Saving the Suburbs - Tim Ross, design enthusiast and comedian
10am - 11.15am
Cost: $30 - Bookings Essential
Celebrated design enthusiast Tim Ross is a child of the suburbs and he gleefully credits his time growing up in Mt.Eliza for his interest in Modernist architecture.
In this talk, he shares his views on why these varied Mid-Century and heritage houses are important and has a hot take on how they can be saved while we still create new housing in the ‘burbs.
Tim Ross is a celebrated comedian and a passionate advocate for architecture and design promoting its value in multiple forums.
He is the recipient of the National Trust Heritage Award for Advocacy regarding Australia’s legacy of modernist architecture; of an Australian Institute of Architects National President’s Prize for activism and outstanding contribution to the profession; was a National Architecture Awards jury member and was awarded as an honorary Institute member.
Tim has performed his live Man About the House show in significant buildings throughout the world, at the Venice Biennale and London Festival of Architecture. His ABC TV series Streets of Your Town, and Designing A Legacy; exhibitions including Design Nation, and Motel; prolific publications; guest speaker engagements and as a provocative design commentator have made design accessible to a wide, diverse and appreciative audience.
Freedom and Fun: Fashion of the 1960s–1970s
Nicole Jenkins, fashion historian and author
11.30am- 12.15pm
Cost: Free - Bookings Essential
The 1960s and 70s transformed fashion. Teenagers rejected their mothers’ polished glamour in favour of freedom, fun and bold new styles—from daring mini-skirts to vibrant synthetic fabrics. By the 1970s, fashion shifted again as young people matured, embracing elegance, natural fibres and workplace-ready style. With the old rules broken, fashion became more expressive than ever.
Join author and fashion historian Nicole Jenkins for a colourful illustrated talk exploring this exciting era of style and social change.
Shaping Surf Culture Since 1968: The Trigger Brothers Story
12.30pm – 1.15pm
Free - Bookings Essential
Beginning in 1968, Paul Trigger has been shaping surfboards through decades of design change and surfing innovation on the Mornington Peninsula.
In this engaging talk, Paul reflects on the early days of hand-shaping boards, the experimentation that defined the late 1960s and 70s, and the “sea change” of 1978 that helped shape the Peninsula’s surf lifestyle. Through personal stories and insights from decades in the shaping bay, he will explore how local surf culture evolved alongside changing board design and coastal living.
Bio
Paul Trigger is part of the legendary Trigger Brothers, one of the Mornington Peninsula’s most iconic surfboard shaping families. Since the late 1960s, the Trigger name has been synonymous with handcrafted boards and the region’s surf culture.
The family tradition continues through the next generation, including Paul’s daughter Hannah Trigger, a 2014 Winter Olympian who now crafts boards through Trigger Sisters at Point Leo.
Move over meat pie: How Italian food conquered Aussie dinner tables, 1960s-70s
Tania Cammarano
1.30pm - 2.15pm
Free - Bookings Essential
Italian cuisine has a long history in Australia but during the 60s and 70s it moved beyond the kitchens of Italian migrants and restaurants to firmly establish itself on the dinner plates of Anglo-Australian households.
But how did the food of a migrant minority win over the mainstream? Against a backdrop of rapid social change and challenges to Australian cultural identity, this talk will examine how Italian food conquered Aussie palates.
In particular, it will focus on how glamorous ideas of Italy, entrepreneurial migrants, a flourishing food industry and a thriving cookbook culture all combined to give our food's flavour an Italian accent. It will also explore what the Italian revolution on our plates looked like here on the Mornington Peninsula, a place where one of the earliest espresso coffee lounges outside a major city was established.
Bio
Dr Tania Cammarano is a food historian whose research focuses on the history of Italian food in Australia. She has published widely on this topic and has presented her research at conferences in both Australia and Italy. Before embarking on an academic career, she wrote about food for News Limited and Australian Associated Press. She was also the founding editor of recipe website Taste.com.au. Tania lectures on gastronomy and food writing at William Angliss Institute in Melbourne and has taught food writing at the University of Adelaide. She is also the founder of Timbro Tondo Tours, where she leads walking tours of Melbourne to share her knowledge of Italian food history and Italian migration to Australia.
Life at 30 WRAAC Barrack - Sheila Vennells-Praed and Lyn Board
2.30pm - 3pm
Free - Bookings Essential
From 1952 to 1974, 30 WRAAC Barrack at Mount Martha House housed members of the Women’s Royal Australian Army Corps (WRAAC) who worked at nearby Balcombe military schools and units. Life at the barracks combined strict routines—parades, inspections and training—with shared living and strong camaraderie among the women stationed there.
Former WRAAC members Sheila Vennells-Praed and Lyn Board share firsthand memories of daily life, work and friendships during this important period in Australian military and local history.
Bio
Sheila Vennells-Praed served in the WRAAC from 1966, later transferring to the Army Reserve and retiring as a Major in 2005.
Lyn Board joined the WRAAC in 1965 and served at Balcombe while living at 30 WRAAC Barrack before settling on the Mornington Peninsula, where she remains active in the community.