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GREATER HAMILTON
HAMILTON • BALMORAL • BRANXHOLME
BYADUK • CAVENDISH • COLERAINE • DUNKELD
GLENTHOMPSON • PENSHURST • TARRINGTON
What makes the Greater Hamilton region Australia’s most liveable
provincial community and the ideal place to Live, Work, Learn & Invest.
An outstanding breadth of educational opportunities
An outstanding Health Service
Some of the most productive agricultural land in Australia
A broad range of jobs and investment opportunities
The spectacular Grampians National Park in our backyard
Affordable housing, tree lined main streets, delightful smaller townships
A great lifestyle
GREATER HAMILTON
ONE PLACE. MANY POSSIBILITIES
GREATER HAMILTON
Strategic location. Strong heritage values.
Culture. Vibrancy. Rich natural assets.
Located within the volcanic
plains of Victoria’s Western
District, the Greater Hamilton
region is approximately 290
kilometres west of Melbourne
and 500 kilometres south-east of
Adelaide.
comprehensive infrastructure
and advanced utilities shape
its prosperous and sustainable
economic profile, and pave the
way for future development,
investment and employment
growth.
The region is home to a dynamic
portfolio of businesses thriving in
local, national and international
markets. A rich agricultural
heritage, fertile landscape,
The region includes a delightful
mix of smaller townships offering
different regional lifestyle
choices.
HWY
Wartook
Black Range State
Park
Halls Gap
Rocklands
Reservoir
Grampians
National
Park
HENTY
Balmoral
Lake
Wartook
A200
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The Greater Hamilton region’s
17,000-strong population enjoys
superior leisure and medical
facilities, prestigious schools
and tertiary institutions. A
sophisticated arts culture and
a thriving retail and hospitality
sector inject vibrancy, while
breathtaking landscapes add to
the strong sense of place.
C216
Nareen
Dundas Range
Reserve
Wa
nd
o
Rive
r
Cavendish
Coleraine
HWY
River
B160
Wannon
Glenthompson
Dunkeld
ELG
EN
GL
ve
r
Hamilton
Wannon
A200
Branxholme
TO
in
s
N
Tabor
Mt Napier
State Park
Byaduk
Macarthur
pk
MIL
Penshurst
Ho
HA
Ri
Tarrington
Tahara
Y
B160
HW
Casterton
HEN
TY
HWY
B140
HW
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The region is home to a dynamic
portfolio of businesses thriving in
local, national and international
markets.
GREATER HAMILTON
HAS IT ALL
Strong, diverse economy.
Investor appeal.
Employment and growth opportunities.
Affordability.
Amenity.
Social capital.
Support networks.
Smart planning.
Unlimited potential.
GREATER HAMILTON
AT A GLANCE
An economy with a Gross
Regional Product of $795
million
A Centre of Educational
Excellence with six
secondary colleges, two
of which offer boarding
facilities
An excellent fully
accredited Health Service.
The main Hamilton Base
Hospital has over 7000
admissions and more than
200 deliveries per year
with facilities in Coleraine,
Balmoral and Penshurst
Boasting a regionally
significant art gallery,
cinema and performing
arts centre
An innovative and diverse
agricultural sector worth
around $215 million per
year, ranging from sheep
and cattle to flax and
canola
Major wind farm
developments, including
the largest in the Southern
Hemisphere on the
region’s southern boundary
Victoria’s third largest
livestock exchange selling
1 million sheep and 60,000
cattle per year
Gateway to the spectacular
Grampians National Park
A state-of-the-art mineral
sands processing plant
processing up to 450,000
tonnes of rutile and zircon
for annual export
A Council and community
looking for new investors
and residents to share in
the growth potential of the
region
A delightful mix of smaller
townships offering
different regional
lifestyle choices
Long-term forestry
investment with over
34,000 hectares of harvestready timber and scope for
replanting
It’s all here in Australia’s
most liveable provincial
community.
The ideal place to live,
work, learn & invest.
LIVE IN
GREATER HAMILTON
Imagine relaxed living standards
without compromise. No daily
commute, and affordable
housing options...
From idyllic rural escapes
to historic stone homes on
tree-lined streets, the Greater
Hamilton region also boasts an
exciting mix of contemporary
dwellings with plenty of room for
the vehicles, kids, pets... and
inevitable weekend guests.
In addition to a packed social
calendar of events and festivals,
you will savour life’s little luxuries
minus the queues or crowds great coffee, cinemas, galleries,
boutiques, libraries and countless
outdoor pursuits from golf to
fishing and hiking. Food and wine
is also taken very seriously, with
options ranging from Dunkeld’s
multi-award winning Royal Mail
Hotel to lunch time coffee and
bistro cafés.
