• Bright Sparks
• Wash Against Waste trailer – volunteers needed in March
• Bendigo Sustainability Festival – 29th March
• Electrify Loddon Mallee – Have your Say
• Tree hugging world record attempt – Sunday March 29

Whilst the new kid on the MASG CoM block, Fran is no newbie to sustainability and leading action in this space. In 2019 she was part MACET (Mount Alexander Climate Emergency Team), a group formed around calling our shire to declare a climate emergency – and were successful in this action. Following on from this, she became a founding member of the Mount Alexander Net Zero Working Group (MANZWG) in 2021, and has been part of advancing the shire’s transition to 100% renewable energy and broader sustainability initiatives. MANZWG inspires community engagement by sharing the stories of local projects and businesses, highlighting the practical steps being taken across our towns and surrounding areas. This focusing on positive action aligns perfectly with Fran’s enthusiasm and drive to promote how we can all engage with sustainability, in our lives professionally, personally and as community. 

In her professional life, Fran also works with energy – just of a different yet beautifully connected kind. As a Feng Shui consultant and breathwork practitioner, she helps people create balance, clarity and wellbeing in their homes, workplaces, and within themselves. It’s work grounded in understanding how the flow of energy shapes how we live and feel. This perspective naturally compliments her volunteer role with MANZWG, where she supports community shift toward clean, renewable energy and positive climate action. Whether she’s helping a client harmonise their living space or helping our shire move toward a more sustainable future, Fran brings the same intention: to create environments – inner and outer – that support people, community, and the planet to thrive.

Frans Sustainability Hot Tips: When travelling always try to use public transport, be conscious of your impact (waste, energy use, etc) and ask yourself “what can I be doing differently?”. 

Well, thank you for asking!

A Bright Spark is a volunteer who’s been trained up in the information, tools and resources for home electrification in Victoria, and is ready to share this info with interested community members. You will find Bright Spark Volunteers in local community spaces, such as Neighbourhood Houses, Men’s Sheds, faith groups and sporting clubs, across the Loddon Mallee Region.

Why Bright Sparks?

Because all that info out there can be overwhelming, hard to untangle and can leave us with more questions than it answered! “Which rebate, for which type of battery, which installer, do I need all of this, can I do some of it, how much will I save, how much will I need to spend???“

Sitting down with someone from your local community, in a space you’re comfortable, asking the questions and discussing the options with an actual person face to face, can make a huge difference in understanding. We get that.

For some, home electrification is a way to save money, for others it’s about reducing emissions that drive climate change, and for some their energy options might be becoming limited, meaning electrification is the only way to go. Whatever the motivation, our Bright Spark Volunteers can help you find the correct and current information, appropriate for your circumstances.

What aren’t Bright Sparks Volunteers?

Bright Spark Volunteers:

• are not consultants, sales people or energy experts. They are volunteers who can provide you with available information, for you to make your own informed choices around.
• are not installers, or installer representatives. They can support you in understanding the importance of identifying if an installer is accredited and verified.
• are not able to make changes on your behalf. They can look at your energy bill with you, support you to understand the elements of the bill, and how to identify if you are on an appropriate plan, but they cannot advise to change a plan, or make that change for you.

Where are Bright Sparks Programs?

We’re still working on this, and will be launching soon! Stay tuned as we announce host sites across the Loddon Mallee region over the next few months. These will be in Neighbourhood Houses, sporting groups, faith based groups, health services, libraries and other community settings. Get in touch to tell us where you would like to see the Bright Spark Program happening!

Sign me up, I want to be a Bright Spark Volunteer!

Awesome! Get in touch with Kez (development@masg.org.au) to discuss the details (training, your capacity, host site, etc) and we’ll get you in as a Bright Spark Volunteer quicker than you can flick a switch.

For further info or feedback, please visit the Electrify Loddon Mallee – Power Together page.

Australians are keen to electrify their homes and vehicles and save on energy bills, but how can we ensure this happens fairer and faster?

