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WD News Publications | Local News covering Sport, Council & Community for Camperdown, Cobden, Colac, Mortlake, Terang, Timboon & Simpson in VIC Australia. Full homepage screenshot

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What is WD News Publications?

WD News Publications is a local news publisher for south‑west Victoria, Australia, covering towns including Camperdown, Cobden, Colac, Mortlake, Terang, Timboon and Simpson. Its mastheads include the Camperdown Chronicle, Cobden Timboon Coast Times, Mortlake Dispatch, Terang Express, Warrnambool Weekly and the agricultural title WD Farmer. Coverage is organised around general news, community, council and sport, with farming sections such as beef, lamb, cropping and soil, animal health, and machinery. It also offers online editions, daily puzzles and a newsletter signup, and signals a subscription option.

Who it suits

  • Residents wanting council, community and sport reporting for their own town rather than a regional round‑up.
  • Farmers and rural businesses in the district following beef, lamb, cropping, soil and machinery topics.
  • Local clubs, schools and community groups looking for coverage or an events notice.
  • People who have moved away but want to keep up with their home towns.

How it compares to other options

Need WD News Publications Broader alternative
Town‑level council and sport Strong, by town and masthead Often merged into regional coverage
Farming news Dedicated WD Farmer sections General state or national rural outlets
Regional Victoria South‑west Victorian towns Statewide newsrooms

For state or national context, the ABC covers Victoria broadly at ABC News, and the shires themselves publish rates, planning and consultation material at Moyne Shire Council and Corangamite Shire Council.

Practical next step

If you want one town's news, start with that town's masthead page and its council and sport tabs. If you want a single feed across the district, use the newsletter signup or the online editions. Check whether the articles you need sit behind the subscription before committing, and for official decisions always confirm against the relevant shire's own documents.

Which towns and regions does WD News Publications cover?

WD News Publications covers towns in south-western Victoria, Australia, with separate local editions for each community.

Towns with dedicated editions

  • Camperdown (Camperdown Chronicle)
  • Cobden (Cobden)
  • Colac (Colac)
  • Mortlake (Mortlake Dispatch)
  • Terang (Terang Express)
  • Timboon (Timboon Coast Times)
  • Simpson (Simpson)

Broader coverage

  • Warrnambool Weekly serves the wider Warrnambool area.
  • WD Farmer covers agricultural news across the region, including beef, lamb, cropping and soil, animal health, and machinery.

What this means for readers

If you live in or follow one of these towns, you can go straight to that town's edition for council, community and sport updates. For farming news, WD Farmer is the relevant section rather than a town edition.

A practical next step: visit WD News Publications and choose the edition matching your town, or use the newsletter signup if you want updates without checking the site daily.

How can I subscribe to WD News Publications and access its online editions?

WD News Publications is a local news group for south-west Victoria, covering Camperdown, Cobden, Colac, Mortlake, Terang, Timboon and Simpson. Its site lists a Subscription option alongside Online Editions, so subscribing is the route to reading the papers digitally rather than only browsing free headlines.

What the site shows

The main navigation includes Subscription, Online Editions, Daily Puzzles, Contact Us and Newsletter Signup. The homepage also carries a mixture of free articles, such as a Mortlake netball goals story, plus council, community and sport items under mastheads including the Camperdown Chronicle, Cobden Timboon Coast Times, Mortlake Dispatch, Terang Express, Warrnambool Weekly and WD Farmer.

How to subscribe

  1. Go to WD News Publications and look for the Subscription link in the main menu.
  2. Choose the masthead or coverage you want if options are offered — for example, Mortlake Dispatch for Mortlake news or WD Farmer for agricultural coverage.
  3. Complete the sign-up and payment steps shown on the site.
  4. Once subscribed, open Online Editions to read the digital papers, and use Newsletter Signup if you also want email updates.

A practical scenario

If you live in Mortlake and want both the weekly paper and local sport and council reporting, start with the Mortlake Dispatch section, then check whether a subscription bundles the other mastheads. If you mainly need farming news, WD Farmer may be the better starting point. For a single story, the free homepage may be enough; for full editions, puzzles and archive-style reading, a subscription is the likely requirement.

Next step

Open the site, click Subscription, and compare the available plans against Online Editions before paying. If the options are unclear, use Contact Us or call the listed phone number to ask which plan includes the editions you want.

