It’s no secret that Victoria has been dramatically suffering on the public transport stage. Between significant bus shortages, trains packed with people and v-line booking disruptions, many of us have been left wondering if we’ll even travel to where we need to be on time

Photo: Kate Young (Supplied) | Australian Broadcasting Corporation

In fact, over the Easter break Victoria had over 300 coaches on standby due to the massive influx of people travelling to their holiday destinations via PT. It also didn’t help that major train lines, most notably the Glen Waverley line, were down during the second week of school holidays - veryyy helpful to the many individuals hanging out with friends or attending events in the city. Additionally, a major student hub, Monash University, also began to feel the aftermath of such public transport disruptions after a drop in the frequency of shuttles between campuses left students cueing in long lines for overcrowded buses, missing classes and even returning home on the way to University as it was a more viable option than travelling to the campuses.

But these shortages and understaffings with public transport have just suddenly appeared out of nowhere…at least, that’s what it seems like. The true cause behind this is most likely the recent fuel shortages, to which Victoria reacted with free public transport for all. Just as the Easter break was starting, and holidays were about to begin…

Photo: The Herald Sun

This whole conversation regarding Monash’s public transport scene is an important one to have though, because it sheds light on issues that may have been concealed before. Most notably, the fuel shortages have translated into a discussion regarding electric buses, and whether finances should be invested into importing such vehicles. Overall, there seem to be two major benefits of such an installment: one, they would aid in restricting the consumption of limited fuel in current times, and two, would help Australia in reaching our SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals).

Because Australia imports over 90% of its refined fuels, or in other words fuel used to power machinery and transport, the current conflict in the Middle East has decreased the volume of refined fuel that Australia has for usage. Much of this fuel is delegated to air travel and buses, while the small proportion left over is what we notice driving by a gas station with our jaws open (because yes, prices have been raised!). However, if buses were to start using electricity to run, the reliance that we have on fuel would significantly decrease, and more of the limited amount that we currently have would be available for the public to use for their personal transportation (e.g. cars).

Photo: CDC Victoria | Australasian Bus & Coach

In fact, Monash recently partnered with CDC on a Zero Emission Bus (ZED) project, the aim of which is to make travel for students more comfortable and sustainable. Most notably, battery-electric buses have already been introduced to the 601 and 630 routes, illustrating that the findings from the ZED project truly do have the capacity to change the sustainability, availability and comfortability of public transport throughout Monash, and possibly even wider Victoria.

Of course, the process of converting the majority of Monash’s operational buses into electric ones would be a procedure of utmost time consumption, however would serve great benefits to the Victorian and Australian communities alike. Given the current circumstances of the public transport scene in Victoria, it may be worthwhile for councils and governments to look into electric buses and the future possibilities for PTV.

Photo: Izy Rajapakshe | Monash Herald

At the Glen Waverley Cenotaph, where our team from The Monash Herald was on site, locals stood shoulder‑to‑shoulder in the cold morning air. The mood was solemn and steady as families, veterans, school groups and newly arrived residents fell into near‑silence, listening as the first notes of the Last Post drifted across the reserve.

A City Forged in Service

Few municipalities carry as deep a connection to Australia’s military heritage than the City of Monash, named for General Sir John Monash — the volunteer soldier and civil engineer who rose to become Australia’s most senior commander during the First World War. Monash led the Australian Corps to decisive victories at Hamel, Amiens and the Hindenburg Line in 1918, was knighted in the field by King George V, and upon returning to Melbourne became the driving force behind the Shrine of Remembrance and the ANZAC Day commemorations we observe today.

Photo: Izy Rajapakshe | Monash Herald

Monash’s personal connection to this area runs deep. He oversaw construction of the Outer Circle railway terminating at Oakleigh and purchased property in the district. Without his tireless advocacy for returned soldiers, these annual commemorations may well have faded into history.

The communities now forming the City of Monash sent hundreds of men and women to serve in both World Wars, and their sacrifice is recorded in memorials across our suburbs. The Oakleigh Honour Trees along Drummond Street, planted for each local man who served in World War I, still stand as living tributes. The Cenotaph in Warrawee Park and the Oakleigh RSL, opened in 1922, were built to honour the fallen. Memorial gates at Oakleigh Primary School remind students daily of the cost of freedom.