You will embrace the change of
pace without feeling isolated;
full mobile and high speed
broadband coverage is available
along with excellent transport
connectivity to Adelaide and
Melbourne via V/Line coaches
and trains.
John Hedley
Darriwill Farm
Over the years, the food and wine culture has changed, and we are
embracing it in the country. Even to this day, we have city people come
through our store and they’re absolutely blown away.
Sonia Shaw
Maternity Services Program Co-ordinator
Western District Health Service
My husband and I came down here for a year so that I could take up a job as
a graduate midwife 10 years ago. We loved it, so we stayed. Great place to
work, great place to live; there’s not much not to like about it.
Vicki Douglas
Victoria’s Sights & Delights
It’s a tight knit community but it’s got all the services, and we’ve got
everything we need. My children are now adults, but they were always
able to get a part time job growing up, along with an education
and then their full-time jobs - and I’ve been able to
open a business.
LIVE IN
GREATER HAMILTON
HEALTH
The Greater Hamilton region
has invested substantially
in community wellbeing by
delivering high quality health
care and illness prevention
programs. The fully-accredited,
multi-campus Western District
Health Service includes Hamilton
Base Hospital, Penshurst District
Health Service, Coleraine District
Health Services and the Frances
Hewitt Community Centre.
Hamilton Base Hospital has 75
acute beds, 90 aged care beds
and a range of communitybased services, with 7000
admissions and more than 200
deliveries per year. The hospital
has three resident surgeons
and a consultant anaesthetist,
and performs 3000 surgical
procedures annually with ICU
and HDU facilities. Visiting
services include orthopaedics,
ophthalmology, urology,
dermatology, endocrinology
and neurology.
Dr Dale Ford
General Practitioner
Hamilton Medical Group
Patients don’t have to travel
in order to receive specialist
care. We also now have access
to significant numbers of
allied health – practitioners,
dieticians, diabetes educators,
occupational therapists,
physiotherapists - to actually
help with looking after people
in the acute care situation
as well as in chronic disease
management.
AMENITY
Stephen Clifforth
Surgeon
I was leaving in the morning
before my daughter woke up
and getting home while she
was asleep and I thought “I’m
not going to see my kids”. I was
attracted to Hamilton because its
reputation of was excellent. There
were two well-known surgeons
here and it was an opportunity
to join two colleagues in an
associateship, which was pretty
unusual, which meant a good
work-life balance.
The Greater Hamilton region’s
safe and secure environment
has a strong community spirit
demonstrated by the high
number of social and sporting
clubs, special interest groups
and volunteer organisations.
The Hamilton Indoor Leisure and
Aquatic Centre is among the
major recreational drawcards,
featuring an eight-lane heated
indoor 25-metre pool, children’s
pool, fully equipped gymnasium,
basketball courts, multi-use
table tennis area, squash and
racquetball, meeting space,
crèche and café.
From Hockey played on a
synthetic turf to lawn tennis to
golf played on grass greens
or sand greens, the Greater
Hamilton region offers a breadth
of sporting and recreational
activities equal to anywhere. And
all this happens in a community
where you know the other
families and the day is as much
about the social activity as the
sport.
Mark McGinnity
Principal
Monivae College
I think that people will start
to realise that Hamilton is a
very safe area and a really
great place to bring up young
people. It’s got a wonderful
hospital, it’s got wonderful
education and I just think that
it will attract more and more
people as they get sick of
the business of the city and
all of the problems that are
associated with that.
LEARN IN
GREATER HAMILTON
EDUCATION
The Greater Hamilton region
is renowned for its quality
education, with first-rate
facilities, small class sizes,
beautiful grounds and broad
curriculus. The region has a
strong and long-held reputation
for its quality day and boarding
schools renowned for high TER
rankings, while also providing
a strong platform for vocational
and life training.
One of Australia’s largest
universities, the Royal Melbourne
Institute of Technology (RMIT),
has established a research
campus in Hamilton.
The Hamilton South West
Institute of TAFE campus also
offers extensive tertiary study
options leading to diploma
or certificate qualifications
or credits toward university
study. The Hamilton District
Skill Centre, Rural Industries
Skills Training and Southern
Grampians Adult Education are
other diverse post-secondary
education options producing
outstanding results on a wider
stage.
Robert Vecchiet
Principal
Baimbridge College
There’s a real sense of community about this school and the town; everyone
is really supportive of each other. We are able to offer a breadth of curriculum
that I couldn’t offer students even when I was working in Melbourne. To come
here and be able to offer the students the opportunity to study physics,
chemistry, maths, all the way through to psychology, to hospitality, building,
construction and automotive is just a delight.
