Comedy Bamboozled wins Tropfest

AFTER winning a prize in the DSLR category at the last Tropfest, Australian filmmaker Matt Hardie can now add Tropfest 22 winner to his name.

Hardie has taken home the top prize with his comedic short film Bamboozled.

The event on Sunday night was actually the second Tropfest this year - the date change meant there was one in February and one in December - and Hardie was selected as a finalist at both.

"I thought this one wasn't going to do as well to be quite honest," Hardie told AAP about Bamboozled after his win at Sydney's Centennial Park.

"We did it so quickly. We thought it was good but I really didn't think it was going to go all the way."

How wrong he was.

Not only did he win 1st prize, which includes $10,000 in cash, a new Toyota car, a trip to LA, a Nikon DSLR and lenses, but he also received Best Male Actor, an award he shares with his co-star Aaron Tsindos.

Hardie's film was announced as the winner out of 16 finalists by Legally Blonde director Robert Luketic, who made the decision along with a panel of judges including Red Dog director Kriv Stenders, filmmaker Nash Edgerton, Milk producer Bruna Papandrea, actress Susie Porter and Oscar-winning filmmaker Adam Elliot.

Tropfest founder and director John Polson also took to the stage during the announcements to reveal the TSI (Tropfest Signature Item) for next year's festival - Mirror.

Polson says he was delighted at the turnout, with thousands embracing the new date in December and the new location at Centennial Park after years at the Domain.

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Alcohol sends 30,000 Vics to hospital

NEARLY 30,000 Victorians were hospitalised in a 12-month period due to the effects of excessive alcohol consumption, new data shows.

Men make up the majority of those hospitalised, but there has been a big jump in the number of women ending up in hospital due to alcohol.

The data, compiled by the organisation Turning Point, shows that during 2010/11 there were 29,694 alcohol-related inpatient hospitalisations.

On average, each of those people are staying in hospital for nearly four days, meaning 113,117 hospital bed days were taken up as a result of excess alcohol consumption.

Turning Point director professor Dan Lubman said the figures were a timely warning of the dangers of alcohol as Victorians prepare for the Christmas holiday period.

"While most people are able to consume alcohol in moderation, the decision-making part of your brain becomes less effective the more you drink," Prof Lubman said.

"There is a clear link between intoxication and increased rates of road accidents, injuries and assaults."

Prof Lubman said there was a big jump in the number of women being hospitalised.

In 2001/02 there were 6727 women hospitalised for alcohol-related incidents, but by 2010/11 that number had jumped to 11,484.

Men aged between 50 and 60 years were the most likely group to be hospitalised, the research showed.

For women, those aged between 40 and 44 years and 50 and 54 years are the most likely to end up in hospital for alcohol related reasons.

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Catholic response to abuse under spotlight

THE internal process used by the Catholic Church to compensate victims of child sexual abuse is under the microscope at a national inquiry this week.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse starts public hearings into the Church's Towards Healing process in Sydney on Monday.

It will be the fourth case study by the commission and the first of a number of public hearings which will examine the application of Towards Healing.

Towards Healing was established by the Catholic Church in 1996 and was seen as a watershed moment in the Church's approach to dealing with child sexual abuse within the institution.

It has been reviewed and reformed twice since then.

Abuse victims can approach the Church with allegations and then go through a mediation and compensation process if deemed appropriate.

Royal Commission CEO Janette Dines said this hearing would focus on the experiences of four people who took part in the process.

"These people are Queensland residents whose claim of child sexual abuse was dealt with through the Towards Healing process," Ms Dines said in a statement.

"The accused at the time of the abuse were priests and brothers of the Archdiocese of Brisbane, Diocese of Lismore and the Marist Brothers.

"As the commission continues, we will hold more public hearings into peoples' experience with Towards Healing and its application in different parts of Australia."

The commission called for submissions to an issues paper on the Church process and have published 20 on its website.

Some are highly critical of Towards Healing, saying it re-traumatises victims.

The submissions may be viewed at:

http://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/view-submissions-to-issues-paper-2-towards-healing/

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Woman over limit with 6-year-old in car

A WOMAN who was driving her six-year-old son to a birthday party has lost her licence for six months after she recorded a positive breath test in Melbourne.

The 43-year-old woman, from Patterson Lakes, returned the positive test when she was pulled over on the Nepean Highway at Cheltenham, about 10.15am on Sunday (AEDT), police say.

She then recorded a reading of 0.099 at a local police station and was issued with a penalty notice for $433, which also carries a loss of licence for six months.

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Motorcyclist dies on NSW mid-north coast

A 67-YEAR-OLD motorcyclist has been killed in an accident on the NSW mid-north coast.

It's believed the man attempted to take a sweeping bend on the Dondingalong Road at Dondingalong, about 20 kilometres southwest of Kempsey, when he lost control and was thrown from his bike late on Sunday afternoon.

Emergency services were called, but he died at the scene, police say.

A report is being prepared for the Coroner.

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