Central Highlands Primary Care Partnership covers the four municipalities of City of Ballarat, Golden Plains, Hepburn and Moorabool Shires which have been "Exceptional Circumstances" declared and are currently experiencing a prolonged dry period which has had significant impact on the community and industry in the area.  
CHPCP has received funds through the Dept of Human Services under the "Tackling Mental Health" drought initiative.

Drought Mapping Report
A mapping exercise was undertaken in 2007 to assess the impact of drought on CHPCP member agencies.  Please click here to view the report.

Mental Health Training
CHPCP has provided 8 Mental Health First Aid courses and 2 Youth Mental Health First Aid courses.  To view training provided click here. Activities include a Respite Bus Trip in Hepburn Shire, Workshops in Golden Plains and a Grief & Loss Workshop at Lal Lal Falls in Moorabool.  
A Drought Postcard project was run with school children in Hepburn Shire. number of workshops have been run across the region and a respite bus trip.  To view postcards click here.
We are currently assisting University of Melbourne and Beyond Blue in evaluating a mental health awareness short course.

Drought Climate Change Coordinator -
One of the key areas of concern for the Central Highlands region has been the lack of coordination of drought related services across all levels of government and service providers in general.  For these reasons CHPCP decided to allocate funds in conjunction with Ballarat & District Division of General Practice and VicRelief to employ a Drought/Climate Change Coordinator for 12 months from August 2008.
It was decided to include climate change in this role as drought is one of the symptoms of long term changes in weather patterns associated with climate change.
Climate change has significant impacts for the future health, wellbeing  and sustainability of all communities and CHPCP is committed to minimising the impact and supporting communities as they adapt to future changes.

For further information about this work contact Helen Wade, 03 5338 4770 or email helenw@chpcp.org
A range of resources, and research documents related to these areas is located in the Resources area of the website.