Healthy Heart of Victoria

There is a clear need to find local and regional solutions that increase healthy eating and physical activity. According to the 2014 Victorian Population Health Survey, in the Macedon Ranges:

• 10% of adults meet vegetable consumption guidelines
• 37% of adults meet fruit consumption guidelines
• 40% of adults meet physical activity guidelines.

To address these challenges, over 130 stakeholders from local government, health services, primary care partnerships, universities, the regional partnership, and state government departments and agencies took part in design workshops in August and September 2016. This led to the development of the Healthy Heart of Victoria implementation framework(PDF, 11MB).

It involves three main components.

1. The Active Living Census
2. Infrastructure, facilities or programs that get more people, more active, more often
3. The Health Broker workforce

Overall, the initiative reflects the principle that health is the business of everyone, not just health services and health professionals.

The Healthy Heart of Victoria initiative is supported by the Victorian Government. The project has been funded until June 2020.

All households in the Loddon-Campaspe region were invited to take part in the Active Living Census in May-June 2019.

It provided an opportunity for residents to tell us what they need to be active, healthy and happy.

Thank you for all those who took part. We received almost 25,000 completed surveys, including 3,691 from Macedon Ranges Shire.

Congratulations to everyone that won prizes from completing the census. Seven lucky residents shared in the two major prizes (bike vouchers valued at $1,000 each) and five grocery vouchers (valued at $100 each).

Information from the census will assist community groups, sporting clubs, health agencies and local councils to develop local programs and facilities that improve health and wellbeing.

Local results will be published on our website when available.

The Healthy Heart of Victoria project will fund updates to existing spaces, facilities and programs that help more Macedon Ranges residents to be active, healthy and well.

This part of the Healthy Heart of Victoria program will target areas where residents are less active. It aims to get more people, more active, more often.

As part of the Healthy Heart of Victoria project, Macedon Ranges Shire Council now has a Health Broker, Anna Nicholson. Anna's role is to support local government staff to address health and wellbeing through healthy design and decision-making.

This part of the Healthy Heart of Victoria program aims to address the environments and systems that influence health and wellbeing. This work will also improve the liveability of our neighbourhoods.

The Health Broker team will also strengthen relationships between local councils and community groups, sporting clubs, and health agencies.

We are collecting people’s thoughts and ideas on the ways Council can use its open spaces and walking paths to encourage more people to take part in physical activity.

Share your ideas

Call Anna Nicholson on (03) 5422 0204 or email anicholson@mrsc.vic.gov.au