Bendigo ( ) is a city in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, Australia, located in the

Bendigo Valley The Bendigo Valley is the region surrounding the city of Bendigo, Victoria, Australia located in North Central Victoria near the geographical centre of the state. The valley is approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. The city of ...

near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, making it Australia's 19th-largest city, fourth-largest inland city and the fourth-most populous city in

. It is the administrative centre of the

City of Greater Bendigo The City of Greater Bendigo is a Local government areas of Victoria, local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the central part of the state. It covers an area of and, in June 2021, had a population of 123,632. It includes the ci ...

, which encompasses outlying towns spanning an area of approximately 3,000 km² (1,158 sq mi) and over 111,000 people. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2016. Residents of the city are known as "Bendigonians". The traditional owners of the area are the

Dja Dja Wurrung Dja Dja Wurrung (Pronounced Ja-Ja-war-rung), also known as the Djaara or Jajowrong people and Loddon River tribe, are an Aboriginal Australian people who are the Traditional owners of lands including the watersheds of the Loddon and Avoca riv ...

(Djaara) people. The discovery of gold on

Bendigo Creek Bendigo Creek is a seasonal stream, or creek, in North Central Victoria, Australia. The city of Bendigo is named for the creek and valley in which it was founded in 1851. Gold was officially discovered on Bendigo Creek in late October 1851, transf ...

in 1851 transformed the area from a

sheep station A sheep station is a large property ( station, the equivalent of a ranch) in Australia or New Zealand, whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and/or meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or sout ...

into one of colonial Australia's largest

boomtown A boomtown is a community that undergoes sudden and rapid population and economic growth, or that is started from scratch. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although ...

s. News of the finds intensified the

Victorian gold rush The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. It led to a period of extreme prosperity for the Australian colony, and an influx of population growth and financial capit ...

, bringing an influx of migrants from around the world, particularly Europe and China. Bendigo became eastern Australia's largest 19th-century gold-mining economy and the wealth generated during this period is reflected today in the city's Victorian architectural heritage. From 1853 until 1891, Bendigo was officially named Sandhurst. Bendigo's boom period lasted until the early 20th century and after a temporary decline in population and employment, renewed growth occurred from the 1930s as the city consolidated as a manufacturing and regional service centre. Although gold mining continues, recent population growth has been most heavily concentrated in suburban areas. With the completion of the

Calder Freeway Calder Highway is a rural highway in Australia, linking Mildura and the Victoria/New South Wales border to Bendigo, in North Central Victoria. South of Bendigo, where the former highway has been upgraded to freeway-standard, Calder Freeway li ...

linking Melbourne and Bendigo in 2009, and the region's proximity to Melbourne, Bendigo has become one of the fastest-growing regional centres in Victoria.Welcome to the City of Greater Bendigo population forecasts
City of Greater Bendigo

History

Indigenous history and European settlement

The Traditional Owners of the

Mount Alexander Mount Alexander is a mountain located approximately 125 km north-west of Melbourne, near the town of Harcourt. It rises 350 metres above the surrounding area to a level of 744 metres above sea level. Being a prominent local landmark, ...

area that includes Greater Bendigo are the

(Djaara) people. They exploited the rich local hunting grounds from which they were displaced by the arrival by white settlers, who established the first of many vast sheep runs in 1837. The Djadjawurrung peoples experienced two waves of settlement and dispossession: from the south from 1837 and from the north from 1845. The marked decrease in Dja Dja Wurrung population was also due to the arrival of non-indigenous animals; they use their noses to ‘root up’ the nutritious moon-nar tuber (yam daisy); after just a year it was noticed the plant was becoming scarce. Squatters in the area included: Donald Campbell at Bullock Creek in Ravenswood; J & R Bakewell to the north of Bendigo; Heap & Gryce to the north-west; Archibald McDougall to the west; Joseph Raleigh and James Robinson along the

Campaspe River The Campaspe River, an inland intermittent river of the northcentral catchment, part of the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the lower Riverina bioregion and Central Highlands and Wimmera regions of the Australian state of Victoria. The h ...