In Glen Waverley, the Memorial Gates on Central Reserve record the names of local servicemen. The Mount Waverley Avenue of Honour along High Street Road, a memorial plaque for Private F.C. Ross at the corner of Blackburn and England Roads, and a stained glass window at St Stephen’s Anglican Church honouring parish servicemen all bear witness to the district’s contribution. In Clayton and Notting Hill, Avenues of Honour along Carinish Road and Blackburn Road respectively pay similar tribute.

When the Second World War came, a new generation from these same streets answered the call, serving across North Africa, the Pacific, Europe and South-East Asia. The local RSL sub-branches became lifelines for returned servicemen and their families for decades afterward.

Photo: Izy Rajapakshe | Monash Herald

Among the most stirring contributions to this year’s services was the Melbourne High School Cadet Band, whose young musicians provided impeccable musical accompaniment. The school’s cadet unit, among the oldest and most respected in the state, demonstrated that ANZAC values are being passed to the next generation with pride and discipline.

Equally powerful was the performance of award-winning singer-songwriter Kelly Newton-Wordsworth, whose song Lest We Forget — written to honour her grandfathers and all who served — captured the struggle and sorrow of war with rare beauty. Her voice, unwavering in the dawn light, reminded every person present that behind every name on every memorial stands a human story that must never be forgotten.

A tradition carried forward

Anzac Day, marking the 1915 Gallipoli landing, has grown into the nation’s most solemn day of remembrance, honouring Australians who have served in every conflict since the Boer War. With the number of surviving Second World War veterans dwindling, many at Saturday’s services spoke of a renewed responsibility to preserve the tradition

Photo: Izy Rajapakshe | Monash Herald

If attendance is any measure, that responsibility is being met. Young cadets stood alongside elderly veterans; schoolchildren clutched rosemary sprigs; families new to Australia paused to observe a ritual that has become part of the country’s civic fabric.

The Anzac spirit, far from fading, appears to be finding new resonance in a diverse and modern Monash.

Photo: Izy Rajapakshe | Monash Herald

To the veterans and serving members of the Australian Defence Force who call the City of Monash home, the message from the community was unmistakable: your service is honoured, your sacrifices remembered.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.

We will remember them.

Photo Authorised By: Izy Rajapakshe | Monash Herald

This year, we’re putting them to the test — so you, our readers, can find a cup that’s close to home, good value and genuinely worth drinking, without having to trek too far away from home.

The Monash Herald has launched The Coffee Run, a weekly series where we visit cafés across the City of Monash in search of the area’s best brew. Each episode takes in a different spot; sometimes a local favourite, sometimes a place you might never have noticed, and we rate them on the things that matter: taste, atmosphere and value for money. And because Monash is built on small businesses, we’re committed to shining a light on the cafés that keep this community fuelled.

Take a look at where our Coffee Runs have taken us so far:

Instead, it continued for roughly 350 metres with 12‑year‑old Nathaniel hanging from the rear doorway, finally pulling in at the next scheduled stop as if nothing were amiss.

In her interview with the Monash Herald, Nathaniel’s mother, Grace, recounted not only the frightening events of March 16 but what she describes as a troubling lack of urgency afterward — from police who turned her away to a bus company she says deflected responsibility, and a safety system she believes is fundamentally broken.

Thirty seconds of terror on a suburban street

Nathaniel had been catching the bus to high school on his own for about two months. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary on March 16 until he went to step off through the rear doors at his usual stop just after 8am.

As he moved to exit, the doors closed on him. His hand was trapped inside; his backpack, still half over one shoulder, was caught in the gap. The rest of his body was outside the bus.

Grace told the Monash Herald her son tried to run alongside the bus as it pulled away, but quickly realised he couldn’t keep up. He lifted his legs and held on.

Photo: Provided to Monash Herald by Nathanials Mother Grace.

A woman driving behind the bus saw what was happening, leaned on her horn and took photos. Moments after the bus coming to a stop, Grace received a text from Nathaniel saying he’d been in an accident. She later took him to a doctor to be assessed and he was confirmed to have suffered serious psychological harm.

