Leon,
Here's my research results:-
From Ballarat (pretty close to your coords), M31 gets to 11 deg 10 min elevation as it crosses the meridian. Unfortunately, the best days for this year are behind us. It is currently crossing the meridian around 9:30 - about an hour after sunset - so still in astronomical twilight at that time. By 10pm it is just West of North, elevation around 10 deg 20 min.
Still I'm going looking for it this Saturday evening - observational only.
Eric
