2025/26 Christmas Holiday Support
Published on 16 December 2025
Northern Grampians Shire council staff will be taking a break over the Christmas and New Year period, however support will still be available should you need assistance.
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Customer Service Centres
Both centres (Stawell and St Arnaud) are closed from 12pm on Christmas Eve and will reopen as usual on Monday, January 5. Should you need any urgent support during this time, for enquiries such as bin collection, community safety or road maintenance, please call (03) 5358 8700 and follow the prompts to be directed to the appropriate department.
Stawell Sports and Aquatic Centre & St Arnaud Pool
Both venues are only closed on Christmas Day and open every other day over the summer period. They also both have actioned packed summer events available for all ages over the holidays. Be sure to follow them on Facebook via the links below to keep up to date with more news and event announcements.
Stawell and St Arnaud Libraries
Both venues are closed from 12pm on Christmas Eve and will reopen as usual on Friday, January 2. There are also great activities available at both locations over the Christmas break for those needing somewhere cool to hang out. Follow them on Facebook to find out more and keep your finger on the pulse with the latest updates for both locations.
Thrive 50+ Hubs
Both hubs (Stawell and St Arnaud) will be closed from Wednesday, December 24 and reopen as usual on Tuesday, January 13 in Stawell and Wednesday, January 14 in St Arnaud. They will still be open before the break for anyone who wants to stop by for support.
Visitor Information Centres
All three centres (Stawell, St Arnaud and Halls Gap) are only closed on Christmas Day, however hours are subject to volunteer availability and fire danger conditions. You can read more about each centre on our website here.
Maternal Child Health
The MCH office will be closed from 12pm on Christmas Eve. There will be a MCH Nurse on-call from Monday, December 29 to Wednesday, December 31, however the office will be closed Thursday, January 1 and Friday, January 2. The MCH office will then resume normal services on Monday, January 5.
St Arnaud Early Learning Centre
The last day for children will be Tuesday, December 23 with the centre then closed until Wednesday, January 14. Staff will be available until 12pm on Christmas Eve and return as usual from Monday, January 12 should you need assistance.
Waste Collection Services
There are minimal disruptions to waste collections over the upcoming holiday period. Outside of no collections on Christmas Day, Friday, December 25 which will instead be on Boxing Day, Thursday, December 26, all waste collections will occur as normal over the holidays including New Years Day on Thursday, January 1 and Australia Day on Monday, January 26.
Community Care
Our dedicated team will continue to provide essential services to our community as required over the break. Please refer to the following summary for further information. Should you need urgent assistance during this period, please call the Community Care triage service on (03) 5358 0514.
- Wednesday, December 24: 8am to 1pm
- Thursday, December 25: Closed
- Friday, December 26: Essential services only*
- Saturday, December 27: Essential services only*
- Sunday, December 28: Closed
- Monday, December 29: Closed
- Tuesday, December 30: Essential services only*
- Wednesday, December 31: Essential services only*
- Thursday, January 1: Essential services only*
- Friday, January 2: Normal hours
- Saturday, January 3: Essential services only*
- Sunday, January 4: Closed
- Monday, January 5: Normal hours
*Essential services are those which are pre-arranged for required clients.
Community Safety
Our team will be available to the community during the break outside of the Public Holiday days in a limited-service capacity. Should you need urgent safety assistance, such as to report an incident involving roaming animals, please call (03) 5358 8700 and follow the prompts to speak with an on-call member of the team.
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The entire team at Northern Grampians Shire Council wishes you a very Merry Christmas and safe holiday period. The past year has been a hive of activity and involved a lot of strategic and proactive planning, and we look forward to continuing our support and delivering valuable outcomes for our community in 2026.