to the south, and Thomas, Jones and William Barnett to the east. The Ravenswood "Mount Alexander North run", occupied from c.1840 by Donald Campbell, was acquired by brothers Stewart and Robert Gibson in 1848, with Frederick Fenton later replacing one of the Gibson brothers. After the discovery of gold in 1851, Fenton sold provisions to the miners and agisted their horses. Becoming the sole owner of the Ravenswood run in 1857, Fenton built its substantial homestead. Gold was officially discovered on Bendigo Creek at the north-eastern boundary of the Ravenswood run, earlier known as the Mount Alexander North run, in October 1851. The creek had been named "Bendigo Creek" after a local shepherd and employee of the Mount Alexander North run nicknamed for the English bare-knuckle prizefighter William Abednego "Bendigo" Thompson. The area was transformed in less than a year as tens of thousands of people arrived during the great gold rush in 1852. Widespread gold mining caused environmental devastation and permanent damage in the district, decimating and displacing the Dja Dja Wurrung and destroying the infrastructure they created over generations to maximise seasonal drainage patterns; the channels and weirs they built out of timber stakes, to slow receding summer flows, were wrecked; water holes where the people gathered in smaller groups during periods of scarce rainfall and from which they transported water in skin bags when moving, were muddied, polluted and drained; the soaks they had dug between banks into sandy sediment to tap into the water table were likewise obliterated. Some of their waterholes in rock platforms of creeks that they found or enlarged, then covered with slabs to protect them from animals, may still remain, unidentified.

Gold mining boom

Gold was officially discovered in the area in October 1851, just after the other significant goldfields in neighbouring Castlemaine, from where many diggers migrated, bringing the total population to 40,000 in less than a year. Many of these diggers were Chinese and their descendants still live in the region. Deep Gully Mine Bendigo

During 1852, under the direction of

Surveyor General of Victoria The Surveyor General of Victoria is the person nominally responsible for government surveying in Victoria, Australia Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populat ...

Robert Hoddle Robert Hoddle (21 April 1794 – 24 October 1881) was a surveyor and artist. He is best known as the surveyor general of the Port Phillip District (later known as the Australian state of Victoria) from 1837 to 1853, especially for creation o ...

, William Swan Urquhart was making a general survey of Mount Alexander and the surrounding ranges, and of the goldfields, and fixed the site of the township of 'Sandhurst', now Bendigo. On 13 July 1852 Hoddle passed on to Urquhart Lieutenant-Governor La Trobe's request for a plan of the Mount Alexander gold workings, and his order that he mark out a reserve at the junction of Golden Gully with Bendigo Creek, and the camp on the west side of the creek below the junction. In late August La Trobe wanted him to report urgently on the best reserves for agriculture in the district. By 26 November he had mapped Bendigo Creek and Myers Creek, and his survey of the

and environs marked township reserves at Bullock Creek, Ravenswood and Happy Jack where settlement was already taking place. His plan ''General Survey of the Bendigo Goldfields showing the proposed reserves for townships. Drawn by W.S. Urquhart, Melbourne, November 1852'' recommended sites for national schools, churches, markets and other public purposes reserved from sale. In 1853, a massive protest was held over the cost of the licence fee for prospectors, though it passed off peacefully, due to good diplomacy by police and miners' leaders. From being a tent city, the boomtown grew rapidly into a major urban centre with many grand public buildings. The municipality became a borough in 1863, officially known as Sandhurst until 1891, but always unofficially as Bendigo. The railway had reached Bendigo by 1862, stimulating rapid growth, with flour mills, woollen mills, tanneries, quarries, foundries,

eucalyptus oil Eucalyptus oil is the generic name for distilled oil from the leaf of ''Eucalyptus'', a genus of the plant family Myrtaceae native to Australia and cultivated worldwide. Eucalyptus oil has a history of wide application, as a pharmaceutical, anti ...

production, food production industries, and timber cutting. When the alluvial gold ran out, extraction of quartz-based gold continued in deep shafts using industrial systems.

Selection Selection may refer to: Science * Selection (biology), also called natural selection, selection in evolution ** Sex selection, in genetics ** Mate selection, in mating ** Sexual selection in humans, in human sexuality ** Human mating strateg ...

in the future county of Bendigo (created in 1869) commenced under the Land Act of 1865, with most settlement occurring around Sandhurst and

Eaglehawk The wedge-tailed eagle (''Aquila audax'') is the largest bird of prey in the continent of Australia. It is also found in southern New Guinea to the north and is distributed as far south as the state of Tasmania. Adults of this species have lon ...