Bruce Simons
Principal
The Hamilton and Alexandra College
The school is a very academic school. Ninety-eight per cent of our students
on average go to university and we’re very proud of that. We also have some
quite unique programs; we have a campus in China, and our year nines go
to China every year for one month. We also have a very proud equestrian
program, so students can either just learn to ride a horse right through to
competing at the highest levels. We’re building young people’s confidence, resilience, their mindsets,
allowing them to understand and build upon their character strengths, so that we’re developing positive
people who will make a great contribution to society.
WORK IN
GREATER HAMILTON
The Greater Hamilton region is
the gateway to a wide variety
of jobs, and its strength lies
in its business diversity and
leading edge technologies. If
you are looking for a career or
tree change, demand for skilled
expertise is high.
A large secondary and tertiary
school system and hospital
attracts close to 750 highly
qualified professionals with
further room for growth, while
the education, media and
telecommunications, information
technology and arts sectors are
also seeking new personnel. The
strong local economy supports
exciting careers in accounting,
insurance, agribusiness, law
and conveyancing, while the
burgeoning plantation forestry
industry is adding further
employment optimism.
The region also supports
a significantly diversified
agriculture sector, and highly
successful technology,
manufacturing and mining
industries, including the $300
million mineral sands project
processing rutile and zircon for
the world market.
If you are a looking for a
career or tree change,
demand for skilled
expertise is high.
Tony MacGillivray
Hamilton District Skill Centre
These sort of facilities are about engagement;
learning comes with engagement, so if we engage
them in some of these courses, they’ll learn and we
can put them out into the workforce.
Damian Hayes
Teacher
Gray Street Primary School, Hamilton
Being my first teaching position, I sort of came in
with a ‘what can I learn?’ attitude, and it’s been
met really well. I’ve had really great support from
all of the teachers and principal and everyone’s
just been really helpful. I’ve also been able to step
up and take on a few other roles.
INVEST IN
GREATER HAMILTON
If you are looking to invest in
a vibrant economy filled with
business confidence and
optimism, the Greater Hamilton
region is the place to be.
We offer a solid platform for
development and employment,
building on the substantial
strengths of the region. Our
resources, amenities and
infrastructure offer significant
opportunities for a broad range
of businesses, industries and
support services.
Rich natural assets, a proven
resilience to tougher financial
times, advanced utilities and
an unwavering commitment to
growth have helped to shape
our economic diversity.
A central and strategic
location, superior leisure and
medical facilities, prestigious
educational centres and a
thriving retail and hospitality
sector adds to our appeal,
while substantial tourism
drawcards, inspirational
landscapes, rich heritage and
a sophisticated arts culture
enhance community pride.
Mark Diedrichs
Australian Bluegum
Plantations
At the moment, Australian
Bluegum engages about a
minimum of 260 workers. That
might be through contracting,
growing our seed, boiler
making, or looking after
harvesting equipment. The
possibilities are enormous;
there’s training opportunities,
there’s opportunities to get
into your own business, and
globally, the demand for wood
product is certainly increasing.
Here in the Greater Hamilton
region, everything is looking
up. You’ll never look back.
Moderate climate with
availability of water
Established freight routes
Efficient transport networks
Available industrial land
Affordable real estate
Elevated topography
and landscape filled with
natural attractions
Quality vocational,
educational and
professional development
facilities
Advanced infrastructure
and utilities including
telecommunications
Agriculture
Mining
Forestry
Reliable and diverse
workforce
Warren Butcher
Unicraft Joinery
You can really set yourselves
up with low costs and as
your market grows, you can
still move product to the
bigger cities. I find I can be
very competitive going into
Melbourne.
The Southern Grampians Shire Council is the
first point of contact for individuals, families
or companies wishing to establish, relocate,
diversify or expand in this region. Our objective
is to provide an atmosphere that is positive for
development and investment opportunities and
encourages employment and business growth.
We will help to meet your needs and maximise
your opportunities and can also provide that
crucial link between government, business and
the private sector. In doing so, we can further
enhance the sustainability of our economic base
- and our community.
Southern Grampians Shire Council
Economic Development & Tourism Unit
1 Market Place Hamilton VIC 3300
Phone 03 5573 0240
Email [email protected]
juliareader.com.au
Distances to Hamilton
Portland
85km
Warrnambool
110km
Geelong
235km
Melbourne
295km
Adelaide
500km
SOUTH
AUSTRALIA
VICTORIA
Horsham
Grampians
National Park
Coonawarra
HAMILTON
Ballarat
Mount
Gambier
MELBOURNE
Warrnambool
Portland
Port
Fairy
www.liveingreaterhamilton.com.au
Geelong
Great Ocean Road