Tassie Market Watch- June 2026

With recent changes to capital gains tax in Australia shifting the spotlight onto the fami­ly home as a smart financial asset, more Australians are asking the question: what can I do to make my home worth more? The good news is, you don’t need a massive budget or a full knockdown-rebuild to make a real difference. A few well-chosen upgrades can add serious value – and make your place a whole lot more enjoyable to live in along the way.

Tassie Market Watch- February 2026

The Lunar New Year is a time of vibrant celebration for many communities, including Tasmania’s Chinese community. As we welcome the Year of the Horse, we spoke with Hingur Chung, president of the Chinese Community Association of Tasmania (CCAT) about the annual observance.

As an archaeologist, Jennifer wants everyone to know she doesn’t work with dino­saurs! We dug deeper into what it takes to be an archaeologist in Tasmania.

As a member of the Tasmania JackJumpers team, CEO Christine Finnegan brought her extensive sports management experience to kickstart the new club back in 2020. Attention now turns to the women’s team, starting nationally for the 26/27 season.

What’s On In Hobart- November 2025

At a loose end on Christmas Day? Need help to get a few treats on the Christmas Table? We’ve got you covered. Here’s our round up of community services helping out this Christmas.

The spring selling season, when the residential market tradi­tionally kicks back into gear again, began in earnest.

Ah, working from home, or WFH if you’re in the know.

Bits and Pieces Community News – December 2025

On a 20-acre property overlooking Kettering and the D’Entrecasteaux Channel, something remarkable is happening: sick, injured, and orphaned raptors are being rehabilitated and released back into the wild.

Make It Fresh is a new initiative in Devonport, helping to combat food secu­rity issues and offer affordable options for the community. We had a chat with the manager Al Ollington about their future plans.

Zodiac Check-In: Your Monthly Astro Update – November 2025

The Woman Booker Prize Club is a local Hobart book club. Here they share their thoughts on books by Tasmanian authors, set in Tasmania, or about Tassie topics. Over to the club!

Tasmanian Championship Wrestling (TCW) was established in 2011 by Leigh Barber – a long tenured QLD wrestler who brought professional wrestling to Tasmania starting a training school and running wrestling events. Beau Sayer and Daniel Hawes took over TCW eight years ago, running the shows and wres­tling too. Daniel gave us the lowdown on where wrestling is at in Tassie right now.

With an adventurous spirit, you can turn any weekend into a mini getaway. From Hobart and Launceston you can take short flights to explore more. Sure, you can drive, but you can also splurge a little, save time, and enjoy a holiday!

Molly Duncan, is 77 and taught herself to paint six years ago. She also lives with arthritis. Through her “unworkable hands” as she calls them, she uses ergonomic tools to work in oil and cold wax medium. Here is Molly’s story.

A festive favourite, all ages will love this dessert, but especially the kids.

Sparkling Wine

The relaxing two kilometre walk, along Shag Bay Historic Trail, in Geilston Bay Regional Park, has both historic and scenic interest. The park is a twelve-minute drive from central Hobart, along East Derwent Highway, to Geilston Bay. The clearly-signed track starts from the carpark in DeBomford Lane.

The warm, pink Balinese sky was the backdrop for lotus flowers that were gently floating in the poolside bar. No phones, emails, or kids, everything was perfect and here on retreat, the couple felt deeply connected.

The Australian Pesticides and Veteri­nary Medicines Authority (APVMA) recently approved salmon producers’ use of Florfenicol, an antibiotic used to treat P. salmonis, a marine bacterium.

New legislation is being planned to crack­down on the sale of illegal smokes and vapes, including increased penalties for those found to be selling illegal cigarettes plus stronger powers, on-the-spot fines and extended closure orders for business­es selling any illegal tobacco products.

Bits and Pieces Community News – November 2025

How Benjamin Paul is bringing cars and spas together in Hobart this month.

Worried about what’s going into your garden? Want to create a lush landscape to enjoy coming into summer? We had a chat with Darcy Pritchard from Horticultural and Landscape Supplies to get the lowdown on going organic in your home garden.

Tasmanians and our economy continue to miss out on the social and economic benefits of using digital technologies effectively, because they can’t access, can’t afford or don’t have the necessary skills to navigate the online world.

When Joanne moved to Hobart from China, she brought her love for tea with her. And she’s passionate about sharing that love with the community through A Moment of Tea, her tea bar in Salamanca Arts Centre.

