July 10, 2026
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Heather is dry for life
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Heather Lee Angland is helping raise money for cancer support and services during this month’s Dry July challenge. This year marked the fifth time the Geelong woman has particpated in the challenge, as well as five years of being sober. Ms Angland started the challenge in 2021 after her mother, who lives in America, was diagnosed with stage four cancer. “Since I couldn’t really do anything for her, the challenge just felt like somewhere to focus my energy so, even if I wasn’t helping my mum, I was helping somebody else’s mum,” she said. As ambassodor for Team Love, Ms Angland, is helping raise money for Barwon Health’s Andrew Love Cancer Centre. Ms Angland, who is pictured with dog Tofu, has raised more than $1200 and Team Love has collectively raised more than $49000 as of 9am on 9 July. Full story page 10
No choice: workers By Jena Carr
increase offer of between 19 and 21 per cent undercut allied health work. “It’s important for us to get out and make the public and employees aware, while showing solidarity for the staff who do all the work on the ground,” he said. “What people don’t realise is that allied health is the second biggest clinical workforce after nurses, and we’re the unseen and forgotten workforce. “We’ve been bargaining for over 10 months for a new enterprise agreement, and we’ve really reached an impasse in terms of not achieving an outcome that’s satisfactory.”
Medical Scientists Association of Victoria member and pharmacist Renae Munzel said that “enough is enough” and that allied health workers were “stronger together”. “It makes me angry that I have to be here and that we have to struggle and fight so hard for what is considered just the bare minimum,” she said. “But it makes me feel good that I’m amongst co-workers, friends and work colleagues that are all here for the same reason, to fight for better longevity and conditions for our professions. Continued: Page 3.
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Geelong allied health workers spent their Tuesday lunch breaks rallying before walking off the job early to demand better pay and workforce conditions. Victorian Allied Health Professionals Association (VAHPA) members gathered outside University Hospital Geelong from 12.30pm before stopping work three hours early as part of protected industrial action on 7 July. VAHPA executive officer Andrew Hewat said allied health workers were a “critical part of the infrastructure”. “I did my training in Geelong as an
allied health professional, so it’s really important to come down and support the members here,” he said. “Barwon Health is one of the biggest regional health services in the state, and the allied health professionals who work there are essential to the communities it serves. “It’s a real problem for us in Victoria that we’ve fallen behind other states in terms of pay rates and some conditions, so we therefore have a real problem with retaining professionals.” Mr Hewat said workers in Geelong had been left with no choice but to take action after the state government’s latest wage