Latest news with #Bairnsdale
ABC News
a day ago
- Health
- ABC News
Victorian GP Margaret Niemann awarded for her work as a mental health trailblazer
Margaret Niemann laughs off a question about her "legacy" in regional healthcare, but her impact is undeniable. The retired general practitioner, whose career spanned four decades, was recently awarded an OAM in the King's Birthday honours for her services to medicine as a GP. Dr Niemann's list of achievements is extensive, and includes long stints in remote Aboriginal communities, as well as providing groundbreaking access to mental health support in regional areas, long before such things became commonplace. Growing up in a suburban household in the Melbourne region, with no relatives ever working in the health or care sectors, Dr Niemann's choice to go into medicine was unexpected. "It just interested me," she said. "I was curious about how people worked and what made them tick, and I thought medicine sounded like a way I could explore that. Dr Neimann married a fellow med-school student, Michael Dawkins, a "country boy" who wanted to go into rural general practice. The idea intrigued young Margaret, and they made their home in the East Gippsland town of Bairnsdale in 1984, settling down with their one-month-old baby. Dr Niemann worked there as a GP-obstetrician while having her own children, and quickly noticed a gap in services for new mothers. PANDA — Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Australia — had started up in Melbourne a few years earlier, but Dr Niemann said "there wasn't anything in the country at the time". She and some others in the community joined forces to start offering antenatal classes in the area. The take-up was high, with strong interest from young mums and it helped solidify Dr Niemann's own interest in the area of mental health. After 12 years in Bairnsdale and three children, Dr Niemann and her husband needed a change. It came in the form of a federal government push to have GPs living in remote Northern Territory communities, which led Dr Niemann and her husband to Maningrida, an Arnhem Land town of about 2,500 people, 500 kilometres east of Darwin. She admitted it was nerve-racking, but with her husband, who she says is an "excellent GP", they "made a good team", providing much-needed healthcare and developing strong bonds with the Aboriginal community. Dr Neimann said she and her husband would often go out hunting, fishing and foraging with the locals, giving them a fascinating insight into the culture. "We just clicked — it worked well," Dr Niemann said. Dr Niemann said while she loved working in Aboriginal health, she was most proud of her achievements in mental health. When she began in the field, mental health care, as we now know it, was in its infancy, and psychological services in regional areas were pretty much non-existent. Dr Niemann said her earliest work was with people with eating disorders, and it grew from there. "There were no psychologists … so things like anxiety and depression, and even obsessive-compulsive disorder and PTSD were very hard to get any sort of support [for]," she said. While in Bairnsdale, she began diving into the psychological effects of trauma, which dovetailed with her work in Aboriginal communities, where she quickly recognised the impact of intergenerational trauma. "When I started, the idea [of] the psychological effects of trauma and PTSD was just not on the radar," Dr Neimann said. "People didn't think about it [or] acknowledge it. "[But now] it is recognised that it does cause … ongoing problems. We've progressed enormously from that time." Dr Niemann is quick to point out that throughout her career, especially when working remotely, she has been part of a good team. She retired during the COVID pandemic, and is loathe to use the word "legacy" when discussing the achievements and career that earned her a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the recent King's Birthday honours. Dr Neimann and her husband still live in Bairnsdale, where she enjoys gardening, baking, crafting and catching up with friends and family. After a long career, "life's good", she said.
ABC News
05-06-2025
- General
- ABC News
Record number of machetes seized in Victoria this year, police say
Police have seized a record number of illegal knives from Victorian streets this year, with an average of 44 confiscated every day. As of this week, Victoria Police said it had seized 6,876 blades, machetes and zombie knives, with about three-quarters taken from people in metropolitan Melbourne. The state police force's publication of illegal knife seizures on Friday comes amid a push by the state government and law enforcement to drive down knife crime. This includes a ban on the sale of machetes from stores across the state, which took effect last week. Police said the number of knives seized this year was expected to pass the 2024 total of 14,805 — an average of 40 per day. The force said there had been a 31 per cent increase in knives it's seized and destroyed since 2015. "Recent incidents, including the Northland youth gang fight and a mass stabbing in Bairnsdale, have understandably heightened community concern around the prevalence of knives in the community," a police spokesperson said. The Northland shopping centre brawl involving seven young males in Preston on May 25 sent frightened shoppers fleeing the complex or hiding in stores. In the same week, a woman in Bairnsdale in the state's east allegedly stabbed four men. Earlier this week, two teenagers were injured in a suspected machete attack in the Victorian town of Shepparton. Police said officers conducted regular "designated weapons search operations" at busy community locations, including 11 so far this year at transport hubs and shopping centres. During the search operations this year, officers have seized 59 illegal knives this way, police said. "While this is only a very small percentage of the almost 6,900 edged weapons seized this year, these operations remain integral to both preventing people carrying knives and ensuring the community feels safe," police said.
