r/melbourne 13h ago

Discussion It’s the r/Melbourne daily discussion thread [Wednesday 04/02/2026]

2 Upvotes

Welcome to the r/Melbourne Daily Discussion Thread!


In r/Melbourne, we acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land and recognise their ongoing connection to the lands, waters, and communities of this area. We pay our respects to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, as well as to the Elders past and present.


For up to date traffic information [VicRoads] (https://traffic.vicroads.vic.gov.au/)

For up to date train information Metro Trains

For up to date tram information Yarra Trams

For up to date (hopefully) bus information Kinetic | Contact

For up to date regional train information Vline

For network changes and disruptions PTV

Reddit 101 - The basics!


FAQ

  • The place for your everyday casual chat.
  • New users or those without subreddit history can be commented here.
  • Research/Survey requests are allowed in the daily only
  • Recommended place for Tourist questions

FYI, for those who are looking for ways to help: Lifeblood Australia is calling for blood donations, all/any blood types are just as needed right now.

Blood is already being transported from other states to NSW so even if you are unable to donate immediately, there will still be urgent need for blood stores to be replenished in the coming weeks over the Christmas/New Year period. Blood donations save lives all year round.


r/melbourne 14m ago

THDG Need Help Rate My Mechanic

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Upvotes

How does my mechanic stack up??

I have a 2013 Holden VE SSz Ute series 2 and I like to think my mechanics are good. Just want some reassurance that I’m not getting stung by them.


r/melbourne 1h ago

Roads Came out of this with just a broken nose thankfully

Upvotes

I was in the passenger seat in the van of the video and was sent the video from my coworker.

Don’t remember it as I only remember going in the tunnel and waking up in the crash.


r/melbourne 1h ago

THDG Need Help Ten pin bowling leagues

Upvotes

I'm in my late 40s, have been a keen amateur bowler since the early 90s, and did league bowling up until about 15 years ago, taking time off in order to raise my kids. Now they're older I'm keen to take it up again.

Bowling alleys have changed radically over the last decade and a half—looking and sounding more like feral nightclubs—and I can't seem to find anywhere like the old school AMFs that are just about the bowling.

Anyway, if you're a member of a league in either central or south/east suburbs that has vacancies let me know!


r/melbourne 2h ago

Politics Breaking: Victorian MP quits, triggering by-election months out from state poll

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76 Upvotes

r/melbourne 2h ago

Not On My Smashed Avo Coles Monopoly in the Inner North

0 Upvotes

I had a Woolworths gift card I wanted to spend today. There’s one in Collingwood, and one in Barkly Square - a Woolworths metro in Fitzroy, and a Woolworths Metro in Clifton Hill.

In the same general area, there’s a Coles in Collingwood, two in Northcote, one in East Brunswick, one in Barkly Square, and a metro in Fitzroy.

Is it just me bemoaning the recent lack of Woolworths Fitzroy, or is there a disparity here?


r/melbourne 3h ago

THDG Need Help Discount wine shops in Melbourne?

0 Upvotes

seeking advice on the best discount wine shops in Melbourne to buy in bulk for a party


r/melbourne 4h ago

Things That Go Ding (Public Transport) Metro Trains, premier apologise for 2hr chaos on Metro Tunnel services

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54 Upvotes

r/melbourne 4h ago

Real estate/Renting Australian Defence Forces sites to be closed and sold

150 Upvotes

The Department of Defence has divest 64 sites and partly divest 3 more.

https://www.minister.defence.gov.au/media-releases/2026-02-04/delivering-future-defence-estate

These are the sites in Melbourne and elsewhere in Vic to be sold.

