Healthy Loddon Campaspe

All households in the Loddon Campaspe region were invited to take part in the Active Living Census (ALC) in May-June 2019. Almost 25,000 responses were received.

The results from the ALC provide important information about people’s health and wellbeing. It also includes information about barriers to healthy eating and active lifestyles.

The ALC findings provide evidence at a local level, and enable reliable comparisons with other data, as well as across townships and demographic groups such as age and gender.

No other region in Australia has this type of data at this level of detail. The data supports planning for health and recreation services and a better understanding of people’s activity levels and preferences. It also gives us valuable information on what would help people meet national guidelines for healthy eating and active living.

We encourage any interested members of the community to view and utilise the data for their needs.

Key findings for the Macedon Ranges Shire

• Walking was the most popular form of recreational activity (21 per cent), followed by swimming (9 per cent), bushwalking/hiking (7 per cent), indoor fitness (7 per cent) and active play (6 per cent).
• Most residents use our public facilities and spaces. Two thirds of people (66 per cent) used footpaths weekly or more often, compared to 61 per cent for public open spaces and 32 per cent for walking and bike trails.
• Over half (53 per cent) of all residents want to be more active. The most common explanations of why people were not as active as they would like were being too busy (56 per cent), personal reasons such as not feeling motivated or feeling embarrassed (26 per cent) and cost (22 per cent).

View the Active Living Census reports for the Macedon Ranges Shire

• Selected Findings Report(PDF, 9MB)
• Topline Findings Report(PDF, 3MB)

This video will help you to use and interpret the findings:

You can also access recordings of online seminars on four key topics related to the census in Macedon Ranges Shire Council:

• Understanding and using the Active Living Census reports for Macedon Ranges Shire
• Overview of health and wellbeing outcomes for Macedon Ranges Shire
• Physical activity and recreation outcomes for Macedon Ranges Shire
• Healthy eating and food security outcomes for Macedon Ranges Shire

Active Living Census reports for Loddon Campaspe region can be downloaded from Regional Development Victoria

A workforce of localised Health Brokers work within the six Loddon Campaspe Local Government Areas to help build knowledge about health and wellbeing.

The Health Broker’s role is to make health everyone’s business – developing relationships between Council, local organisations and community groups to help build knowledge and influence decision making with respect to health and wellbeing.

Macedon Ranges residents are being encouraged to grow their own produce on their nature strip.

Five lucky households will receive:

• Vouchers for gardening tools, plants and seeds.
• Step-by-step assistance about what to grow and how to maintain your plants.
• Information and resources including recipes using your homegrown produce.

Find out more

Get active and have some fun for free with Adventure Bingo!

Adventure Bingo encourages residents to get involved by walking trails across the Loddon Campaspe region. Through the initiative, participants spot points of interest listed on a grid during their walk and once they’ve spotted three items in a vertical, horizontal or diagonal line, they’ve got Bingo!

The rules are simple:

• Head to the start point and start your walk.
• Mark off the sites on the Bingo card as you see them.
• Once you find all the sites in a straight, vertical, horizontal or diagonal line you’ve got Bingo!

There are three Adventure Bingo trails in the Macedon Ranges – Gisborne, Romsey and Kyneton, plus 16 others across our region.

• Email hlc@bendigo.vic.gov.au
• Stay up-to-date with the latest initiatives by visiting the Healthy Loddon Campaspe website.