5 June 2025

In this edition of Business Link - tickets going fast for Micro and Small Business Day, EOIs open for Maldon in Winter Festival, drought relief for farmers, and local business Forêt Distilling in the spotlight.

Agriculture Victoria announces drought support package for farmers

The Victorian Government is providing direct drought support of $67.2 million for farmers across Victoria impacted by drought and difficult seasonal conditions.

Primary producers in our region can access the following support:

• On-farm drought infrastructure grants
  Amounts of up to $5000 for immediate support in managing drought, as well as for drought management improvements such as water infrastructure upgrades, stock containment areas, grain and fodder storage, water carting activities and pasture re-establishment. A 1:1 co-contribution is required by the grant recipient.

• One-on-one drought advisory service
  Impacted farmers anywhere in Victoria can access technical and decision-making support by registering for a one-on-one session with a farm advisor to discuss and plan the best way forward for their business in the challenging conditions. 

Maldon in Winter Festival 2025 - Expressions of Interest (EOIs)

This year's Maldon in Winter Festival is gearing up to be an unforgettable event. With the theme of ‘Let there be Light’, the festival is about creating excitement, community connection, and celebrating everything that makes Maldon ‘Your Maldon’.

The Festival begins on Saturday 21 June with the winter solstice, and runs through to the end of the school holidays on Sunday 20 July.

If you run a business, community group, club, or provide a service, and would like to be a part of the Maldon in Winter Festival, submit your event EOI. You'll take the lead on the event and Maldon Inc will handle the promotion.

Local Business - Forêt Distilling

We chatted recently with Nathan Strathmore Malcolm from Castlemaine-based Forêt Distilling to find out more about this local business.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and the journey that led to starting Forêt Distilling?
Another producer brought me to the area almost a decade ago to distil for them and I decided this was home. Around the time I finished working with that producer, Charles-Andre Lemire and I had the idea of starting something extremely small to see how far past Hargraves Street we could take it. Turns out Perth and Hamilton Island so far, which is well beyond what we anticipated.

Local collaboration is key in a place like Mount Alexander shire. Can you share any ways you’ve worked with other local businesses, creatives or growers?
Forêt and Daylesford Cider are releasing something very special, but apart from that there’s also a plum liqueur we haven’t bottled. The plums were excess from The Orchard Keepers at Harcourt. Cabosse and Feve have also made something really cool. I promise there’s whisky, apple brandy and other products you’ve never heard of (because neither have we). We’re at the point where what we did a few years ago is what you’re about to taste. No gin, sorry.

What have been some of your biggest challenges or learning curves as a small-scale producer and entrepreneur in regional Victoria?
Without a doubt, don’t be the biggest, just do what you can to be amongst the best. Quality is everything. But also put yourself in a position where you can say yes to the unexpected.

The craft spirits industry is very competitive - what’s your approach to standing out in a crowded market?
I’m in a unique position where my day job is making a lot of mainstream spirits for a lot of other people so with Forêt everything is driven by what I actually love doing. Forêt forces me to spend A LOT of time in the garden year-round while listening to MAINfm, which is what I love. I like to think that shows in the result.

New resources for small business from the ACCC

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has developed a small business toolkit that explains your rights and responsibilities when dealing with customers, competitors, and suppliers. The toolkit will help make sure you’re complying with the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, and Australian consumer law. Find useful resources on the following topics:

• Competing fairly and trading with other businesses
• Treating customers fairly
• Pricing and promoting your business

You can also find out information on recent changes to some codes of conduct - the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct and the Franchising Code of Conduct.

2025 Active Living Census

Insights gathered from this year's Active Living Census will help guide decisions about
programs, recreation spaces, and services in your community. Your input will help shape a healthy future, and it's open to everyone.

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Mount Alexander Shire Council
email: business@mountalexander.vic.gov.au  web: www.mountalexander.vic.gov.au

Mount Alexander Shire Council acknowledges that the traditional custodians of this
land, the Dja Dja Wurrung and Taungurung peoples, proudly survive. We acknowledge their continued practice of custom and their close cultural, spiritual, physical, social, historical and economic relationship with the land and waters that make up
their country, which includes Mount Alexander Shire.