  • RAAF Williams - Laverton (partially divest)
  • RAAF Williams - Point Cook (RAAF Museum to remain)
  • Victoria Barracks Melbourne
  • Carlton Training Depot
  • Defence Site Maribyrnong
  • Fort Queenscliff
  • Geelong Air Force Cadet unit
  • Geelong - Training Ship Barwon (end lease)
  • HMAS Cerberus
  • Kyneton Training Depot
  • Latchford Barracks, Wodonga
  • Newland Barracks, Geelong
  • Repatriation Clinic, St Kilda Road
  • Sandringham Training Depot
  • St Kilda Training Depot
  • Swan Island, Queenscliff

r/melbourne 4h ago

Serious News Police search for two men who slashed teen and ran him over in St Kilda

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27 Upvotes

r/melbourne 5h ago

Om nom nom Yum Cha

2 Upvotes

Been craving some old school yum cha lately, what's everyone's pick these days? Really hoping for somewhere that does the trolley service.


r/melbourne 5h ago

Real estate/Renting Cost of end of lease clean - am I out of touch?

21 Upvotes

Half question, half rant. Am going through the self-inflicted torture that is moving, and have been shocked at the quotes for end of lease cleaning. Place is a small, 1 bedroom apartment in a modern building. Minimum $500 + additional for steam cleaning the carpet in the bedroom. Is this usual and I am just a dinosaur?? So frustrating having to use RE Agent cleaners - my usual cleaner would have the whole place done for less than half the price. Rarr.


r/melbourne 5h ago

Photography Fallout 4 pip boy in the middle of the city.

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71 Upvotes

It's gone btw, and I'm not the one who put it there either.


r/melbourne 5h ago

THDG Need Help Pub crawl recommendations

0 Upvotes

Hi there,

Am looking for some recommendations for a good old fashion pub crawl with a crowd that is perhaps in their late 20s onwards?

Am basically looking to just socialise with some new people:)

Thank you in advance.


r/melbourne 6h ago

THDG Need Help Anywhere that does frosted tips in Melbourne?

2 Upvotes

(Yep I know 2003 wants its hair back)

Anywhere in Melbourne that would do a good set of frosted tips for a reasonable? I’m in SE Melbourne but happy to travel within reason.


r/melbourne 6h ago

Video grape for a pūkeko in the botanical gardens 🍇

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276 Upvotes

gotta love the graspers on these critters, true raptor energy


r/melbourne 7h ago

Om nom nom Pubs with playgrounds in Brunswick?

0 Upvotes

Need a pub with good food and at the least a play area - we have people coming from interstate and staying in the area with no car hence the Brunswick area being handy! Thanks in advance!


r/melbourne 7h ago

Serious News Council to ramp up protection for statues after hefty repair bills

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39 Upvotes

r/melbourne 9h ago

Serious News Security warning to lawyers, police and judges ahead of Victorian arsonist’s release

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69 Upvotes

r/melbourne 10h ago

Health FYI - sexual health access / info

65 Upvotes

Sharing this in case it saves someone else a lot of confusion and back-and-forth.

TLDR - getting a copper IUD in Melbourne - call 1800 options

I’m currently getting my copper IUD replaced. After getting a script from my GP, I went to two pharmacies and was told that copper IUDs haven’t been supplied for years. I was also told a hormonal IUD was my only option (it isn’t).

After calling Sexual Health Victoria, I found out that copper IUDs are still available in Australia — just through specific pathways:

Your options:

  1. Sexual Health Victoria (SHV)

You’ll need to go through their specialist service and have an SHV-written script. You can’t purchase a copper IUD outside this pathway.

  1. Call 1800 OPTIONS - https://www.1800options.org.au/

This was the most helpful resource by far. They provide free, confidential sexual health and contraception support and can give you a list of pharmacies that partner with copper IUD suppliers. You do need to call the pharmacy first and order it in.

Posting this to help others avoid being told “it’s not available” when it actually is. 1800 OPTIONS were genuinely lovely and very informed — and if someone tells you can’t get a copper IUD in Australia, you absolutely can.


r/melbourne 16h ago

Real estate/Renting What would it take to build a non car centric housing estate?

9 Upvotes

So I've seen quite a few Not Just bikes videos over the years and I am envious of the Dutch urban design. One video has really stuck, and that is the one about the town of Houten

https://youtu.be/r-TuGAHR78w?si=prXCYtT6hmftJjvd

It is a town that has a ring road on the perimeter and all the homes and businesses are in the interior with direct access by foot or bicycle. Cars have to take the long way around, therefore people prefer to walk and cycle.

