymour.

Teams from local brigades suited up and made the trek to provide support to the frontlines at fires in Alexandra and Longwood, including Montrose, Healesville, Lilydale and Belgrave South.

In the early hours of Saturday morning, Premier Jacinta Allan declared a State of Disaster for 18 Local Government Areas and one Alpine Resort – including Murrindindi – following advice from the Minister for Emergency Services and the Emergency Management Commissioner.

The declaration gave the government the powers and resources it needed to keep Victorians safe, including taking possession and making use of any property to respond to the disaster and compelling people to evacuate from the disaster area.

Premier Allan joined Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Sunday to announce an initial $19.5 million support package for bushfire-affected Victorians, including a $10 million emergency support program to help distribute hay.

Yarra Ranges Council co-ordinated an emergency relief centre at Lilydale High School’s basketball stadium for those fleeing affected areas late on Friday, with The Salvation Army emergency relief team and Animal Aid on hand.

Local food relief organisation Outer East Foodshare sent several hundred kilograms of food to the Healesville Community Link, while Rowville-based food charity Share Space donated a large load of water.

Read the full story here.

🗓️ Eight years and counting: Yarra Valley cycling trail’s uphill battle towards completion

A costly VCAT battle, rebuilding bridges lost in the Black Saturday bushfires and waterlogging issues have pushed back works on the Yarra Valley Trail by more than three years, with the eventual completion still uncertain due to a funding deficit.

A local cycling enthusiast told the Eastern Melburnian the project had been “moving at a snail’s pace” since it was first launched in 2018.

Following alongside the Lilydale to Yarra Glen rail corridor, the cycling trail aims to connect Yarra Glen and Healesville to the popular Lilydale-Warburton Rail Trail, with further extensions subject to additional funding or within the planning approval phase.

Funding of the trail includes $7.4 million from the Federal Government and $3.5 million from the State Government, with the council contributing $2.5 million to date.

Stage 1A – connecting Lilydale and Yering – has been opened, as well as part of Stage 1B – a 1.1-kilometre section north of McIntyre Lane in Yering. Part of Stage 2A – Yarra Glen to Tarrawarra – has also opened.

Originally slated for completion by September 2022, Stage 1B posed additional and costly challenges to the council, due to the requirement to rebuild a number of bridges lost in the 2009 Black Saturday fires, prolonged wet weather causing waterlogging and lengthy VCAT appeal procedures to secure a planning permit.

Due to the delays, the council decided to separate Stage 1B into a number of phases, with the second stage – a 1.5-kilometre section – now underway. It’s hoped the section will be opened in mid-2026.

The existing end of the trail does not connect to Melba Highway or Yarra Glen, meaning cyclists are required to turn around at the end of the new section.

Crossing the Yarra River will require more funding towards the construction of a bridge and 800 metres of proposed boardwalks.

Yarra Ranges councillor Fiona McAllister told the Eastern Melburnian advocating for additional funding is one of the council’s top priorities heading into this year’s state election.

Read the full story here.

SEEN THIS WEEK 🤓

🏫 Fossil fuels off the timetable

The National Account reporter Archie Milligan took a dive into the situation surrounding the influence fossil fuel companies can have in schools, with the ACT recently banning these companies from sponsoring schools in any way.

Watch the video below.

🚨 What happened to Eloise Worledge? Police offer $1 million for 1976 missing person case

Fifty years on from the disappearance of eight-year-old Eloise Worledge from her family home in Beaumaris, detectives from Victoria Police’s Missing Persons Squad have announced a $1 million reward for information leading to the closure of the case.

Worledge’s parents reported their daughter’s disappearance on the morning of January 12, 1976, with initial details pointing to Worledge being abducted from the family home on Scott Street in Beaumaris.

In one of the largest search operations in Victoria at the time, more than 250 police canvassed more than 6,000 properties in Beaumaris and nearby suburbs, including parks, reserves, vacant properties and the foreshore over the next 18 days.

Police originally offered a reward of $10,000, or about $79,000 today.

On Tuesday, Victoria Police confirmed their belief is that Eloise has been murdered since her disappearance.

All information welcome: Missing Persons Squad Detective Inspector, Dave Dunstan, said 50 years was not too long to give up on determining who was responsible for her disappearance – or finding Worledge’s remains.

“Eloise would be 58 years old if she was alive today,” said Dunstan. “She has missed growing up, finishing school, travelling, building a career, starting a family.”

To report any information, contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report via the Crime Stoppers website.