A mother’s investigation

What followed, Grace told the Monash Herald, was a weeks-long battle to piece together what happened; largely on her own.

She walked the length of Brandon Park Drive, knocking on door after door, asking residents whether their security cameras had captured anything. House after house had nothing. Luckily, a hand full of properties yielded footage

Photo: Izy Rajapakshe | Monash Herald

Grace told the Monash Herald she then attempted to obtain the bus’s own onboard recording. Ventura confirmed to her that internal footage of the incident exists, but the company has not provided it to the family.

On the Monday following the incident, Grace called Ventura more than ten times before she was able to reach a customer service representative. She told them she wanted to lodge a formal complaint and file an incident report.

She later received a call from an executive general manager, who advised her the driver had been stood down and that the bus had been taken off the road pending safety checks.

A week after the incident, during which Grace told the Monash Herald she had consulted six lawyers, she received a further call from a Ventura manager. Grace advises that the company’s chief operating officer was also in the room for the conversation.

‘No faults found’

Despite the severity of the incident, Grace said Ventura informed her that its investigation had identified no faults with the bus’s rear-door sensor. The vehicle, she was told, had been returned to active service

Photo: Izy Rajapakshe | Monash Herald

Grace told the Monash Herald the rear door relied on a single sensor positioned in the centre of the frame. Because Nathaniel was trapped below that point, the system detected nothing. No alarm sounded and no warning reached the driver. The only alert came from a motorist behind the bus, and it went unheeded.

That a bus carrying schoolchildren could drag a child 350 metres with no technological failsafe intervening and then be declared fit to return to the road represents, in Grace’s view, a serious and unresolved safety failure.

“The response has been dismissive,” she told the Monash Herald.

The driver has since been removed following the companies internal review process. Ventura Bus issued a statement describing the incident as “very distressing” and pledging a review of its driver training programs.

Turned away by the Police

Grace said she had also gone to the Glen Waverley police station to report the incident but was turned away.

Photo: Izy Rajapakshe | Monash Herald

She said officers told her the matter was civil rather than criminal, did not take a statement and advised her to lodge a complaint and seek legal advice if she wished to pursue civil action.

Victoria Police has since confirmed it is aware of the incident and that inquiries are under way. The force said the matter was not formally reported at the time, a characterisation Grace disputes, noting she attended the station in person and was not permitted to make a report.

A boy who shakes at the sight of a bus

Nathaniel’s physical injuries were limited to minor bruising. His mother is more concerned about the psychological effects.

Grace said her son is now on a mental health plan, attends regular counselling and receives additional support at school.

She said he becomes visibly distressed when he sees buses with advertising similar to the one involved in the incident, and he no longer feels able to use public transport without an adult accompanying him.

A child who had recently begun travelling independently now requires support to board a bus.

Political response

Grace said she has raised the matter with Monash City Councillor Elisha Lee and contacted the office of local MP Eden Foster.

Premier Jacinta Allan described the available footage as “shocking” and said she had asked the relevant minister to ensure the Transport Accident Commission made contact with the family. TAC executive general manager Katherine Gobbi confirmed the commission was engaging with the family but did not provide further detail.

Photo: Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Grace said the official responses to date have been slow and have not provided the clarity or accountability she is seeking. Hundreds of parents rely on public bus services to transport their children safely to and from school. The incident involving Nathaniel has raised questions about the systems and safeguards in place to prevent similar events.

The circumstances described by his family point to several areas of concern. The door sensor did not detect an obstruction. The driver did not see the child in the doorway. A warning from another motorist did not prompt the bus to stop. Each of these elements is now under scrutiny.

Transport operators, including Ventura Bus, are required to meet safety standards that cover both vehicle condition and driver training. When an incident occurs, operators are expected to investigate, report their findings and demonstrate that risks have been addressed before a vehicle returns to service.

The response has also highlighted issues within the broader regulatory framework. The standards governing door‑safety mechanisms on buses, and the processes for reporting and assessing incidents involving passengers, are likely to attract further examination. The family’s experience at a local police station has raised additional questions about how such matters are classified and handled.

Stakeholders have called for clearer protocols, improved technology and stronger oversight to ensure incidents of this nature are properly investigated and that any systemic issues are identified.