Goats Beach is a secluded, tranquil beach on the South Arm Peninsula. It is approximately 25 kilometres south east of Hobart. Take the South Arm Road, then take the next turn left after Calverts Lagoon. There is good parking.

Like it or not, kids’ birthdays come around every year, and each time, there’s pressure to pull off something special. Ever catch yourself googling ‘kids’ party venues near me’? You’re not alone. Finding a spot that ticks all the boxes, keeps the kids entertained, and the parents happy, can be a lot. But don’t stress, we’ve got you. Here are some top spots around Tasmania that are perfect for kids’ parties. And hey, many of them work just as well for grown-up gatherings too, whether it’s a catch-up with mates or an office work party. Because adults can have fun too.

The Real Estate Institute of Tasmania released its March quarter report in June, and there were some interesting takeaways.

Rewilding your backyard can make it a haven for native birds and insects. Planting native Tasmanian species in your garden is one of the best ways to attract local wildlife, perfect for birdwatchers or anyone who loves Tassie’s unique plants and animals.

Pickleball – which has nothing to do with pickles – is a sport that has loudly taken over the world. Between 2021 and 2024, it was the fastest-growing sport in the United States. Amid that global rise, pickleball found its way to Tasmania in 2019 from a small band of locals.

As Christmas draws near, Megan from Workskills Tasmania unwraps the story behind Troublesmiths, an innovative program and retail outlet that’s helping young Tasmanians build job-ready skills for a brighter future.

There’s something about the charming little antique shop at 4 Charles Street, New Norfolk that makes it different from any other. Its owner, Joshua Papera, is a teenager.

Simone Zell, CEO of Neighbourhood Houses Tasmania, leads a network of welcoming community hubs dotted across the state. , she shares what makes these spaces special, the role they play in people’s lives, and why they’re the heart of their communities, especially during Neighbourhood House Week running from 12-18 May.

Frederick Matthias Alexander is internationally known as the founder of the Alexander Technique.

There’s having a stash of wine bottles, then there’s creating an entire space devoted to them. A wine cellar is the ultimate indulgence, the final boss move, for anyone who considers themselves a true oenophile. A place where your love of wine moves beyond the bottle and becomes part of your home, your own little cellar door.

Looking to refresh your home with new ideas? The rich cultural diversity of our planet offers an endless array of interior design styles. Join us as we take a journey around the world to discover which country will inspire your next project.

Zodiac Check-in: Your Monthly Astro Update- April 2025

The Woman Booker Prize Club is a local Hobart book club. Here they share their thoughts on books by Tasmanian authors, set in Tasmania, or about Tassie topics. Over to the club!

I moved from Brisbane to Launceston in 2023 to study an accelerated Bachelor of Business, majoring in marketing. I came here for the course, and everything else since has been a bonus. I absolutely love the slower-paced lifestyle, colder weather and sheer beauty of Tasmania.

Sustainable living, exercising regularly, and saving money, all share a common barrier: while we might know these things are good for us, motivating our­selves to actually DO something can be a lot harder.

Coriander might be the world’s most controversial herb but – whether you love it, or think it tastes like soap – it has become a clear symbol of the success of the Inveresk Community Garden.

Corey Peterson is the Chief Sustainability Officer at the University of Tasmania, leading the University’s efforts in planning and creating its organisational sustainability agenda.

Dive into the month ahead with practical star insights – your guide to navigating the cosmos this month.

Joshua Santospirito is a multimedia artist, musician, and comics author. He’s just released his third graphic novel, The Islands Where We Left Our Ancestors. It’s an autobiographical tale aimed at adults about his visit to the Aeolian Islands of Italy with his parents, where he sought out past connections and family roots. We chatted to him about his book and upcoming tour.

The Tasmanian Honour Roll of Women was established in 2005 by the Tasmanian Government “to honour Tasmanian women who have made an outstanding contribution to the State”, and enhance community awareness of their achievements and lasting impact. Nominations for consideration for the 2025 Honour Roll are currently being sought from organisations and individuals, and will close at midnight on Monday 30 September 2024. 

Being part of a community is vital for anyone, especially so when you arrived from another country. We spoke to Ren McGrath, from volunteer organisation CityNetworks, about how a new Hobart community network cafe, Esteem Coffee, is breaking down cultural barriers, one esteem’ing cup at a time.

