What happens when a rural community decides to stop waiting for someone else to solve its biggest problem?

For the people of Mudgee in central-west New South Wales, it meant creating their own solution to the growing shortage of GPs. The result is Doctors 4 Mudgee, a community-led initiative that set an ambitious goal of attracting 10 new doctors in three years.

Just 11 months in, they're already halfway there.

In this episode of Ducks on the Pond, Kirsten Diprose speaks with winemaker, business owner and Doctors 4 Mudgee Region Program Coordinator Kate Day. While Kate never imagined she'd be working in healthcare recruitment, she's helped build a program that's becoming a blueprint for regional Australia.

The conversation explores why welcoming doctors' families has been just as important as offering financial incentives, and how a simple idea—a "lifestyle concierge" service—has helped new GPs feel connected from day one.

Kate also shares the remarkable story behind her wine business, In Two Minds Wine, founded with her sister-in-law 

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It can be hard to attract and retain professionals in the regions and vets are no exception. Entering the eighth year of a regional vet shortage, our guest Dr Rebecca Faris wants to curb it. 

Having worked as a vet in South West Victoria for many years, Rebecca transitioned to focus on helping students move into the workforce and then eventually vet wellbeing at the Australia Veterinary Association. 

Rebecca shares that vets experience high rates of poor mental health, one of the reasons behind the high turnover in regional areas. 

As the workforce becomes more feminized, issues like childcare shortages, lack of upskilling and ability to find housing are among some of the reasons vets and young professionals move away from the regions. 

But vets face further challenges such as inflexible work hours with long on-call periods, difficulty making vet businesses profitable and struggling to prove their experience to farmers. 

Rebecca shares her hopes for the industry and changes that can be made to both improve wellbeing and retention of rural vets across regional Australia. 

 Complete the Vet Wellbeing survey here. 

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Losing a loved one is a worst fear for most, and something that Sarah Guthrie and Georgia Lillie have in common. 

Sarah’s son Ford died 10 years ago from an accident when he was only 17. 

Georgia’s husband James died of an aggressive cancer seven years ago, leaving her and her two young boys behind. 

While they both lived close by in Western Victoria, neither women met until they were encouraged to swap books that they each wrote about their grief. For Sarah it’s an intimate book remembering her son's life and documenting her grief afterwards, and for Georgia a children's book for her sons could remember their dad by. 

Grieving in a regional community can sometimes feel like you’re under a microscope and these authors talk about their unique experiences of coping with grief in such a tight knit community. 

There is a lot of resilience, relatability and humour in how Sarah and Georgia talk to Kirsten about their loved ones and their lives after a great loss. 

Thank you to Weighting for Happiness for sponsoring this Season of Ducks on the Pond. Listen to the episode to hear their special offer. And listen to the Before Dieting podcast - for a systems thinking approach to health.

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How much do you know about your soil microbiology? Dr Aurelie Quade makes a very good argument for why we should know more about it… including improving farm productivity and lowering inputs.

Originally from a forestry community in France, Aurelie fell in love with the desolate landscape of Australia when she arrived here 20 years ago. 

Initially doing her PhD in plant pathology, she said she became bored at trying to fight nature and instead wanted to learn to work with it, leading her to become a highly sought after expert on soil microbial activity, soil health and resilient production systems.

She speaks about encouraging farmers, particularly smaller producers to learn more about their soil health, run their own tests and experiments and make changes to ensure you’re getting the most from your soil. 

Her expertise at her consultancy, Soil Resilience has been used by producers, corporate farming and regional bodies and her long term goal is to help Australian farming systems grow and to get more out of their soil health. 

Dr Quade has a far ranging discussion in this episode from the politics around soil carbon, the complex language of climate change and the future of farming. 

Thank you to Weighting for Happiness for sponsoring this Season of Ducks on the Pond. Listen to the episode to hear their special offer. And listen to the Before Dieting podcast - for a systems thinking approach to health.

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Unrealistic body standards are inescapable for young women. Between diet culture, food rules at home, and stick- thin models all over our screens, it’s hard to feel in touch with what our body needs. 

Nurse, midwife and systems-thinking expert Bronwyn Fletcher spent her childhood fixated on understanding what was and wasn’t healthy - she later found she wasn’t always given the right information. Turns out eating less and moving more doesn’t always equal weight loss and more importantly being thin doesn’t always mean being healthy. 

After interviewing a thousand women on their experiences with food, eating and their body she created the Weighting for Happiness project. This program takes a systems based approach to weight management, encouraging women to look at the underlying emotions they have towards food and showing why habit based approaches like dieting and medications often backfire. 

From Victoria’s Secret models, the Biggest Loser and Ozempic, Bronwyn addresses why it is so hard to feel in touch with our bodies in a society that wants women to look a certain way. 

You can learn more about the Weighting for Happiness project and listen to Bronwyn’s podcast Before Dieting.

A huge thank you to Weighting for Happiness for supporting us at Ducks on the Pond, as the Season Sponsor!

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What should you do when your ideas at work are always getting shot down? Or you’re being micromanaged by your boss? Or letting perfectionism stand in your way? 

Workplace expert Lynne Cazaly has the answers for you. She is a consultant, future work expert, international speaker and award winning author (just to name a few of her hats!). 

