What is WD News Publications and what does it cover?

Updated

WD News Publications is a local news publisher serving south-west Victoria, Australia. It publishes several mastheads covering general news, community, council and sport for towns including Camperdown, Cobden, Colac, Mortlake, Terang, Timboon and Simpson. If you live in or follow that part of Victoria and want local reporting rather than state or national coverage, this is the publisher behind those titles.

Which titles it publishes

The site lists these mastheads:

  • WD Farmer — farming coverage: beef, lamb, cropping and soil, animal health and husbandry, machinery and infrastructure
  • Camperdown Chronicle — general news, community, council, sport
  • Cobden Timboon Coast Times — general news, community, council, sport
  • Mortlake Dispatch — general news, community, council, sport
  • Terang Express — general news, community, council, sport
  • Warrnambool Weekly

Each local masthead follows the same four content categories: general news, community, council and sport. WD Farmer is the outlier, aimed at agricultural readers rather than a general town audience.

What kind of content you'll find

The reporting is hyperlocal. Examples visible on the site include:

  • A Mortlake story about old netball goals being sent to a village in Papua New Guinea, returning competitive sport there for the first time in a decade
  • Council coverage such as the Moyne Planning Scheme Review 2026 and Corangamite Shire taking regional issues to Canberra
  • Local sport and community items, including state government backing for the Mortlake Cup and the return of the Colour Terang Festival

There is also a newsletter signup and online editions of the papers.

Who it's for

This publisher suits:

  • Residents of Camperdown, Cobden, Colac, Mortlake, Terang, Timboon, Simpson and nearby areas
  • People who want council, sport and community news at town level
  • Farmers and agricultural readers in the region who want the WD Farmer sections

It is not a national news source, and coverage is tied to the south-west Victorian region rather than broader Australia.

Practical details

  • Contact: (03) 5593 1888
  • Access: the site references a subscription and online editions, so some content may sit behind a subscription — check the subscription page for current terms rather than assuming everything is free
  • Daily puzzles are also listed as a site feature

If you're looking for news about a specific town in this region, start with that town's masthead (for example, Mortlake Dispatch for Mortlake) rather than the general site, since each title carries its own local reporting.