Decline and regeneration

Bendigo was declared a city in 1871. Rapid population growth brought a water shortage, partially solved with a new viaduct that harnessed the

Coliban River The Coliban River, an inland perennial river of the northcentral catchment, part of the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the lower Riverina bioregion and Central Highlands region of the Australian state of Victoria. The headwaters of the C ...

. The architect William Charles Vahland (1828–1915) left an important mark on Bendigo during this period. He is credited with the popular cottage design with

verandah A veranda or verandah is a roofed, open-air gallery or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front and sides of the structure. Although the form ''vera ...

s decorated in iron lace, a style that was soon adopted across the state of Victoria. Vahland also designed more than 80 buildings, including the

Alexandra Fountain Alexandra Fountain is a fountain in the Australian city of Bendigo, Victoria. It is regarded as one of the city's most prominent landmarks and monuments. The fountain is located in Bendigo's Charing Cross area at the intersection of View Street ...

, arguably the most prominent monument in Bendigo, with its granite dolphins, unicorns, nymphs and allegorical figures. A

tram network A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

was in use by 1890. Bendigo Streetscape

After a temporary drop in population, renewed growth occurred from the 1930s, as the city consolidated as a manufacturing and regional service centre, though gold mining continues. Recent growth has been most heavily concentrated in areas such as Epsom, Kangaroo Flat, Strathdale, and Strathfieldsaye. On 28 March 2013, the

people were formally recognised as the

traditional owner Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have rights ...

s for part of Central Victoria, including the land on which the City of Greater Bendigo sits. In 1994, under municipal reforms of Victoria's Kennett government, the City of Bendigo was abolished and merged with the Borough of Eaglehawk, the Huntly and Strathfieldsaye shires, and the Rural City of Marong to form the larger City of Greater Bendigo. The population of the city increased from around 78,000 in 1991 to about 100,617 in 2012. Bendigo is currently one of the fastest-growing regional centres in Victoria.

Geography

The city is surrounded by components of the

Greater Bendigo National Park The Greater Bendigo National Park is a national park located in the Loddon Mallee region of Victoria, Australia. The national park was created in 2002 from the former Whipstick State Park, Kamarooka State Park, One Tree Hill Regional Park, Man ...

, as well as the

Bendigo Box-Ironbark Region The Bendigo Box-Ironbark Region is a 505 km2 fragmented and irregularly shaped tract of land that encompasses all the box-ironbark forest and woodland remnants used as winter feeding habitat by swift parrots in the Bendigo-Maldon region of ...

Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International because of its importance for

swift parrot The swift parrot (''Lathamus discolor'') is a species of broad-tailed parrot, found only in southeastern Australia. The species breeds in Tasmania during the summer and migrates north to south eastern mainland Australia from Griffith- Warialda ...

s and other

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (se ...

birds. A dozen species of insect-eating bats and the pollinating grey-headed flying fox inhabit the area.

Climate

Bendigo has a relatively dry

temperate climate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout ...

with hot summers and cool winters. Under the Köppen-Geiger classification, it lies on a

humid subtropical A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

semi-arid A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi- ...

transitional climate zone (''Cfa/BSk''), due to its location being on the boundary of the hot, sultry inland areas to the north and the cool, damp

Southern Ocean The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is regarded as the second-small ...

to the south. Bendigo gets 109.9 clear days annually. The mean minimum temperature in January is and the maximum , although temperatures above are commonly reached. The highest temperature officially recorded was , during the

2009 southeastern Australia heat wave The 2009 southeastern Australia heat wave was a heat wave that commenced in late January and led to record-breaking prolonged high temperatures in the region. The heat wave is considered one of the, if not the, most extreme in the region's histor ...

. There is also a disputed recording of (on 14 January 1862). The mean minimum temperature in July is and winter minima below are recorded 28 nights per year on average. Mean maximum winter temperatures in July are . Most of the city's annual rainfall of falls between May and September.

Snowfalls Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

are rare; however, sleet occurs and rain frequently falls at temperatures below on account of Bendigo's exposure to the prevailing westerlies. Frosts are a common occurrence during the winter and spring, though hampered by the frequent cloud cover.