Where can I find local sport results and fixtures for Camperdown, Cobden, Colac, Mortlake, Terang, Timboon and Simpson?

For sport results and fixtures across Camperdown, Cobden, Colac, Mortlake, Terang, Timboon and Simpson, start with WD News Publications. It is a local publisher covering those towns directly, with a dedicated Sport section alongside General News, Community and Council reporting, so league results, match reports and upcoming fixtures for the district's football, netball and other competitions sit in the same place as the local context around them.

H3 What you'll find there

  • A Sport category carrying local results and club news across the WD News mastheads.
  • Town-specific pages for Mortlake, Terang, Cobden and Camperdown, plus the wider Colac and Timboon/Simpson area, so you can narrow to your club's patch.
  • Council coverage, useful when fixtures, grounds or facilities are affected by shire decisions.
  • Online editions and a subscription option, which typically gate the fuller match reports and results listings.

H3 A practical routine If you follow one club, check its town page first, then the Sport section for the round-up. If you follow a league spanning several towns, the Sport section is the faster route. For a Saturday results check, the online edition is usually the most complete single source.

H3 Trade-offs to weigh A single local publisher gives you consistent, area-specific coverage and named reporters who know the clubs, but it will not carry live scores or full fixture databases the way a governing body or league app does. For kick-off times, venue changes and ladders, the league's own competition page is more authoritative; use the local paper for reports, photos and the story behind the result.

H3 Other places to look

  • AFL for state and community league structures and official fixtures.
  • Netball Australia for netball competitions and results.
  • Cricket Australia for cricket fixtures and scorecards.
  • Colac Otway Shire and Moyne Shire for ground closures and facility notices affecting play.

A sensible next step: bookmark the WD News Sport section and your town page, then set a weekly reminder for the day results are published, and keep the relevant league site open for late fixture changes.

How do I submit a news tip, community notice or letter to the editor?

Contact the relevant WD News Publications masthead directly. The site lists phone (03) 5593 1888 and a Contact Us link, and it covers Camperdown, Cobden, Colac, Mortlake, Terang, Timboon and Simpson through separate titles: WD Farmer, Camperdown Chronicle, Cobden Timboon Coast Times, Mortlake Dispatch, Terang Express and Warrnambool Weekly. Choose the masthead that matches your location or subject, then use its contact route.

What to send, and where

Your item Best route What to include
News tip Phone or Contact Us What happened, where, when, who is involved, and how you know
Community notice Contact Us for the local masthead Group name, event or notice details, dates, venue and a contact for verification
Letter to the editor Contact Us, marked as a letter Your name, suburb and daytime contact; keep it to one main point

Practical tips

  • Time matters for news tips. The site's news is dated and locally focused, so send a tip while the event is still current. For a fire, flood, road closure or emergency, contact emergency services first, then the paper.
  • Match the masthead to the story. A Mortlake netball or Mortlake Cup item belongs with Mortlake Dispatch; a Colac or Corangamite Shire matter may suit a different title. The site groups news under General News, Community, Council and Sport, so naming the section helps the newsroom route it.
  • Letters need identification. Editors generally will not run anonymous letters. Supply your full name, suburb and a phone number, and state clearly that it is for publication.
  • Community notices are not automatic. Free listing space varies by title and by week, so ask about deadlines and word limits rather than assuming a notice will appear.
  • Keep it short and factual. For a tip, a few tight paragraphs plus names, dates and a photo are more useful than a long account. Say whether you took any photos yourself and whether you can be quoted.

A useful next step

Call the number above during business hours, say which masthead you want, and ask for the newsroom. If you prefer writing, use the site's Contact Us form and put "News tip", "Community notice" or "Letter to the editor" in your subject line, along with your town. If you are unsure which title covers you, ask — the titles overlap across the region, and the newsroom will point you to the right one.

What council and shire decisions are covered for Moyne and Corangamite residents?

For Moyne and Corangamite residents, the site's council coverage focuses on planning and advocacy decisions that shape local growth and services, rather than routine meeting minutes. In the page evidence, that includes Moyne Shire councillors endorsing the Moyne Planning Scheme Review 2026 as the shire's future growth roadmap, and Corangamite Shire Council taking regional issues to Canberra. A separate state-level item notes Member for Lowan Emma Kealy pressing the Premier on why the state government has underdelivered for the regions, which is relevant to residents in these shires even though it is a state politics story.