But despite all those qualifications, she also makes time for hobbies and speaks to the importance of doing things you love, even if you do them badly. She is an advocate for women letting go of perfectionism and instead learning to be just good enough. 

Lynne speaks about the importance of stepping into leadership in rural communities and speaking up about your passions, interests and experiences. 

Come to Lynne’s workshop! If you’re in South West Victoria you can catch Lynne’s workshop on expressing ideas to create change at Rural Women Lead  in July, brought to you by Leadership Great South Coast.

Thank you to Weighting for Happiness for sponsoring this Season of Ducks on the Pond. Listen to the episode to hear their special offer. And listen to the Before Dieting podcast - for a systems thinking approach to health.

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This is a Rural Podcasting Co. production. Interested in making your own podcast? Let us help you tell your own story!

Climate change can be one of those topics that people either avoid, argue about, or feel completely overwhelmed by. Meanwhile, climate policy is often a political football.

So how do we have better conversations about it,  especially in rural and regional Australia, where the impacts are often felt first and hardest? And why is it still considered by some to be a ‘leftie inner city issue?”

We’re joined by two brilliant minds: Social researcher Dr Rebecca Huntley and climate scientist,  Emeritus Professor of Biology Lesley Hughes have dedicated themselves to raising awareness about the impacts of climate change, including supporting regional communities. 

Together, they unpack the science, the politics, the psychology, and the opportunities that come with climate action in Australia.

This is not a doom-and-gloom climate chat.

Lesley and Rebecca share how both the scientific and social sides of the issue are intertwined and the tough balance of motivating people to act on climate change without losing hope that the situation is impossible. 

Thank you to Weighting for Happiness for Sponsoring this Season of Ducks on the Pond.  Listen to the Before Dieting podcast, by founder Brownyn Fletcher

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This is a big, honest, and deeply human conversation.

In this episode, Kirsten sits down with Warrnambool mother, Amanda Gaudion, who shares the story of her former husband Troy — a devoted dad, police officer, and someone who experienced a severe mental illness that ultimately led to his death by suicide.

It’s a conversation about love, confusion, systems, stigma and what it’s actually like to live alongside complex mental illness that doesn’t fit neatly into the categories we’re more comfortable talking about.

This episode gently but powerfully challenges the way we think about mental health — especially the conditions we don’t talk about.

If this episode raises anything for you, support is available:

Lifeline (Australia): 13 11 14

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When was the last time you had a difficult conversation? Maybe it was with a family member, at work or even within your community. While it can be easy for us to shy away from hard chats, our next guest considers her ability to have “crunchy” conversations a superpower. 

From a young age Liz Brennan had these conversations role modelled within her family. So by the time she found herself in Papua New Guinea working alongside cultural leaders in a tourism role, she felt well prepared to put in the hard yards to build trust, find community and have “crunchy” conversations. 

Now living in Kunnunurra but originally from WA’s wheatbelt, Liz works as the managing director for AgDots, an organisation connecting people in rural Australia to make things happen. 

Liz speaks about how she first became interested in food systems while living in Papua New Guinea, the importance of diversifying and how to feel empowered by your choice to live regionally, instead of feeling hindered by it. 

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Ducks on the Pond is back with Season 8!

Hear what's coming up on this powerful 10 episode season and meet Bronwyn Fletcher, founder of Weighting for Happiness.... and Ducks Season 8  sponsor.

Bronwyn is working to change the conversation around women and weight through a systems-thinking approach to health and wellbeing. She unpacks why rural women often face different barriers to support and services, and why addressing complex challenges requires moving beyond simple fixes.

Bronwyn also has a fabulous podcast called Before Dieting.

Season 8 of Ducks on the Pond launches soon, with a new lineup of powerful stories, fresh perspectives and thoughtful conversations.

Follow the podcast now so you don’t miss the first episode of the season.

This is a Rural Podcasting Co. production

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This is a Rural Podcasting Co. production. Interested in making your own podcast? Let us help you tell your own story!

“If farmers don’t have a voice, they’ll be dealt a poorer hand.” That’s the simple mantra that motivates Rebecca Reardon to be involved in advocacy with NSW Farmers.

Rebecca is a mixed farmer from Moree in NSW, an agricultural economist, board director and Vice President of NSW Farmers.

Her path into agricultural leadership wasn’t linear. After 20 years working post–farm gate in the grains industry, including stepping into a CEO role during one of the most personally challenging periods of her life, she made the conscious decision to step back and prioritise family when one of her children became seriously ill

What followed were two phone calls that changed her trajectory; one inviting her onto an industry board, and another encouraging her to join the Grains Committee at NSW Farmers

 That “gentle push” led her into policy, advocacy and leadership at a state and national level.

In this collaboration episode with NSW Farmers, Rebecca reflects candidly on:

• How family crisis reshaped her perspective on leadership and success
• Why advocacy isn’t just about what farmer groups win; but what they stop
• How NSW Farmers develops grassroots policy through branches, committees and annual conference
• The mounting pressures facing agriculture; from telecommunications and biosecurity to land tax, diesel rebates, insurance and renewables
• The widening city–country divide and the fight to maintain farming’s social licence
• Why we need more women and more young farmers stepping into advocacy roles

If you’ve ever thought about getting involved, but worried you didn’t know enough, weren’t qualified, or might upset someone… this episode is your nudge.

Learn more about NSW Farmers or become a member HERE

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