For now the Grace and her family are left with questions unanswered and an overwhelming distrust in the Victorian Public Transport Network.

It was, by any measure, a jolt to household routines. The reaction was immediate.

Photo: Izy Rajapakshe | Monash Herald

Petitions circulated through neighbourhood groups. Social media feeds filled with frustration. More than 4300 residents lodged submissions through Shape Monash, many warning of overflowing bins, summer odours and the practical difficulties of storing nappies and medical waste for two weeks at a time.

Council heard every one of those concerns. And then, in a rare move– it held its nerve.

The results have vindicated that resolve. In the first twelve months alone, Monash diverted more than 9,000 tonnes of material from landfill by channelling food and garden waste into composting, an outstanding outcome by any municipal benchmark. The diversion rate, which sat at 56.4% in 2020-21, has climbed steadily since. More households than ever are using their green bins correctly, and the volume of recyclable content recovered across the municipality has increased measurably since the frequency change took effect.

The statistics speak for themselves. Every tonne diverted from landfill is a tonne that avoids contributing to methane emissions, preserving what little tip capacity remains in Melbourne’s east and reduces the state government levies that ultimately find their way onto rates notices. With eastern region sites nearing capacity, Monash’s early shift has placed the municipality in a stronger position to avoid the costlier alternatives that await less proactive councils, including waste‑to‑energy processing or transporting rubbish across the city to the West.

Critically, the Council did not simply impose the change and walk away. It offered free bin upgrades to households with two or more children in nappies, residents with medical conditions generating additional waste, and families of six or more experiencing financial hardship. It reduced the cost of a second recycling bin to just $65 a year. It distributed sample packs of compostable liners and deployed education officers into neighbourhoods to help residents sort their waste properly.

Photo: Izy Rajapakshe | Monash Herald

Inside the community’s reaction

Speak to residents across the municipality and you hear the full spectrum of experience, but what stands out is how many have embraced the new system once they adjusted.

One resident living in Monash since 2006, is part of a six-person household — exactly the kind of larger family critics predicted would struggle most. Yet the response is positive. “I like the bin collection,” the resident says. “I like the sorting of the bins — the cardboard and recycling.” For households willing to engage with the system as designed, separating waste streams properly means the red bin stretches further than sceptics expected.

Not everyone has found the transition straightforward. Jo, 32, has rented in the area for five years and shares her home with four family members. She says the yellow recycling bin has been easy enough to manage, but the fortnightly red‑lid collection remains difficult for a five‑person household. “It’s a bit more challenging,” she says. “With a large family we go through so much in a week, and the red bin fills up fast. We often end up storing extra rubbish at the back of the garage.”

Anthony, 20, is more direct. He preferred the old weekly system and says the fortnightly cycle is harder for his three-person household to manage. He views the change as a top-down decision — “a push down,” in his words — and is unconvinced there is a practical way around the tighter schedule.

These are legitimate perspectives, and Council has never pretended the change would suit every household equally. But it is worth noting that the support structures are there for those who need them. And as Jo’s experience illustrates, the yellow bin — the stream that handles the greatest volume of household packaging — is working effectively for residents who sort their waste correctly.

As for Anthony’s feeling that the policy was imposed from above, it is worth remembering that 4,300 residents participated in the consultation process, and that Council weighed that feedback carefully before proceeding. The decision was not taken lightly. It was taken because the environmental case was overwhelming and the long-term cost of inaction, both financial and ecological, was greater than the short-term inconvenience

Photo: City of Monash | Bin Collections

The Purple Bin: The Mayor Speaks Up

Ask Monash Mayor Cr Stuart James what the biggest issue facing the municipality is right now, outside the well-worn debate over housing and planning reform, and his answer comes without hesitation.

“The biggest thing that’s happening for us outside of that at the moment is probably the fourth bin, or the glass recycling bin,” Cr James tells the Monash Herald.

The Victorian Government has mandated that all councils introduce a purple-lid glass recycling bin by 1 July 2027. Monash is one of 36 councils, roughly half the state, pushing back. But Cr James is not simply opposing the mandate for the sake of it. He is making an argument grounded in how the recycling landscape has shifted since the policy was first conceived.