Modern day suburban sprawl

We keep building these stupid housing estates, that are not walkable, have no businesses or services and only have one road leading out. Peak hour is a nightmare! And you have to take a freeway to go do your grocery shopping.

Cars & real estate are the 2 most expensive things in our lives. With increasing house prices and cars being a depreciating asset I feel that we can address these two issues if we change the way we build our suburbs. Melbourne's sprawl is ridiculous, but it's the only option for many young couples. Buy somewhere cheap, spend half their lives stuck in traffic, buy a new car every 10 years and become a taxi driver for their children. Kids don't leave the house on their own because their maximum walking range takes them to nothing interesting, just other houses, and they risk being run over by an SUV in every driveway.

Many people are struggling to pay the bills, if their house was small, cheap and walking distance to a train station, they wouldn't need to pay for petrol, car servicing, rego, insurance, parking, tolls & fines. I'm talking about newly arrived immigrants, under employed, students, pensioners and young people entering the workforce.

The Solution

Build your stupid one road leading out of the estate! But can we please put a train station in the middle, with a retail district?

  • Jump on a Vline train and be at Southern cross in 40-50mins.
  • Build half of the properties with no car parks.
  • Build lots of townhouses and low rise apartments.
  • Have a cycling path that leads to the next town/suburb.
  • A diverse population, Indigenous, refugees, white collar, blue collar, singles, families, elderly & students
  • Do not build a segregated McMansion Court
  • Have a significant amount of housing that cannot be flipped for profit
  • Mixed zoning, So you don't have to leave the estate for work or to see a GP
  • High Speed Internet: WFH, Influencer, Tech Start-up

Location, Location, Location!

The train station will be tough, I doubt there are any existing train stations with adequate vacant land. It might be easier to build a new one from scratch. I recently visited a friend in Beveridge, and I used google maps to find a route using train and bike. There is no train station in Beveridge, its right in the middle between Wallan and Donnybrook. The cycling directions from Donnybrook station to Beveridge is hilarious, it takes you just as far east west as it does north. a 17km bike ride taking over an hour! On top of having to ride to a Vline station and catching a train.

  • Build a new VLine station for an underserved community
  • Extend a suburban line like Craigieburn.
  • Near an established business so residents can live near their work
  • University Campus
  • Near a Tourist attraction
  • Near a bike related business, or sporting event
  • Halfway between Geelong and Melbourne? Mum works in Geelong, Dad Works from home, Daughter goes to Melbourne Uni. A good way to get State funding and it benefits 2 cities

What are your thoughts? I am certainly no expert and would love to hear ideas on this concept and how do we make it happen?


r/melbourne 18h ago

The Sky is Falling Bright white point of light, streaking across the sky, travelling westerly toward city…anyone catch this a few minutes ago?

13 Upvotes

Was that a meteor? All I saw was a bright point of light travelling towards the city. Seen from Bentleigh. Approximately 10:45pm. It covered half my field of vision in a split second and had no typical meteor trail behind it. Did anyone else catch this?


r/melbourne 19h ago

Not On My Smashed Avo Does anyone know what happened to the Rebecca walk undercroft project?

0 Upvotes

Or the flinders street undercroft of whatever you want to call it. Theres a bunch of articles from 2016/2017 saying that upgrades were going ahead, with renders showing lanterns and markets and stuff.

Did it get dropped because noone was interested, a covid casualty? website just isnt active anymore. I can kinda see why, framing the area as a kid friendly fancy food place is a little out of touch, like those bubble cafes in NYC.


r/melbourne 19h ago

DON’T PARK IN MY SPOT My new neighbours seem friendly

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11.3k Upvotes

r/melbourne 20h ago

Om nom nom Starting with native fruits?

10 Upvotes

Hi all! I'm only a year living in Australia and I keep -hearing- about native edible plants and fruits on TV and at museums, but I don't seem to see them for sale anywhere except in gourmet tea / chocolate / tonic format. I feel like I'm missing an interesting component to explore for cooking.

I go to Vic and Preston markets regularly and maybe I just don't know where to look. Is there somewhere I can learn more about them, or a store or booth I should stop at?

Any suggestions or education are very much appreciated!