Join this free event, with Saul Griffith, engineer and Chief Scientist at Rewiring Australia, as he discusses his latest book Plug In! The Electrification Handbook, which provides practical advice for everyday Australians on upgrading their homes and cars.

You will also hear from community groups about the local action happening in your neighbourhoods. Join us for an enlightening event on how Australia can race towards all-electric homes and communities. 

Cost: None! Free event. As places are strictly limited, please register to attend via registration button below.

Where: Quality Hotel Lakeside, Bendigo

When: 6pm, for a 6:30pm start, on October 14th 2025

What: Presentation by Saul Griffith, QnA panel with Saul and local projects, plus opportunity to connect with resources, services and providers.

Plug In! books available for purchase at the event.

This project is supported by the Community Electrification Engagement Program. The Program is delivered by Sustainability Victoria on behalf of the Victorian Government. The Faster, Fairer – Power Together event is presented by Rewiring Australia, Mount Alexander Sustainability Group and Bendigo Sustainability Group, with support from City of Greater Bendigo.

As places are strictly limited, we kindly ask you to ‘refund’ your ticket if you can no longer use it.

Register Vectors by Vecteezy

Over the past two decades, MASG has launched successful initiatives like the Repair Café, Wash Against Waste Trailer, and Healthy Soils project. Like many community groups, we’ve also faced challenges, particularly during the pandemic, which impacted connection and momentum.

Now, in June 2025, MASG is reconnecting with the community to discuss local sustainability efforts, hear your ideas, and answer questions. Often, sustainability is simply a return to the practical habits of past generations—being resourceful, thrifty, and conscious of waste. Many of us remember drawers full of items saved “just in case”—a small but powerful symbol of living sustainably before it had a name.

Today, we celebrate the growth of community-led projects such as YIMBY composting, The Good Op-Shop sewing sessions, and West End Resilience Group’s energy workshops. While not run by MASG, these initiatives reflect the culture of sustainability MASG has helped foster in the region.

As we look ahead, we invite you to support MASG by becoming a member. Membership includes voting rights, our e-newsletter, and most importantly, a chance to be part of local climate action guided by the principle: Local Voices – Local Action – Global Change.

To join or learn more, visit www.masg.org.au/get-involved, and let’s continue building a sustainable future—together.

This excellent video is a prime example of community working together, to understand, inform and support rental home needs for improving Energy Efficiency, in a practical and engaging way.

In 2024 a workshop was facilitated by the West End Resilience Group, in collaboration with the My Home Network, around understanding and supporting tenants rights, rental energy efficiency, how to reduce rental utilities bills (electric and gas), and access to supports and concessions. As a result of the workshop, this video was created in recognition that renters don’t have the same agency or capacity to retrofit their rental home, as this depends on landlords. But, there are no or low cost measures that can be taken to improve energy efficiency in a rental home.

We also recognise that social housing and private rentals are often the worst housing in terms of energy efficiency so renters pay a disproportionate amount on heating and cooling hence also the information on their rights, supports and concessions.

Huge thanks goes out to Warwick Jones who generously donated his time, energy and expertise in making this video. Thanks too to Deb Pach, Frankie Nugent, Barry Murfett, Wade Roberts and West End Resilience Network for their time and expertise.

This video is also being translated into other languages. Please get in touch if you’d like to be advised of where these can be accessed once completed, via development@masg.org.au

• New member for MASG team
• MASG AGM
• Healthy Soils Guide
• SEC Renewable Energy Park
• Farmers For Climate Action Report
• Local Energy Hubs
• Neighbourhood Battery Training

• MASG AGM – November 13, 7.30 pm
• Memberships are due
• Wash Against Waste trailer – volunteers needed in November
• Getting off gas workshop
• Rising Tide
• Energy Breakthrough – Maryborough
• Get involved with MASG

• MASG is hiring!
• Memberships are due
• Getting off gas workshop
• Get involved with MASG