H3 Practical uses

  • Track planning scheme reviews and growth directions that affect where development can occur.
  • Follow council advocacy trips and funding asks, which often precede state or federal decisions.
  • Watch state government commitments that flow into local services, such as the announced six-carriage trains.

H3 Who it suits Residents wanting a quick local summary rather than full council agendas, plus ratepayers and community groups monitoring planning or infrastructure decisions. If you need official agendas, minutes or planning documents, go to the council itself: Moyne Shire Council and Corangamite Shire Council.

H3 Next step Check the site's Council section after each fortnightly council meeting, and cross-check any decision that affects your property or street against the relevant council's published agenda.

Related questions

More questions →
What kinds of local stories does WD News Publications report?

WD News Publications covers local news for Camperdown, Cobden, Colac, Mortlake, Terang, Timboon and Simpson in Victoria's south-west, organised around four main strands: general news, council, community and sport. Its mastheads include the Camperdown Chronicle, Cobden Timboon Coast Times, Mortlake Dispatch, Terang Express, Warrnambool Weekly and WD Farmer, so a single story can appear under more than one local title depending on where it happened.

Council and planning

Council coverage tracks decisions and advocacy by the local shires. Examples from the site include the Moyne Planning Scheme Review 2026, which Moyne Shire councillors endorsed as the shire's future growth roadmap, and Corangamite Shire Council taking regional issues to Canberra. State politics also appears when it touches the region — for instance, Member for Lowan Emma Kealy questioning the Premier on why the state government had underdelivered for the regions.

If you follow planning permits, shire budgets or ratepayer issues in these towns, this is the section to check.

Community news and events

Community reporting covers local fundraisers, festivals and everyday life. Two examples:

  • A relief fundraiser for Nepalese people affected by catastrophic flooding that booked out The Middle.
  • The return of the Colour Terang Festival, described as a success after its comeback.

Stories about local people and creative projects also sit here, such as the feature on the next generation behind beloved characters.

Sport

Sport spans local clubs and major fixtures. The site has reported on the Mortlake Cup receiving state government backing ahead of the event, and on Mortlake's old netball goals being sent to a village in Papua New Guinea, restoring competitive sport there for the first time in a decade. Club-level results and recreation reserve developments, like the Cobden Recreation Reserve committee's plans, fall into the same area.

Regional and rural issues

Broader issues affecting the south-west appear under general and local news, including:

Topic Example from the site
Transport Six-carriage trains announced to arrive that month
Education South West TAFE claiming a major state award
Workforce Calls to rethink the backpacker workers cap
Infrastructure Improvement works coming for Dunlop Street

Farming coverage

WD Farmer carries its own farming sections — beef, lamb, cropping and soil, animal health and husbandry, and machinery and infrastructure — aimed at agricultural readers across the same district.

How to judge whether it's worth following

The site is a practical fit if you live in or do business around Camperdown, Cobden, Colac, Mortlake, Terang, Timboon or Simpson and want council decisions, local sport results and community events in one place. It is less suited to national or international news, which it does not appear to cover beyond how state and federal decisions affect the region.

The site lists online editions, daily puzzles and a subscription option, plus a newsletter signup and a contact number, (03) 5593 1888. Access terms for the online editions are not set out in the material available here, so check the subscription page directly before assuming what is free to read.

Which local newspapers and sections are available on WD News Publications?

WD News Publications is a Victorian regional news group serving south-west Victoria through six mastheads: WD Farmer, Camperdown Chronicle, Cobden Timboon Coast Times, Mortlake Dispatch, Terang Express and Warrnambool Weekly. Most mastheads carry the same four core sections — General News, Community, Council and Sport — while WD Farmer replaces those with agricultural coverage. You can browse by publication or by town, and the site also offers online editions, daily puzzles and a newsletter signup.