Extreme weather events

A series of great floods occurred in Bendigo in 1859. Substantial flooding also occurred in 1903. Bendigo Fires 07022009 1

Tornadoes have been seen around the area of Bendigo, and although rare, the

2003 Bendigo tornado The 2003 Bendigo tornado was an F2 tornado which hit the city of Bendigo, Victoria, Australia about 6.30 pm on 18 May 2003. Wind speeds ranged from 130 km/h to 150 km/h at the core of the storm. The city of Bendigo is located in Vict ...

passed through

and other parts of the city, causing major damage to homes and businesses. Bendigo was in severe drought from 2006 to 2010, and during this time, the city had some of the harshest

water restrictions An outdoor water-use restriction is a ban or other lesser restrictions put into effect that restricts the outdoor use of water supplies. Often called a watering ban or hosepipe ban, it can affect: *irrigation of lawns * car washing * recreation ...

in Australia, with no watering outside the household. Heavy rains from the middle to later months of 2010 filled most reservoirs to capacity and only wasteful water use (e.g. hosing down footpaths) is currently banned. Bendigo was affected by the

Black Saturday bushfires The Black Saturday bushfires were a series of bushfires that either ignited or were already burning across the Australian state of Victoria on and around Saturday, 7 February 2009, and were among Australia's all-time worst bushfire disasters. T ...

in 2009. A fire to the west of the city burned out . The fire broke out at about 4.30 pm on the afternoon of 7 February, and burned through Long Gully and Eaglehawk, coming within of central Bendigo, before it was brought under control late on 8 February. It destroyed about 58 houses in Bendigo's western suburbs, and damaged an electricity transmission line, resulting in blackouts to substantial parts of the city. One fatality from the fire occurred. Flash floods occurred across Bendigo during 2010, the first in March and the most severe at the beginning of September.

Demographics

According to the 2016 census of population, 92,379 people were in Bendigo Urban Centre. *

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

people made up 1.8% of the population. * 84.6% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were England 1.6%, India 0.7%, New Zealand 0.6%, Myanmar 0.5%, and Thailand 0.4%. * 88.1% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Karen 0.9%, Mandarin 0.5%, Malayalam 0.2%, Punjabi 0.2%, and Hindi 0.2%. * The most common responses for religion were No Religion 36.2%, Catholic 22.0%, and Anglican 12.9%. According to the City of Greater Bendigo Community Profile, the population estimate for 2019 for this area was 118,093 (0.39 persons per

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100- metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ...

Religion

In the 19th century, Catholicism was the predominant Christian tradition in Bendigo. Catholic priest and pioneer

George Henry Backhaus George Henry Backhaus (15 February 1811 – 7 September 1882) was a German-born Catholic priest in Australia. Backhaus was born in Paderborn and was one of nine children of a boot merchant. He studied with distinction in Paderborn, going f ...

established a site in 1852 for the first Masses at Golden Square and, by the end of the year, he was camping at the site of Bendigo's first church, St Kilian's Church, completed in 1858. A wealthy man, Backhaus left his estate for the benefit of the church which, in 1897, enabled the construction of Sacred Heart Cathedral. Completed in 1977, it is the largest church building in provincial Australia. As of 2016, Catholicism is still practised by 22% of the population. In the 2016 census, 36.2% reported having "no religion". The Sandhurst Methodist Circuit (1854) serviced five Wesleyan churches which had been built in previous years. There were several church schools, but they were attended by one-fifteenth of Bendigo's school children. The Chinese, who in the mid-19th century constituted 20% of Bendigo's population, built the heritage-listed Bendigo Joss House Temple dedicated to Kwan Tai or Lord Guan, where they practised

syncretic Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thu ...

beliefs involving

ancestor worship The veneration of the dead, including one's ancestors, is based on love and respect for the deceased. In some cultures, it is related to beliefs that the dead have a continued existence, and may possess the ability to influence the fortune of t ...

and the three main religions of China:

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...

Taoism Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the '' Ta ...

and

Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or a ...

. Bendigo is also home to the largest

stūpa A stupa ( sa, स्तूप, lit=heap, ) is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics (such as ''śarīra'' – typically the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns) that is used as a place of meditation. In Buddhism, circumambu ...

in the Western world, the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, which houses the Jade Buddha for Universal Peace, the world's largest gem-quality jade

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

statue. , Buddhism was followed by 1.4% of Bendigo people, and Islam by about 0.5%. In 2019, despite

protests A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one. Protests can be thought of as acts of coopera ...

by several far-right and anti-Islam organisations, construction began on Bendigo's first mosque and Islamic community centre.