Location: Mazenod College, Mulgrave ( Unaffiliated Purple Bin Initiative) Photo: Izy Rajapakshe | Monash Herald

“We’re one of 36 councils ... that are saying to the government, well, no, you legislated this for a good reason in 2018 when China sort of stopped taking recycling,” Cr James explains. “You put that in place then. Since, you’ve introduced the container deposit scheme, and that has been outstanding.”

He is right about the scheme’s success. CDS Vic, launched in November 2023, has seen Victorians return more than 1.8 billion containers in its first twenty months. Over the 2025–26 Christmas and New Year period alone, nearly 62 million containers were returned — a record. The 10-cent refund has proven such a powerful incentive that it has changed behaviour at street level, in ways no one quite predicted.

“We now have residents going through other people’s bins to grab that stuff out and go and get the refund,” Cr James says. The point is serious: a market-driven mechanism is already diverting enormous volumes of glass and other containers out of the kerbside waste stream, without requiring an additional bin, an additional truck, or an additional collection schedule.

The Mayor argues the scheme should be expanded. “We argue that you should increase the container deposit scheme to include wine bottles and larger bottles,” he says — containers that are currently excluded from the CDS Vic refund but represent a significant share of household glass.

His second argument goes to the processing chain. Monash’s kerbside recycling is handled by Visy, one of Australia’s largest recyclers and a company Cr James is happy to single out by name. “Visy Recycling are really good, and they’re actually able to separate the glass from the other recycled material,” he says. “From the commingled bin.”

That capability is significant. Visy’s material recovery facilities use advanced optical sorting technology that can identify glass fragments as small as three millimetres, separating them from paper, cardboard, plastics and metals in the mixed yellow bin. Not all recycling providers can do this — and that, Cr James argues, is precisely where the state government’s legislative energy should be directed.

“There are other recycling providers that aren’t able to do that,” he says. “And our say is, as well as increasing this container deposit scheme, force those people that can’t separate the glass out — force them, or legislate for them to increase it so that they can separate it out.”

When pressed on whether his position is simply that councils should use recyclers who already have the technology, Cr James refines the point: “Force the recyclers to actually introduce the technology to separate it out would be the ideal one.”

The cost question sharpens the argument further. In Monash, implementing the purple glass bin would mean approximately $3 million in upfront implementation costs and $2 million in annual collection expenses — all to pick up a single material stream. The Mayor makes the point personal: “I’ve got three young children at home. We’re a family of five. Other than the old whiskey bottle every couple of months, I don’t have much glass at all.” He pauses. “So why are we spending $2 million a year to pick up something when we’ve got a container deposit scheme that can just be increased to take in those things?”

Photo: Andrew Keslo | Australian Broadcasting Corporation

It is a disarmingly practical question. And it is one the state government has, so far, declined to engage with.

Cr James is candid about the political reality. Thirty-six councils have made the same case. None have broken through. “It’s a great question,” he says when asked why the government would listen now. “I don’t have an answer for you because we just keep hitting brick walls.”

But the Mayor frames his persistence as a matter of principle — and political maturity. “Sometimes you need to look at things and go, we did this with the best of intent,” he says. “Times have changed, we’ve moved on, we’re now in these different settings. I’m happy to go back and review that and say, well, now that times have changed, I’m happy to review my decision and change.”

It is a direct challenge to Spring Street: not to abandon glass recycling, but to have the intellectual honesty to acknowledge that a policy designed for 2018’s crisis may no longer be the most viable solution in 2026’s reality.

Leading, Not Following

It is worth remembering where Monash sits in this landscape. While some Victorian councils are only now grappling with food and garden waste collection, Monash introduced its green bin service back in July 2020 and expanded it to weekly pickup two years later. The municipality has consistently been ahead of the curve — not because it enjoys disrupting residents’ routines, but because it takes its environmental responsibilities seriously.

The fortnightly garbage collection was never about taking something away from ratepayers. It was about redirecting resources toward a system that works better for everyone — residents, the environment and future generations who will inherit whatever we leave behind. The 9,000 tonnes diverted from landfill each year is not merely a line in a council report. It is cleaner air, slower tip fill, lower long-term costs and a community that can honestly say it is doing its part.

