General News
10 March, 2023
Best and worst of our towns in need of country comfort
Health profiles of nine towns in the Wimmera region reveal a litany of disturbing statistics, according to the combined West Wimmera Health Service and La Trobe University survey. Some health figures were more than three times worse than the...
Health profiles of nine towns in the Wimmera region reveal a litany of disturbing statistics, according to the combined West Wimmera Health Service and La Trobe University survey.
Some health figures were more than three times worse than the statewide median, while almost all towns underperformed compared with the average Victorian.
In terms of chronic illnesses, Natimuk and Minyip recorded the highest statistics, each with 9.5 per cent of their population living with three or more.
Murtoa was the lowest at 4.2 per cent, still significantly higher than the statewide median of 2.9 per cent.
Almost one in 10 Minyip residents (9.9 per cent) have been diagnosed with heart disease, with Murtoa, at 4.1 per cent, again the lowest of the nine towns studied, but still 0.4 per cent above the state median.
Minyip also topped the table of people living with cancer - 6.1 per cent - with Murtoa the best in the region at 3.1 per cent.
Jeparit is in the unwanted position of having the highest rate of people recording a mental health issue, anxiety or depression, with 17 per cent falling under those categories.
Natimuk was the lowest with 7.8 per cent - one per cent lower than the Victorian average.
Compared with a statewidefigure of 0.7 per cent, more than one in 20 Natimuk residents (5.7 per cent) live with dementia, while there was nonerecordedin Goroke.
Age is a defining factor for most counry towns, and the nine in the WWHS study are no different.
Minyip residents have the greatest median age at 57 years, with Natimuk at 47 - the only one of the nine towns studied in Horsham Rural City shire - but still nine years above the statewide median age of 38.
Nhill's significant proportion of residents from Myanmar propelled it to the highest number of households speaking a language other than English at 12.8 per cent, with Goroke recording the lowest of 2.3 per cent.
The breakdown of households also was revealing, with 39.8 per centof Goroke homes occupied by only one person, compared to the lowest - 30 per cent - in Rupanyup.
Conversely, Rupanyup has the highest percentage of family households - 70 per cent - with Goroke and Murtoa sharing the lowest figure of 60.2 per cent.
Of those households across the nine towns, Minyip has the greatest proportion of one-parent families (18.4 per cent) compared with 8.9 per cent at Rainbow; Nhill the largest number of couples with children (38.8 per cent) compared with 23.3 per cent in Jeparit; and couples without children represent 63.9 per cent of families in Jeparit, compared with 44 per cent in Murtoa.
Minyip residents have the lowest personal weekly income - $480 per week - while Natimuk has the highest at $741.
All nine towns trail the state median figure of $803.