Urban structure

City centre

The central area (CBD) of Bendigo consists of around 20 blocks of mixed-use area. The main street is the Midland Highway, the section running through the CBD is also known as Pall Mall, while the main shopping area is centred around Hargreaves Mall.

Suburbs

The contiguous urban area of Bendigo covers roughly 82 km² of the local government area's 3048 km. Generally the suburbs occupy the catchment of the

and its tributaries. Bendigo has several suburbs, some of which (such as Eaglehawk) were once independent satellite townships and many that extend into the surrounding bushland.

Architectural heritage

Bendigo Building main street-01+ (573049668)

As a legacy of the gold boom, Bendigo has many ornate buildings built in a late Victorian colonial style. Many buildings are on the

Victorian Heritage Register The Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) lists places deemed to be of cultural heritage significance to the State of Victoria, Australia. It has statutory weight under the Heritage Act 2017. The Minister for Planning is the responsible Minister. ...

and registered by the National Trust of Australia. Prominent buildings include the

Bendigo Town Hall The Bendigo Town Hall is an Australian town hall prominently located at the intersection of Bull Street and Hargreaves Street in Bendigo, Victoria. It is considered one of the finest Victorian-era Second Empire buildings in Australia. Early hi ...

(1859, 1883–85), the Old Post Office, the

Bendigo Law Courts The Bendigo Law Courts is a building on Pall Mall in Bendigo, a regional city in the Australian state of Victoria. The courts back onto and are partly surrounded by Rosalind Park. The building was built between 1892 and 1896 by the contractors ...

(1892–96), the

Shamrock Hotel The Shamrock was a hotel constructed between 1946 and 1949 by wildcatter Glenn McCarthy southwest of downtown Houston, Texas next to the Texas Medical Center. It was the largest hotel built in the United States during the 1940s. The grand openi ...

(1897), the Institute of Technology, and the Memorial Military Museum (1921), all in the

Second Empire Second Empire may refer to: * Second British Empire, used by some historians to describe the British Empire after 1783 * Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396) * Second French Empire (1852–1870) ** Second Empire architecture, an architectural styl ...

style. The architect

William Vahland William Charles Vahland (born Carl Wilhelm Vahland; 2 October 1828 – 21 July 1915) was a German-trained Australian architect who, after migrating to Bendigo in 1854 and becoming an Australian citizen on 20 July 1857, became known as the ...

encouraged European artisans to emigrate to the Sandhurst goldfields and so create a "Vienna of the South". Bendigo's Sacred Heart Cathedral, a large sandstone church, is the third-largest cathedral in Australia and one of the largest cathedrals in the Southern Hemisphere. The main building was completed between 1896 and 1908 and the spire between 1954 and 1977. Fortuna Villa is a large surviving Victorian mansion, built for Christopher Ballerstedt and later owned by George Lansell. Many other examples of Bendigo's classical architecture rank amongst the finest classical commercial buildings in Australia and include the Colonial Bank building (1887) and the former Masonic Hall (1873–74), which is now a performing-arts centre. Bendigo's

Joss House Chinese temple architecture refer to a type of structures used as place of worship of Chinese Buddhism, Taoism or Chinese folk religion, where people revere ethnic Chinese gods and ancestors. They can be classified as: * '' miào'' () or '' ...

, a historic temple, was built in the 1860s by Chinese miners and is the only surviving building of its kind in regional Victoria, which continues to be used as a place of worship. The historic Bendigo Tram Sheds and Power Station (1903) now house Bendigo's tramway museum. The Queen Elizabeth Oval still retains its ornate 1901 grandstand.

Parks and gardens

The central city is skirted by

Rosalind Park Rosalind Park is an Australian park in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Prior to white settlement, a grassy woodland surrounding what is now called Bendigo Creek. At that time the creek was little more than a chain of pools and billabongs ...

, a Victorian-style garden featuring statuary and a large blue stone viaduct. The main entrance corner of the park is on the intersection known as Charing Cross, formerly the intersection of two main tram lines (now only one). It features a large statue of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

. The Charing Cross junction features the large and ornate

(1881) and is built on top of a wide bridge that spans the viaduct. The park elevates toward Camp Hill, which features a historic school and a lookout – a former mine poppet head. Further from the city is

Lake Weeroona Lake Weeroona is a man-made lake in the city of Bendigo, Victoria. History Lake Weeroona was commissioned in 1878 under the supervision of William Guilfoyle, the art director of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria a ...