Residents like Anthony may feel the squeeze of the fortnightly cycle, and renters like Jo may wish the red bin were larger. Council should — and demonstrably does — keep listening. But the trajectory is clear: where Monash has led, results have followed. The household that sorts well, composts its scraps and returns its bottles to a CDS Vic refund point will not just cope with the new system. It will thrive in it.

On the purple bin, Cr James is asking the right question — not whether glass should be recycled better, but whether a mandatory fourth bin is the smartest way to achieve it when proven alternatives already exist. He is not grandstanding nor refusing to engage. He is offering an evidence-based counter-proposal and asking the state government to do something that too few politicians are willing to do: revisit a decision in light of changed circumstances.

Monash has earned that credibility with four years of results. Spring Street would be wise to listen.

What stands out is how firmly intergenerational the celebration remains. Even as younger Greek Australians grow up more culturally mixed and linguistically diverse, Easter continues to pull them back. It is one of the few moments in the year when the threads of faith, family and heritage are woven tightly together.

Courtesy of Greek Orthodox Parish & Community of St Anargiri Oakleigh

A Week of Tradition Across Monash

The Orthodox Holy Week is observed according to the Julian calendar, placing it a week later than Western Easter.

Holy Week began quietly on Palm Sunday, April 28th, with services at Greek Orthodox churches in Oakleigh, Clayton, and surrounding suburbs. By Good Friday, the streets around Sts Anargiri in Oakleigh and St Catherine’s in East Malvern filled with parishioners following the Epitaphios procession, a solemn walk that winds through local streets accompanied by hymns and candlelight. For Orthodox Christians, the ritual symbolises Christ’s burial and the community’s collective mourning, marking one of the most significant moments of the week.

An Epitaphios, Courtesy of Greek Orthodox Parish & Community of St Anargiri Oakleigh

These processions have become a familiar sight in Monash drawing not only Greek Australians but neighbours who line the footpaths to watch.

The midnight Anastasi service on Holy Saturday is the emotional peak of the week. Thousands gather at Sts Anargiri, spilling into the surrounding streets as the priest proclaims Christos Anesti — “Christ is Risen” — and the flame of the Resurrection is passed from candle to candle.

Although the service is centred in Oakleigh, many families travel from other parts of Monash—Glen Waverley, Mount Waverley, Clayton, Chadstone—to take part. For second‑ and third‑generation Greek Australians, it’s a moment that connects them to their heritage.

Easter Sunday

The climax of the week is Easter Sunday. The scent of lamb on the spit drifts from backyards in Oakleigh South, Hughesdale, and Clayton. Families gather for long lunches, cracking red eggs and sharing tsoureki (a sweet, aromatic bread). Local bakeries and cafés prepare for weeks, producing koulourakia, flaounes, and traditional Easter breads.

Eaton Mall becomes a magnet for the broader Melbourne community. Even those without Greek heritage come to experience the atmosphere—live music, packed restaurants, and the unmistakable sense of celebration that spills into the street.

What makes Greek Easter in Monash distinctive is its openness. While deeply rooted in Orthodox tradition, the celebrations have evolved into a shared civic moment, reflecting the area’s diversity and the way migrant communities have shaped Melbourne’s cultural landscape.

The Monash Herald started with a simple observation: for a city full of stories, Monash wasn’t getting much… well, story. We’re locals who live the day‑to‑day here, we know about the school runs, the late‑night supermarket dashes, the “why is Springvale Road like this?” moments, and we kept noticing the same thing. The stories that define our community weren’t really being covered anywhere. Not the small wins, not the quiet community heroes, and sometimes, not even the decisions shaping what our suburbs look like next year.

So we set out to change that.

What began as many “someone should really be reporting on this” remarks has grown into a publication built entirely from local commitment. We’re not backed by big media or distant newsrooms. We’re powered by people who love this place; its diversity, markets and libraries, its parks and playgrounds, its small businesses, its cultural festivals, its volunteers, and the thousands of stories unfolding quietly every day.

Monash deserves a voice that feels like home, and that’s why we’re here.

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Australia has quietly become a global heavyweight in fast‑fashion consumption.

