Loretta Florance
Loretta Florance is a digital producer in the Melbourne newsroom. She has previously reported and produced for ABC Local Radio, News Breakfast TV, and triple j's youth current affairs program Hack. She has also written and produced for Network Ten's The Project. You can reach her on Twitter at @dhflorance.
'Way out of the ordinary' times for tiny Victorian farming town
Posted
In Victoria's far north-west the farming town of Patchewollock is experiencing a minor boom in culture and babies, and after decades of decline, it can't come too soon.
Topics: street-art, arts-and-entertainment, visual-art, music, rural, patchewollock-3491, brim-3391
Losing a house all in a day's work for professional gambler
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For professional gambler Peter Lawrence, Melbourne Cup day is the culmination of a year's hard work, very little of which actually takes place at the races.
Topics: horse-racing, sport, gambling, community-and-society, byron-bay-2481, flemington-3031, vic
The faces of South Australia's cash for cans
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In Adelaide, Joan collects bottles and cans, earning $50 a week to supplement her pension, so she has a little extra for coffee, cigarettes and giving to charity.
Topics: recycling-and-waste-management, environment, community-and-society, adelaide-5000, sa, nsw
How a small rule change proved a big problem for roller derby's queer community
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Last month, when an Australian roller derby insurer made a rule change to improve safety, the swift and angry response they got from players took them by surprise.
Topics: other-sports, sport, community-and-society, gays-and-lesbians, sexuality, adelaide-5000
Australia tries its hand at Kabaddi World Cup in India
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Imagine representing Australia on the international stage in a sport you have never heard of, before an audience of fanatical fans. Welcome to the Kabaddi World Cup 2016.
Topics: sport, other-sports, australian-football-league, india, melbourne-3000
What it's like to be in a loving, sexless relationship
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Dae and Tash have been happily dating for six months, but they also are not — and never have been — sexually attracted to each other.
Topics: sexuality, community-and-society, psychology, sydney-2000
From the first ute to the last Falcon, Ford's long history
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The last Australian-built Ford has rolled off the production line, bringing an end a decades-long history of car manufacturing in the country for the company.
Topics: manufacturing, community-and-society, geelong-3220, broadmeadows-3047
Meet the three people who still call Australia's asbestos ground zero home
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In the 1950s, Wittenoom's streets were literally paved with asbestos. Today, almost 10 years since the town was declared too dangerous to live in, three people still refuse to leave.
Topics: mining-environmental-issues, asbestos, government-and-politics, mining-rural, wittenoom-6754
Prawns, salmon, sparkling wine most likely served at dinner with PM
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Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull spent $198,591 entertaining guests during his first six months in office, and on one occasion served steak and chips in a bread roll, an analysis reveals.
Topics: government-and-politics, canberra-2600
Australian filmmaker teams up with East Timorese to produce local horror movies
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Australian filmmaker Thomas Henning makes supernatural horror films in East Timor, helping locals to build the skills that he hopes will one day lead to a thriving film industry.
Topics: arts-and-entertainment, horror-films, film-movies, comedy-film, fantasy-films, community-and-society, internet-culture, east-timor
'It was in my blood': Life on the road for travelling show children
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Students at the National School for Travelling Show Children learn lessons in a caravan as they travel the country with their parents. But what will become of the family tradition as the school's funding dries up?
Topics: education, distance-education, public-schools, primary-schools, schools, human-interest, rockhampton-4700, mackay-4740
International students 'shocked' by Australian working conditions
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They pay much more than locals to study at Australian universities, but once they get here international students say finding someone willing to pay them minimum wage is "very rare".
Topics: university-and-further-education, work, melbourne-3000, vietnam
Mungallala, Queensland: What it's like to live in Australia's poorest town
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With an average yearly income of just over $3,000, Mungallala in Queensland is officially Australia's poorest town. But the locals say what they lack in money, they make up for in spirit.
