Sunflowers for shire a first in the south west

Published on 12 September 2025

Moyne Shire Council is proud to be the first council in south-west Victoria to sign-up and help promote the globally recognised Hidden Disabilities Sunflower program within our community.

The education has started with some of our youngest residents thanks to Koroit Kindergarten teacher Melissa Rowan who has been integrating the Sunflower program into the class learning and group discussions.

Ms Rowan said having the support of Council for the Sunflower program has provided opportunity to extend the education to families and children within the service.

“Having been aware of the program myself prior to Council signing up I knew sharing it with our children and parents would increase awareness across the district.

“We started by introducing the lanyards and the pins to the children and spoke about how they indicated if people needed a bit of extra support, time and understanding in our community,” Ms Rowan said.

“After integrating the Sunflower program into our lessons, the children have been excited to recognise the lanyards on their teachers and have been role playing wearing the lanyards; white for support person, green for a hidden disability. To see the children’s interactions with one another has been a wonderful indicator of their engagement with the learning,” she said.

Since signing up to the program in March 2025 Council has rolled the training out to over 200 staff to provide an inviting and accessible organisation to the community.

Mayor Karen Foster said becoming a supporter of the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower program has come as a direct action from Council’s Disability Inclusion and Access Plan adopted last year.

“I have learned that there are more than 900 recognised ‘hidden disabilities’, which can include physical, mental, neurological or developmental conditions, that aren’t immediately apparent to any observer,” Cr Foster said.

“Often those people need extra support when they are going about their business at work, in shops or in public spaces. These lanyards help us to recognise when we might need to be a little more understanding.”

Cr Foster said lanyards can be collected free of charge from Moyne Shire’s libraries in Mortlake, Koroit and Port Fairy, or from Council offices in Mortlake and Port Fairy.