The six mastheads and what each covers

Masthead Core sections Focus
WD Farmer Farmer News, Beef, Lamb, Cropping & Soil, Animal Health & Husbandry, Machinery & Infrastructure Agricultural news for farming readers
Camperdown Chronicle General News, Community, Council, Sport Local news for Camperdown
Cobden Timboon Coast Times General News, Community, Council, Sport Local news for Cobden, Timboon and the coast
Mortlake Dispatch General News, Community, Council, Sport Local news for Mortlake
Terang Express General News, Community, Council, Sport Local news for Terang
Warrnambool Weekly — Listed as a masthead; section detail not shown in the available page evidence

The four standard sections mean the same type of story appears under the same heading across the town-based papers, so once you know where to look in one masthead, you know where to look in the others.

How to browse

You have two practical routes:

  • By publication — pick the masthead that matches your town or interest. If you follow farming, go straight to WD Farmer; if you want Mortlake news, use Mortlake Dispatch.
  • By town — the site's coverage is organised around Camperdown, Cobden, Colac, Mortlake, Terang, Timboon and Simpson, so town-level browsing surfaces stories across the relevant masthead and section.

Story pages also carry a section label (for example, "Mortlake News" or "Council"), which lets you confirm which masthead and category a story belongs to before reading.

What the sections actually contain

Examples drawn from the site's own listings show how the categories are used in practice:

  • General News — state and regional items, such as the announcement that six-carriage trains would arrive that month, or a local MP questioning when the regions get a fair share.
  • Council — shire-level decisions and advocacy, such as Moyne Shire councillors endorsing the Moyne Planning Scheme Review 2026, or Corangamite Shire Council taking regional issues to Canberra.
  • Community — local people, events and fundraising, such as a relief fundraiser for Nepalese flood victims booking out, or the return of the Colour Terang Festival.
  • Sport — club and competition news, such as the state government backing the Mortlake Cup, or a feature on Mortlake's old netball goals being sent to a village in Papua New Guinea to restart competitive sport there.
  • WD Farmer — farming-specific categories covering beef, lamb, cropping and soil, animal health and husbandry, and machinery and infrastructure.

Other features on the site

Beyond the mastheads and sections, the site provides online editions, daily puzzles, a newsletter signup and a subscription option. Contact details for WD News are listed as (03) 5593 1888. The available page evidence does not state what a subscription costs or what it includes, so check the subscription page directly if that matters to you.

Choosing the right entry point

  • You want one town's news → open that town's masthead (for example, Mortlake Dispatch) and use its General News, Community, Council and Sport sections.
  • You want farming coverage → use WD Farmer and its beef, lamb, cropping and soil, animal health, and machinery categories.
  • You want to scan everything → start from the latest news listings, which mix stories from across the mastheads and label each with its section.
What is WD News Publications and what does it cover?

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.

How to Access WD News Publications Online Editions and Subscribe

WD News Publications (mortlakedispatch.com.au) is the umbrella site for a group of local Victorian newspapers covering Camperdown, Cobden, Colac, Mortlake, Terang, Timboon and Simpson. The site lists Online Editions, Subscription, a Newsletter Signup, and a Contact Us page as available options. If you want to read the papers digitally or set up a paid or free account, those are the entry points to look for in the site navigation.

What's on the site

The homepage navigation groups the content into these publications and sections:

Publication Sections listed
WD Farmer Farmer News, Beef, Lamb, Cropping & Soil, Animal Health & Husbandry, Machinery & Infrastructure
Camperdown Chronicle General News, Community, Council, Sport
Cobden General News, Community, Council, Sport
Timboon Coast Times General News, Community, Council, Sport
Mortlake Dispatch General News, Community, Council, Sport
Terang Express General News, Community, Council, Sport
Warrnambool Weekly —

Alongside these, the site also surfaces Online Editions, Daily Puzzles, Subscription, and Contact Us in the same navigation area.

Accessing online editions

  1. Open mortlakedispatch.com.au.
  2. Look in the top navigation for Online Editions.
  3. Select the masthead you want (for example, Mortlake Dispatch or Terang Express).
  4. The digital edition of that paper should open in the reader.

The site references online editions but does not state on the page whether reading them requires a subscription or login. Treat that as unconfirmed — if you hit a paywall or sign-in prompt, that's the point where a subscription would apply.

Subscribing

Subscription appears as a navigation item, which indicates the publisher offers a paid or registered access tier. The page evidence does not list prices, plans, or payment platforms, so check the Subscription page directly for current rates and terms before committing.

If you only want headlines and updates, the Newsletter Signup option is a lighter alternative — it appears as a heading on the site and is typically a free email list, though the page doesn't confirm this.