Topics: drought, poverty, community-and-society, regional, rural, mungallala-4467, qld, australia
The Gatwick Hotel: Seeking real estate mogul to house poor
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In St Kilda in Melbourne's south-east, one family has run a boarding house since the 1950s. Now they are looking for a multi-millionaire buyer who is willing to keep it that way.
Topics: homelessness, community-and-society, urban-development-and-planning, human-interest, st-kilda-3182
Imagine translating a rapper live on stage in real time
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That is the job of Amber Galloway Gallego, who takes music appreciation to a whole new level for America's deaf community.
Topics: music, arts-and-entertainment, music-industry, languages, hearing, melbourne-3000, sydney-2000
Magic, vintage porn and defamation: Australia's hidden library collections
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Behind the rows of shelves in many of Australia's libraries you can find ancient magic tricks, books on euthanasia and secret family histories — if you know what to ask for.
Topics: library-museum-and-gallery, arts-and-entertainment, books-literature, melbourne-3000, canberra-2600, sydney-2000
Wye River bushfire would have been 'far worse' without back-burning: report
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Victoria's Wye River bushfire that destroyed more than 100 homes along the Great Ocean Road would have been "far worse" without a controversial back-burning strategy, an independent investigation finds.
Topics: bushfire, fires, disasters-and-accidents, state-parliament, emergency-planning, wye-river-3221
'What a joke': Government MP blasts Melbourne's public transport
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Victorian Government MP Anthony Carbines takes to social media to document his experience on Melbourne's public transport system following the One Day International cricket match at the MCG on Sunday night.
Topics: public-sector, government-and-politics, parliament, state-parliament, urban-development-and-planning, melbourne-3000
Melbourne man asks for public's support to start foundation for Jesuit abuse victims
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A man who is still fighting for compensation over alleged abuse suffered at Melbourne's prestigious Xavier College in the 1970s turns to crowdfunding in an effort to establish a foundation to support other abuse victims.
Topics: community-and-society, child-abuse, catholic, royal-commissions, sexual-offences, kew-3101, melbourne-3000
Women's festival criticised for excluding pre-operative transgender women
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A three-day women's festival to be held in March next year is criticised for not allowing transgender women to attend unless they have undergone gender re-assignment surgery.
Topics: women, community-and-society, gays-and-lesbians, community-and-multicultural-festivals, mount-martha-3934
Melbourne's 2015 rainfall well below average for the second year running
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It has been another dry year in Melbourne, with an El Nino effect causing the city to record well below average rainfall for the second year in a row, the weather bureau says.
Topics: weather, rainfall, water, water-management, water-supply, melbourne-3000
Victorian MP who did not stand for Rosie Batty ovation 'totally overwhelmed': Matthew Guy
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Liberal MP Graham Watt is "utterly against family violence" despite remaining seated as the State Parliament gave family violence campaigner Rosie Batty a standing ovation on Thursday, Victoria's Opposition leader says.
Topics: domestic-violence, community-and-society, family, state-parliament, parliament, melbourne-3000
Same-sex adoption passes Victorian Upper House with religious exemptions
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Victoria's Upper House passes legislation to legalise adoption by same-sex couples, but with an exemption for faith-based adoption services.
Topics: gays-and-lesbians, community-and-society, children, religion-and-beliefs, parliament, state-parliament, government-and-politics, melbourne-3000, vic
Family violence training recommended for GPs following inquest
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Compulsory family violence training for all GPs is recommended by Victoria's chief coroner after an investigation into the death of a girl who was thrown from the West Gate Bridge by her father.
Topics: community-and-society, domestic-violence, law-crime-and-justice, courts-and-trials, melbourne-3000
Prominent Indigenous elder Jack Charles rejected by taxi again
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Senior Victorian Australian of the Year, Indigenous elder Jack Charles, is considering legal action after being refused a taxi ride for the second time in a week.
Topics: community-and-society, indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, aboriginal, melbourne-3000, sydney-2000, adelaide-5000
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