Whether we’re personally impacted by homelessness or not, there’s no denying it’s clearly an issue that is getting worse in Hobart. We caught up with Dr Charlie Burton, Acting CEO of the Tasmanian Council of Social Services (TasCOSS), to see what he thought could be done.

If you’ve read media reports lately, there seems to be a rise in youth crime, particularly youth knife crime, in Hobart right now. We spoke to David Higgins, CEO of Crimestoppers for his take on the current situation.

As principal solicitor with Tenants Union of Tasmania, Ben Bartl works closely with people living with housing stress. The Union, supported by 12 local community organisations, is calling on the Tasmanian government to maximise the use of existing residential premises in inner-city municipalities to help address the current shortage of appropriate and affordable housing.

Since its inception in 2018, Aaron Benham has been a co-convenor and general volunteer at the Repair Café in New Town. Visitors can bring broken items from their home and with the assis­tance of volunteers, learn how to repair items that would have otherwise been discarded.

Inflation is emerging as the buzz word of 2022. We spoke with Senior Lecturer at UTAS College of Business and Economics, Maria Yanotti about what inflation is, and how we got to $12 iceberg lettuces and expensive fuel. But it’s not all doom and gloom she insists.

Leanne McLean is the Commissioner for Children and Young People in Tasmania. She has recently launched a new book, alongside children and young people in care, about their experiences.

A newcomer to northern Tassie has brought with him a national men’s charity that gets men together to chat and make friend­ships. They’re now expanding to Hobart.

In Tasmania we’re fortunate to be home to people from all over the world. While many have purposefully chosen to move to Tasmania, there are people in our community who face no other choice than to flee to a safer place.

Registered Wildlife Carer Amanda Sparkles, of Howrah, has been rescuing animals from storm water drains over summer, and is demanding councils cover the ends of the drains with grates to stop it happening.

There is a definite sense of gloom in the air when the snow starts to fall on kunanyi. The daily temps barely make it into double digits and we find ourselves opting for the couch rather than the great outdoors.

The role of a Justice of the Peace (JP) has existed since 1195 when King Richard 1 created the role of “keepers of the peace”.

Whether gullible, sceptical or somewhere in between, reported UFO sightings have long been a fascination. The well worn cliche ‘we are not alone’ still prompts the odd mention.

Whether it’s accessing resources, locating a dad-friendly changeroom or con­necting socially, TasDads was created by co-founders and dad-ministrators, Anthony, Brennan and Sam to give expect­ing, new or seasoned dads a platform to talk about the messy and challenging journey of fatherhood. We caught up with TasDads and spoke all things parenting.

Every Friday (give or take a week here and there) for the past six years, a group of Tassie Nannas can be found at the Elizabeth Street Mall, knitting, selling their craft, and raising aware­ness for refugees held on Australian soil indefinitely.

In November’s magazine we reported on the new MONA x Brighton Council x Centacare community development at Cris Fitzpatrick Park in Gagebrook. We’ve since spoken to the ever-effervescent Kirsha Kaechele, 24 Carrot Gardens project founder and leader of Mona’s community projects, about what it means for Mona’s place in the northern suburbs.

Our day begins with a circle and a small fire. The kids, aged between six weeks and five years, are decked out in bright cloth­ing, earthy knits and colourful gumboots, ready for today’s adventure, their adults in tow.

Georgie was missing for three years, but Hannah always knew she’d come back.

Magali Wright leads a team of dedicated volunteers in saving the waterways of the Tyenna River and Derwent Estuary from an introduced species, the willow tree.

Get the lowdown on what’s happening in the Hobart community in November.

“kunanyi / Mount Wellington”. For most Hobartians, this dual place name is in common parlance and rolls off the tongue in such an easy and familiar way that it seems almost surprising to remind ourselves that it was officially gazetted as an Aboriginal dual place name by the Tasmanian government only in 2014.

If you’re consuming Australian and Tasmanian media, it may feel like there are more and more significant road traumas being reported where illegal drugs, such as ice, feature heavily. Here in Tassie alone we’ve seen some horror crashes reported recently.

Lasagna Love started at the beginning of the pandemic by a mum (Rhiannon) in the USA. She began making meals and delivering them to community members who were struggling with the challenges the pandemic bought. This inspired her friends and other community members to do the same and the movement spread from there. Now Hobart woman Stacy Klousia has brought the concept to Australia and is sharing the love locally, while expanding across Australia.