Recent figures show Australians purchase an average of 56 garments a year, the highest per‑capita rate in the world. This is often interpreted as evidence of economic confidence, but it also signals a deeper cultural shift: the entrenchment of fast fashion and the growing alignment between consumption and self‑expression.

The fact that we now out‑consume the United States, a nation with more than thirteen times our population and a long association with excess, should prompt a more honest conversation about the habits we’ve normalised.

As a result of such a habit, we end up with clothing that is worn only once or twice, and in many cases not at all. When it comes time to discard these items, some are donated, but Australia still throws out an estimated 250,000 tonnes of clothing each year, much of it in near‑new condition. Around four‑fifths of these textiles ultimately end up in landfill, despite having had little to no use, while others end up exported abroad.

Against this backdrop, initiatives such as the Monash Great Clothing Exchange, which recently returned for another successful year, offered a glimpse of what a different, more sustainable, relationship with fashion might look like.

When The Monash Herald visited the Great Exchange on the 15th, walking into the Monash Civic Centre felt like stepping into a carefully curated boutique. Racks were colour‑coded, garments hung neatly on coordinated hangers, and every section was arranged into clear categories. For an event built entirely around exchanging rather than purchasing, the presentation was strikingly professional.

This year’s exchange, only the third since the program began two years earlier, had sold out well in advance. More than 250 adult tickets had been claimed, along with around 100 children’s tickets. Admission was free.

Organisers had developed a system to keep the crowds moving. Teen and adult clothing occupied the ground floor, while the upstairs level was dedicated to newborns through to roughly 10‑year‑olds. The children’s section was run entirely by council staff, while the Clothing Exchange, a social enterprise focused on sustainable fashion, managed the adult floor.

One of the volunteers with the Clothing Exchange, Shiangi, said she had been helping at swaps for about six months. “I’ve done about five swaps now,” she said, sorting garments into labelled tubs. “We do almost one every month.”

She was buoyed by the turnout. “I think it’s great. We had a lot of clothes for the swap,” she said. “The last one we did was in a regional area and there weren’t a lot of people, so this is a great turnout.”

New garments are commonplace, she said. “Some still have tags — they’ve never been worn. A lot of what we see is perfectly good clothing that just didn’t fit the buyer.”

Even so, the swap holds to strict standards.“We don’t take undergarments, swimsuits, children’s wear or athleisure,” she explained. “It’s mostly for hygiene reasons. And nothing with missing buttons or broken zippers. We have a mending circle that takes care of those kinds of clothes before they come to the swap, but we still don’t take anything with stains.”

The scale of the event surprised even seasoned volunteers. “It’s massive,” she said. “It was 250 people, and then on top of that about 50 to 70 on the waitlist.”

The popularity was obvious the moment the doors opened. Within minutes, the space filled with families, students and seasoned swappers combing through the racks for their next find. Demand had grown so quickly that organisers said they were now running three exchanges a year, two full‑scale Great Exchanges like this one, and a dedicated children’s event.

The Monash Herald asked a few locals what drew them to the event. Tracy, who was juggling a handful of tiny T‑shirts, said she had come mainly for the children’s section. “I really mainly came for the kids’ clothing,” she said. “I just finished from there and I got some new ones.”

For her, the appeal was partly practical, partly financial. “It just makes it easier,” she said. “Cost‑of‑living‑wise, yeah, but also it’s easier than selling it yourself. You come to one place and everything’s here.”

With young children who outgrow outfits almost as quickly as they acquire them, she said the swap solved a big dilemma. “Kids grow out of clothes — what can you do with them after? People sell them everywhere else, but here you don’t have to worry about that. You don’t have to sell it yourself. In that sense, it’s easier.”

Another local, Janne, was hard to miss. Her bright jacket and green Converse, both second‑hand finds, matched the cheerful chaos of the room. “I love op‑shopping,” she said. “I do it every week.”

She’d planned to come last year but was sick on the day. “So when I saw it was back, I thought, great; it’s a way to exchange things instead of sending them to landfill.”

Janne has her regular circuit of shops. “I’ve got a bunch of little op shops I go to,” she said. “There’s one in Bayswater, Forest Hill is actually quite good, and the Salvos near me; I’m in there all the time. I usually pick up something each week.”