Contacting the publication

  • Phone: (03) 5593 1888
  • Contact Us page: linked in the main navigation

Use these for subscription questions, delivery issues, or editorial enquiries. The phone number is the fastest route if you need to confirm whether online edition access is bundled with a print subscription.

Common snags

  • Paywall vs. free: The site mentions subscription but doesn't specify what's gated. Expect some content (breaking news, ads) to be open and deeper archive or e-edition access to require an account.
  • Multiple mastheads, one site: If you're looking for a specific paper like the Mortlake Dispatch, use the publication menu rather than searching the whole site — each masthead has its own section.
  • Newsletter vs. subscription: These are separate. Signing up for the newsletter won't unlock online editions if those are paid.

For anything not covered here — exact pricing, delivery areas, cancellation terms — call (03) 5593 1888 or use the Contact Us form.

Website Overview

Several search or sharing settings need attention. Together they may make snippets, preview images or preferred URLs less consistent across platforms.

Domain and Registration

Transfer-protection status is present, helping reduce the risk of unauthorized domain transfers. The domain uses the common .au extension, which is not an independent safety signal.

DNS and Email

Nameservers are provided by constellix.com, indicating managed DNS hosting. No MX record was found. A conventional explicit inbound-mail route is not configured. DNSSEC signatures were not detected, so this additional DNS authenticity protection is not confirmed. The lowest observed DNS TTL is 3600 seconds. No CAA record was found; there is no additional DNS-based restriction on certificate issuers.

TLS and Certificates

The public key uses EC with 384 bits. The server supplied a complete certificate chain. No organization name is present in the certificate; the available fields are consistent with domain validation. The certificate was issued by Let's Encrypt, commonly associated with automated certificate services. The certificate's total validity is about 89 days, consistent with a short renewal cycle.

HTTP and Browser Security

The response lacks these common security headers: HSTS, CSP, Referrer-Policy, Permissions-Policy. No X-Powered-By header was found, reducing one common source of backend fingerprinting information. No obvious internal addresses or debug information were found in the headers. The Server header identifies nginx without an exact version. No explicit CDN or WAF marker was found in the response headers.

Technology Stack Analysis

The public page identifies Alpine.js, Google Analytics, nginx without precise versions, leaving fewer clues for version-specific scanning.

Search and Social Sharing

The title has 154 characters and may be truncated in search results. No homepage meta description was detected, leaving snippet selection more dependent on page text. The canonical URL points to another host: https://www.wdnews.com.au. Search engines may consolidate indexing signals there. Open Graph is partially configured; og:description is missing. JSON-LD includes Organization data, helping describe the organization as an entity.

Hosting and Email

DNSconstellix.com
Hostingmortlakedispatch.com.au
EmailUnknown
Approximate IP geolocation (inferred; a CDN or proxy may differ from the origin server) Australia flagMelbourne, Victoria, Australia Inferred 67.219.111.238

Registration details

RDAP / WHOIS

RegistrarUnknown
RegisteredUnknown
ExpiresUnknown
Domain statusserverRenewProhibited https://identitydigital.au/whois-status-codes#serverRenewProhibited
Nameserversns11.constellix.com、ns21.constellix.com、ns31.constellix.com、ns41.constellix.net、ns51.constellix.net、ns61.constellix.net
DNSSECunsigned

DNS records

DNS

TypeNameValueTTLPriority
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CNAMEwww.mortlakedispatch.com.aumortlakedispatch.com.au3600—

TLS and certificates

TLS / SSL

AssessmentNormal configuration
Supported protocolsTLSv1.2、TLSv1.3
Negotiated protocolTLSv1.3
Certificate subjectwdnews.com.au
IssuerLet's Encrypt
Valid until2026-11-11T05:58 · Remaining when checked: 41 days
Verification detailsCertificate trust: Passed · Hostname match: Passed

HTTP response headers

HTTP

HeaderValue
content-typetext/html; charset=utf-8
servernginx
x-frame-optionsSAMEORIGIN
x-content-type-optionsnosniff

Identified technologies

Alpine.jsGoogle Analyticsnginx

Pages, Search and Sharing

Meta descriptionNot detected
Canonical URLhttps://www.wdnews.com.au
LanguageEnglish (default)
Twitter CardNot detected

Unknown

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