, a large, ornamental lake adjacent to the Bendigo Creek. The

Bendigo Botanic Gardens The Bendigo Botanic Gardens, formerly known as the White Hills Botanical Garden, are Australian botanic gardens in the Bendigo suburb of White Hills, Victoria. The gardens are one of regional Victoria (Australia), Victoria's earliest botanic gard ...

, which opened in 1869, are further downstream. Major redevelopment of the gardens has taken place in recent years. The gardens are home to many native species of animals, including brushtailed and ring-tailed possums, ducks, coots, purple swamp hens, microbats (small insect-eating bats), several species of lizards, owls, the tawny frogmouth, and though not native to the area, a colony of endangered grey-headed flying foxes (

Pteropus poliocephalus The grey-headed flying fox (''Pteropus poliocephalus'') is a megabat native to Australia. The species shares mainland Australia with three other members of the genus ''Pteropus'': the little red '' P. scapulatus'', spectacled '' P. conspicilla ...

Culture and events

The Bendigo Art Gallery is one of Australia's oldest and largest regional art galleries. In March 2012, it hosted a royal visit from

Princess Charlene Charlene (' Charlene Lynette Wittstock; French: ''Charlène'';Since her marriage, her name has been Gallicised by adding a grave accent to her name in French documents. born 25 January 1978) is the princess consort of Monaco and a former Olympic ...

of Monaco at the opening of an exhibition about

Grace Kelly Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982) was an American actress who, after starring in several significant films in the early to mid-1950s, became Princess of Monaco by marrying Prince Rainier III in April 1956. Kelly ...

. The Capital Theatre, originally the Masonic temple, is located next to the art gallery in View Street and hosts performing arts and live music. It also hosts the annual Bendigo Writers Festival which was founded in 2012. The

Ulumbarra Theatre The Ulumbarra Theatre ( /ʌlʌmbɹa/ ) is a 953 seat theater in Bendigo, Victoria. The stage is in a Black box style and equipped with a fly system. It opened in 2015 and was estimated to cost $25,800,00 on the site of the Sandhurst Goal whic ...

was opened on 16 April 2015. It was originally the Sandhurst/Old Bendigo Gaol. The new theatre which seats nearly 1,000 people sits within the walls and structure of the gaol and retains some original architectural features of the gaol. The venue hosts performing arts and live music. It also acts as a ceremonial and teaching space for local secondary schools and universities. The city hosts the Bendigo National

Swap Meet A flea market (or swap meet) is a type of street market that provides space for vendors to sell previously-owned (second-hand) goods. This type of market is often seasonal. However, in recent years there has been the development of 'formal' ...

for car parts every year in early November. It is regarded as the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere and attracts people from all over Australia and the world. The city hosts the Victorian leg of the annual

Groovin' the Moo Groovin the Moo is an annual music festival that is held in six regional centres across Australia. The festival is held during autumn, typically in May of each year. Groovin the Moo was established by Cattleyard Promotions and their first fe ...

music festival. It is held at the Bendigo Showgrounds and is usually held in late April or early May. The festival regularly sells out and brings many Australian and international acts to the city. It also attracts thousands of people from around Victoria to the city for the weekend. The

Bendigo Blues and Roots Music Festival The Bendigo Blues and Roots Music Festival (otherwise known as Bendigo Blues & Roots or BBRMF) was a four-day music festival held in November each year in the central Victorian city of Bendigo. The not-for-profit event was first held in 2011 an ...

has been taking place each November since 2011. With over 80 artists from all over Australia, the not-for-profit festival is hosted in many of the venues around Bendigo, and is headlined by a large, family-friendly, free concert held in

. The

Bendigo Easter Festival The Bendigo Easter Festival, also known as the Bendigo Easter Fair, is an annual event held in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia, since 1871 with the exception of 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The festival includes the Easter procession w ...

is held each year and attracts tens of thousands of tourists to the city over the Easter long weekend. Attractions include parades, exhibitions, and a street carnival. The Bendigo Queer Film Festival (BQFF) is one of Australia's few regional annual festivals celebrating the Queer film genre. The BQFF started in 2004 and takes place in the second half of April. The Festival of Light is a multicultural celebration of peace and harmony inspired by the Buddha's birthday held in May each year since 2013 at the Great Stupa. The festival's program includes dancing and musical acts followed by a fireworks display at night. In November 2019 Bendigo was recognised as a United Nations' City of Gastronomy. Bendigo is home to a number of amateur theatre groups including the Bendigo Theatre Company, Tribe Youth Theatre and Nexus Youth Theatre.

