Coal Face

S2E8 - Beyond Coal Part 2 | The truth about Hydrogen & how community shaped life after coal

After a century of coal, what should Latrobe Valley's identity look like in the future?  In this final instalment of season 2, we explore new technologies being researched right here in Gippsland, and how a multi-year long co-designed project has led to community visioning what could be after coal.  First, we dive into hydrogen with Dr Surbhi from Federation University. We explore how to cut through the greenwashing and learn what the energy could do here in Australia, if done correctly.   Then we shift to local futures with Associate Professor Jess Reeves. Jess takes us inside a multi-year project she led, working with communities across the Latrobe Valley to co-design what post-mining land could become. Find out what Jess and the team discovered about the future of our home, through deliberation processes with First Nations communities, young people and local residents.  To cap off the season, we also give out 'The Coalies' Coal Face Awards for things what we said that were good. Bon apitite x  Show notes:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FAsPPI2LWG1RuFesqnfJnw3wN2HfeciZJBFSJwDt2Eo/edit?usp=sharing [https://www.google.com/url?q=https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FAsPPI2LWG1RuFesqnfJnw3wN2HfeciZJBFSJwDt2Eo/edit?usp%3Dsharing&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1775457354478981&usg=AOvVaw21CtMErwZEVIRqkJD2GQyD]

S2 E7 - Beyond Coal Part 1 | Stories That Change Us & Soil the Underdog of Mine Remediation

It's our season finale and we’re going beyond coal!   After a century of digging, burning, and extracting, we ask the question: what actually happens next? Between election jitters, fringe politics, and the slow-motion chaos of public sector cuts, the future feels… complicated. Join Dr. Rosemary Joyner (MLRA) who talks storytelling, community voice, and what people really want: a future that’s fair, secure, and not just another corporate experiment. Then hear from Professor Thomas Baumgartl from Fed Uni who takes us deep into the dirt, literally. Soil is the underdog of mine rehab, drought is coming for us, and it turns out you can’t just chuck some grass seed on a slope and call it a day. Ps. because we yapped so much, this season finale has been split into a bonus beyond coal part 7, which we will release next month. So more Coal Face for all! Show notes/ sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vhKOtvPOdfcbsRI1ON3IhDslnjDVXg1aY3LfabJ-1kg/edit?usp=sharing [https://www.google.com/url?q=https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vhKOtvPOdfcbsRI1ON3IhDslnjDVXg1aY3LfabJ-1kg/edit?usp%3Dsharing&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1772153728789549&usg=AOvVaw30A8co-nzxfk8Apy9NroIf]

ACOWE 2025 - One Does Not Simply Build a Windfarm

This is episode is all about looking forward to Offshore wind. More specifically, the Australian Centre for Offshore Wind Energy AKA ACOWE’s Technical symposium, which happened back in September 2025. The ACOWE Technical Symposium was the first of its kind, and was presented in collaboration with the Gippsland New Energy Conference. Join us as we learn from expert guests Tamara Al-Hashimi the Technical Director of Marine Science at RPS, Associate Professor Peggy Shu-Ling Chen, PhD director at the Centre for Maritime and Logistics Management and Avi Shonberg the Chief Geotechnical Engineer at Ørsted.   Thanks you to Federation University Australia and the Victorian State Government for supporting the Coal Face podcast. Show Notes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/16Vjma-mruFs79GpXMDT0yq8rfH26H58n8ulw7UCwbGc/edit?usp=sharing

S2 E5: Yallourn: The Town That Disappeared – Displacement, Energy Extraction, and Loss

Yallourn was a much loved company town built to house power industry workers and their families. It was much loved by resident's and a showpiece for the state of Victoria. After the Second World War, many migrants arrived to help run and expand the power station, mine and some took up residency in Yallourn. Unfortunately, the industry that helped build Yallourn also ended up being the reason for its downfall. In this episode hear from our guests David Langmore & Josef Sestokas as we take a look at some of the Latrobe Valley's migration history, displaced persons and the rise and fall of the town of Yallourn.  Show Notes [https://docs.google.com/document/d/16AcyDNViU91O9GCAadE_pF3kt9GTEKimojTTY5o1RE0/edit?usp=sharing]

S2 E4: The Long Burn: Hazelwood Minefire, Health and Defunding Prevention

The Hazelwood Mine Fire of 2014 left the Latrobe Valley blanketed in toxic smoke for 45 days. But the real story doesn’t end when the fire was extinguished. What came after was a reckoning: a landmark inquiry that exposed corporate negligence and health impacts. This episode asks: what did the Hazelwood Mine Fire Inquiry change, and what did it leave unresolved? We’ll explore the creation of the Hazelwood Health Study and how it tracked the ongoing effects of smoke exposure, including heart, lung and mental health outcomes and key groups like infants and children, young people, and older people as well as broader community wellbeing. We’ll also look at how the fire forced recognition of a “health deficit” in the Valley, sparking the establishment of the Latrobe Health Assembly and Latrobe Health Innovation Zone and what the recent removal of these organisations funding means moving forward.  Season two has been made possible by the support of Federation University, the Victorian Government and the Morwell Innovation Centre Show notes and sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xgEeGRpT2Me0Y07Y01v6Dwmor-U_W4CacrZHUcJYj4c/edit?usp=sharing [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xgEeGRpT2Me0Y07Y01v6Dwmor-U_W4CacrZHUcJYj4c/edit?usp=sharing]  Guest Bios  Ellen-Jane Browne Ellen-Jane is currently Executive Officer of the Latrobe Health Assembly, a place of community informed health innovation situated in Victoria's Latrobe Valley. Ellen-Jane brings to the role a long history of working in the university and government sectors. These include - Principal Advisor for the establishment of the Latrobe Health Innovation Zone, Director Portfolio Services at DHHS, Academic Register at RMIT, and many other senior officer roles spanning six government departments and two Universities. Ellen-Jane also tutored in the areas of Sociology, Political Science and Law. Away from work, Ellen-Jane has a love of the Strzelecki Ranges in South Gippsland, the CWA, her old school Land Rover Defender, and Antarctic History First Editions. Ellen-Jane holds a variety of graduate and post graduate qualifications in the areas of Sociology, Political Science, and Public Administration from Monash, RMIT and Melbourne Universities. Matthew Carroll Associate Professor Matthew Carroll is a researcher based at Monash Rural Health in Churchill in Gippsland, Victoria. Up until mid-2025, Matthew was the Co-Principal Investigator for the Hazelwood Health Study (HHS) with Prof Karen Walker-Bone. The HHS was an internationally significant 11-year longitudinal study looking at the health impacts of the 2014 Hazelwood mine fire. Matthew worked closely with community, including through co-design, participatory action and dissemination activities. The excellence of the HHS was noted through Monash Medical Faculty Dean’s awards in 2017 and 2025, and the study has led to a raft of policy changes locally and at the state and national Level. A/Prof Carroll’s research and engagement has always focused on building community, whether that be local communities (through his work with local government), rural communities (through his connections with the Australian Rural Health Education Network (ARHEN) Research Network and the Victorian Universities Regional Research Network), or the national research community (through his role as convenor of the Emerging Researchers in Ageing Network).