I’m one of Tassie’s newest beekeepers – having recently taken responsibility for a hive on our suburban Hobart block.

Tasmania has the lowest literacy rate in Australia, which presents a range of social issues. Emma Sells is an accountant in Hobart and volunteers with Connect 42, an organisation helping to increase literacy levels among Tasmania’s prison population and disadvantaged communities. She’s the treasurer on the board, as well as an active volunteer in our prisons.

Get the lowdown on what’s happening in the Hobart community in October.

The We ARE Enough Art Project is centred on telling women’s stories.

The inquisitive noses of Biosecurity Tasmania’s (BT) detector dogs at Tasmania’s airports and seaports continue to sniff out restricted goods hidden away in luggage, despite the reduced number of incoming flights in recent times.

In 1962, archaeologists removed slabs of rock featuring ancient Aboriginal petroglyphs from Preminghana, on the north west coast, and took them to the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. The enormous cultural artefacts were finally due to be returned to Country in March this year, but they’re still not home, nor are countless other examples of Aboriginal cultural material and, sadly, many Ancestors’ remains.

The first time I saw a white tailed spider I was in my late twenties living in Melbourne, I thought they looked mean. How was I to know their bites caused necrotic ulcers?

“Yup, that’s all of it”, the woman standing in front of me says as she drops her two overflowing bags, clearly having stuffed them hurriedly. She has just managed to flee from her wealthy, controlling husband of eight years, who earnt the majority of the household income. She cared for his children and has “nothing to show for her efforts” until matters are finalised in slow and arduous court proceedings.

Everyone loves ducks, but how many people know what a “duck” actually is? In Tasmania, we have 11 species of native ducks, either full time residents or occasional visitors. Sadly for our ducks, they’re not as famous as a lot of our other native birds. A recent Victorian study found that only 1 in 6 Victorians can name a single native duck species, and Tasmanians, I imagine ,wouldn’t fare much better. The image of a local duck that you have in your head right now might not even be an Australian duck!

Get the lowdown on what’s happening in the Hobart community in September.

What do you get when you combine a Hobart librarian, an illegal sex videogame and literacy project? Ruairi Murphy explains his new book, which does more than tell a cool story, it helps those struggling with literacy.

Get the lowdown on what’s happening in the Hobart community in August.

For all of us 2020 was a year like no other, punctuated by rapid change and plenty of new challenges. For vulnerable people in Tasmania, including people facing homelessness, those on low incomes and those facing increasingly higher rents, it was very challenging. We are seeing a growing demand for homes in Tassie from international travellers returning home, people moving for work and others seeking the lifestyle that our Apple Isle has to offer.

Local writer and entrepreneur Alice Hansen built The Pod at Lewisham, her love letter to Tasmania. It has been named as Australia’s most wishlisted property on Airbnb.

The borders were declared shut in Tasmania on the 30th of March, 2020; the first stare to do so amid the COVID- 19 pandemic and hard lockdown of Hobart followed.

From Smithton to Netflix and the Emmys stage, Tasmanian stand up comic Hannah Gadsby has forged an unlikely path. Following on from the massive success of her shows Nanette and Douglas, Hannah brings her new show Body of Work to Hobart this month.

Tasmania’s brand as a foodie haven is cemented. But within the local hospitality industry there are those who love to use local produce…and those who are next-level obsessed with it. We spoke to a bunch of Hobart chefs who are top of the game when it comes to fostering relationships with local farmers and growers.

With the Sorell Municipality recently commemorating their bicentenary, one can reflect on how it has evolved from a largely remote rural outcrop, to an important south east town and road junction to our East Coast or Tasman Peninsula.

Robert Clifford is the founder of Incat, a Hobart company building fast ferries for the world. Always looking to future opportunities, he has identified where Hobart sits in the next wave of transportation. For more of this interview listen to The Hobart Magazine podcast.

Ocean swimming in a Tasmanian winter is not for the faint-hearted. Yet there are a growing number of us doing it – sparked in part by pool closures during last year’s Covid restrictions.

Tasmanian Aboriginal artist Caleb Nichols-Mansell has had a huge first half of the year. In March, he opened Tasmania’s first dedicated palawa arts and cultural hub – Blackspace Creative in pataway/Burnie.

Jay Chapman’s own journey through a cancer diagnosis and treatment was the catalyst for her to start Homely Retreats. It’s a growing Hobart not-for-profit providing a much needed service that fills a gap in respite services available to cancer patients and their families.