Media

Bendigo is served by two newspapers: the ''

Bendigo Advertiser The ''Bendigo Advertiser'' (commonly referred to as ''"The Addy"'') is an Australian regional newspaper. It is the daily (Monday–Saturday) newspaper for Bendigo, Victoria, and its surrounding region. The paper is published by Australian Communi ...

'' and the '' Bendigo Weekly'', although in October 2019 the ''Bendigo Weekly'' was incorporated into the ''Bendigo Advertiser'' and now features as an insert in the Saturday edition of the ''Advertiser''. Eight locally-based radio stations are active; 105.1 Life FM, Gold 1071am and 98.3FM, Hit 91.9,

3BO FM Triple M Bendigo (official callsign: 3BBO) is a commercial radio station owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo as part of the Triple M network. The station is broadcast to Central Victoria from studios in the Bendigo suburb of Golden Squa ...

, (broadcasting as Triple M) and ABC Local Radio, as well as the community radio stations Radio KLFM 96.5,

Phoenix FM Phoenix FM is a community radio station serving the areas of Brentwood and Billericay, England on 98.0FM and online, covering an area of over 140,000 people. History The station was formed in 1996 and has been broadcasting full-time on FM since ...

, Fresh FM and Vision Australia Radio 3BPH Bendigo 88.7 FM. Network television is broadcast in the Bendigo region by the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australia ...

WIN Television WIN Television is an Australian television network owned by WIN Corporation that is based in Wollongong, New South Wales. WIN commenced transmissions on 18 March 1962 as a single television station covering the Wollongong region. The WIN Netw ...

(affiliated with the Nine Network), 10 Regional (affiliated with Network Ten), the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

(ABC) and the

Special Broadcasting Service The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from the Australian Government. SBS operates six TV channels ( SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS World ...

(SBS). Of the three commercial networks, WIN Television airs a half-hour ''

WIN News ''WIN News'' is a local television news service in parts of regional Australia, produced by WIN Television. 12 regional bulletins and news update services are presented from WIN's headquarters in Wollongong, and until 2021 included production ...

'' bulletin each weeknight at 5.30 pm, produced from a newsroom in the city and broadcast from studios in

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wa ...

. Short local news updates and weather updates are broadcast by 10 Regional throughout the day, produced and broadcast from its Hobart studios. The Seven Network airs short local news and weather updates throughout the day, produced and broadcast from its Canberra studios. On 5 May 2011, analogue television transmissions ceased in most areas of regional Victoria and some border regions including Bendigo and surrounding areas. All local free-to-air television services are now being broadcast in digital transmission only. This was done as part of the federal government's plan for

digital terrestrial television in Australia Digital terrestrial television in Australia commenced on 1 January 2001 in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth using DVB-T standards. The phase out of analogue PAL transmissions began on 30 June 2010 and was completed by 10 December ...

, where all analogue television transmission were being gradually switched off and replaced with DVB-T transmission.

Music

A number of live music venues offer local independent bands and artists performing on a regular basis. These venues include Piano Bar (in the former Music Man Megastore), the Gold Dust Lounge at the Hotel Shamrock and the Golden Vine hotel, also the Bendigo Blues Club. The

also hosts music concerts and is a primary venue for the Bendigo Chamber Music Festival. Several adult choirs and the Bendigo Youth Choir often perform overseas; the Bendigo Symphony Orchestra, the Bendigo Symphonic Band, the Bendigo and District Concert Band, several brass bands and three pipe bands perform as well. Musicians originally from Bendigo include Patrick Savage – film composer and former principal first violin of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London. ''Australian Idol'' winner

Kate DeAraugo Katherine Jenna DeAraugo (born 5 November 1985) is an Australian singer-songwriter who in 2005 was the third winner of ''Australian Idol''. After ''Idol'', DeAraugo signed to Sony BMG and released her debut single, " Maybe Tonight", in November ...

grew up in Bendigo where her family still live.