News.com.au
30-05-2025
- General
- News.com.au
Woman charged, four men hospitalised after alleged stabbing rampage in regional Victoria
A woman has been charged after she allegedly went on a stabbing spree in a regional Victorian town, attacking four men who were all left hospitalised. The 24-year-old Ravenhall woman's rampage allegedly began at a supermarket on Nicholson St in Bairnsdale at about 9:50pm on Thursday. Investigators received reports that a woman in her 20s was behaving erratically and approaching people in the shop. It is alleged she advanced towards a male staff member and stabbed him in the stomach before fleeing the store. The 45-year old man was rushed to hospital and remains in a serious condition. The woman then made her way to a nearby fast-food store, where she approached a 21-year-old man sitting in his car and demanded that he give her a lift. An altercation ensued in the car park, and the man was also allegedly slashed, receiving a minor laceration to his stomach. Police believe the woman then walked to a nearby hotel on Macleod St, where she allegedly assaulted a 52-year-old, striking him on the arm. The woman's alleged fourth and final victim was stabbed in the shoulder, as their paths crossed while she headed towards Bairnsdale Train Station. All men were rushed to hospital, and with the exception of the first victim who remains in a serious condition, were treated for minor injuries and have since been released. The woman was swiftly arrested by police and charged with intentionally cause injury and recklessly cause injury. She will appear before Bairnsdale Magistrates' Court on Friday.
Daily Mail
29-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Young woman arrested after going on wild stabbing spree near Melbourne
Victoria Police have charged a 24-year-old woman after four people were allegedly stabbed in Bairnsdale, about three hours east of Melbourne, on Thursday evening. Investigators have been told a woman was behaving erratically and approaching people in a supermarket on Nicholson Street about 9.50pm on 29 May. It's alleged the woman approached a 45-year-old male staff member and stabbed him in the stomach before leaving the store. The woman was seen heading towards a nearby fast-food restaurant car park where it is alleged she approached a 21-year-old man in his car and demanded a lift. There was an altercation between the two and the man received a laceration to his stomach. It is alleged the woman then went to a nearby hotel on Macleod Street and assaulted a 52-year-old man. He sustained a non-life-threatening laceration to his arm. The woman lastly made her way to the Bairnsdale Train Station and allegedly stabbed a fourth man, a 25-year-old, in the shoulder. Police quickly responded to the scene and arrested the 24-year-old woman. She has been charged with intentionally cause injury and recklessly cause injury. The Ravenhall woman will face Bairnsdale Magistrates' Court today. All four victims were taken to hospital, the first remains in a serious condition and the remaining were treated for minor injuries and released.
ABC News
29-05-2025
- General
- ABC News
Police question woman after stabbing spree through Bairnsdale in Victoria's east
A woman has allegedly stabbed four men at random in Bairnsdale, with one being treated for a serious wound to his stomach. Police said the woman from Ravenhall, aged 21, was behaving erratically in a supermarket on Nicholson Street in Bairnsdale about 9:50pm on Thursday. Officers allege she stabbed a male supermarket worker in the stomach and left the store. She then headed towards a fast-food restaurant car park and approached a man in his car and demanded a lift, police said. There was an altercation between the two and the man suffered a laceration to his stomach. Police believe the woman then went to a hotel on Macleod Street in Bairnsdale and assaulted a man in his 50s, injuring his arm. The woman then went to Bairnsdale train station and stabbed a man in his 20s in the shoulder, police said. Police said they then arrested the woman and she was assisting them with their enquiries. The first victim is being treated for serious but non-life-threatening injuries while the other three are being treated in hospital for minor injuries. There is no indication any of the parties involved were known to each other.