That regularity comes with rules. “It’s very hard in Australia because I go, okay, I need this and I need that and I need more,” she laughed. “So with clothing, for everything I buy, I have to take something out of my wardrobe. When I get something, I make sure something goes back.”

If Monash’s Great Clothing Exchange demonstrates anything, it’s this:

Australia’s textile waste crisis is vast, and no single swap event will reverse decades of overconsumption. But the Great Clothing Exchange shows what’s possible when councils, volunteers and residents pull in the same direction. If nothing else, it proves that the appetite for alternatives is already here.

Glen Waverley has not traditionally been a suburb associated with rapid reinvention. Its appeal has long been tied to stability: established schools, a consistent retail centre, and a dining precinct along Kingsway that has become a well‑known feature of suburban Melbourne.

In a growing city, however, such constancy is often a temporary condition.

What is now unfolding is not a sudden rupture, but a staged transformation that is already underway and will continue well into the next decade.

At the centre of this shift is the Suburban Rail Loop (SRL), a project whose significance lies less in its engineering than in the way it reorders the geography of the city. In Glen Waverley, early works and planning are already progressing, with major construction expected to accelerate over the next few years. The new underground station forms part of the SRL East section, which is currently slated for completion around 2035.

Once operational, the line will provide direct connections from Glen Waverley to Monash, Clayton and Box Hill within minutes, reshaping the suburb’s position within Melbourne’s transport network. Such shifts in accessibility are a key driver of urban change, altering patterns of movement and redefining proximity.

Some of the effects are already visible. Planning controls around the future station have been revised, with the state government designating Glen Waverley as a priority “activity centre”. This designation brings a substantial increase in permissible building heights and residential densities within walking distance of the station.

One of the most prominent developments reflecting this shift is a major project on Springvale Road, approved at more than $400 million, which will deliver two towers rising to approximately 30 and 35 storeys, alongside nearly 800 apartments and ground-floor retail. Construction is expected to commence within the next one to two years, with completion likely toward the late 2020s.

This is not an isolated case. A pipeline of mid- and high-rise proposals is emerging across the precinct, many expected to be delivered progressively between 2026 and the early 2030s, reshaping the skyline and increasing the local population. To describe this as intensification is accurate, but incomplete. What is being proposed is not merely more housing, but a different model of suburbia altogether.

Parallel to private development, public investment is quietly reshaping the civic landscape. The Glen Waverley Civic Precinct project, a council-led redevelopment near Kingsway, is already underway, with staged construction expected to continue through 2026–2028. The project will deliver a new library, upgraded community facilities and revitalised public spaces designed to support a growing population. Such projects rarely attract the same attention as high-rise towers, but they often prove more enduring in how they shape daily life.

On Kingsway, the changes are more subtle but no less significant. The strip remains crowded most evenings, its restaurants continuing to draw patrons from across Melbourne’s southeast. Yet even here, the context is shifting. Increased residential density is gradually altering the demographic mix, while ongoing upgrades to The Glen shopping centre and surrounding sites are expected to continue incrementally over the coming decade.

Taken together, these developments point to a clear timeline of change:

• Now–2026: Planning reforms, early works for SRL, civic precinct construction begins

• 2026–2030: Major apartment developments delivered, skyline begins to shift

• 2030–2035: SRL station completion, full transition to a high-density activity centre

Such transitions are rarely without tension. Concerns about congestion, infrastructure capacity and neighbourhood character have accompanied the first wave of proposals. These are not new objections, nor are they easily dismissed. They reflect a deeper uncertainty about how much change a place can absorb before it becomes something else entirely.

Yet to resist change outright is to overlook the forces that are driving it.

Infrastructure investment of this scale anticipates and directs growth. The SRL, in this sense, is both a transport project and a planning instrument, one that compels surrounding suburbs to evolve in tandem. Glen Waverley, by virtue of its location, has become one of its clearest test cases.

For now, the suburb occupies an in-between state, no longer quite what it was, but not yet what it is intended to become. Its shift reflects a broader metropolitan trend, as Melbourne adapts to patterns of expansion that extend both outward and upward.