Sport

Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

and Australian rules football are the most popular sports in Bendigo. The

Queen Elizabeth Oval Queen Elizabeth Oval is a sports stadium located in Bendigo, Australia primarily used for Australian rules football and cricket. History Cricket The Oval, originally known as Upper Reserve, hosted touring cricket teams as early as 1897. The g ...

(referred to locally as the QEO) hosts both sports. The Bendigo and District Cricket Association is the controlling body for 10 senior cricket clubs within the Bendigo area. The Emu Valley Cricket Association organises matches for 13 clubs around the Bendigo district, from Marong in the north to Heathcote in the south. In terms of Australian rules,

Bendigo Gold The Bendigo Gold Football Club was an Australian rules football club based in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia. The club played in the Victorian Football League (VFL) from 1998 until 2014, under the nicknames Diggers, Bombers and Gold at different ti ...

were a semi-professional team which competed in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

until 2014. The Bendigo region is also home to the historic

Bendigo Football League The Bendigo Football Netball League (previously known as the Sandhurst Football Association, Bendigo and District Football Association, Bendigo Football Association and Bendigo Football League) is an Australian rules football and netball compe ...

, a strong Australian rules competition featuring 10 teams from throughout the region. One of the league's founding member clubs, the Bendigo-based

Sandhurst Football Club The Sandhurst Football Netball Club, nicknamed the ''Dragons'', is an Australian rules football and netball club based in Bendigo, Victoria (Australia), Victoria. Sandhurst is the former name of that city. The club teams currently compete in t ...

, was founded in 1861, making it one of the world's

oldest football club The oldest football clubs trace their origins to the mid-19th century, a period when football evolved from being a casual pastime to an organised mainstream sport. The identity of the oldest football clubs in the world, or even in a particula ...

s. The

Bendigo Cup The Bendigo Cup is a Bendigo Jockey Club Group 3 Thoroughbred horse race, held under handicap conditions over a distance of 2400 metres at the Bendigo Racecourse, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia on a Wednesday in late October or early November. Pri ...

is a prominent

horse-racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

event. The

Bendigo Stadium Bendigo Stadium is an Australian sports and entertainment centre in Bendigo, Victoria. The stadium is home to the Bendigo Braves (NBL1) and Bendigo Spirit (WNBL). It hosted basketball matches during the 2006 Commonwealth Games and will host ne ...

hosted basketball games during the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Bendigo's men's team is called the

Bendigo Braves Bendigo Braves is a NBL1 South club based in Bendigo, Victoria. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The club is a division of the overarching Bendigo Braves Basketball Club, the major administrative basketball organ ...

and the women's team is called

Bendigo Spirit Bendigo Spirit is one of three Victorian basketball teams in the Australian Women's National Basketball League. The team, based in the regional city of Bendigo, Victoria, joined the competition from the 2007/08 season. History The Bendigo Spiri ...

. In both 2013 and 2014, the women's team won the Women's National Basketball League championship. The city co-hosted the

2003 FIBA Oceania Championship The FIBA Oceania Championship for Men 2003 was the qualifying tournament of FIBA Oceania for the 2004 Summer Olympics. The tournament, a best-of-three series between and , was held in Bendigo, Geelong and Melbourne. Australia won all three gam ...

. Bendigo was the host to the second

Commonwealth Youth Games The Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) is an international multi-sport event organized by the Commonwealth Games Federation. The games were held in the years, mid-way between when the Commonwealth Games are held, until 2008. They continued to be held ...

, held from 30 November to 3 December 2004 and will also be one of the hosts for the

2026 Commonwealth Games The 2026 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Victoria 2026, is a multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth scheduled to take place across four regional sites in the Australian state ...

to be held in regional Victoria.

Economy

Bendigo is a large and growing service economy. The major industries are health, finance (headquarters of the Bendigo and Adelaide Bank – Australia's fifth largest bank), tourism, commerce, education, food processing, and primary industries, with some significant engineering industries (see below under "Manufacturing"). Bendigo's growth has stimulated growth in small surrounding rural towns (such as Elmore,

Heathcote Heathcote may refer to: Places in Australia *Heathcote, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney **Electoral district of Heathcote, a seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly **Heathcote National Park ** Parish of Heathcote a parish of Cumberla ...

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

, Inglewood, Dunolly and Bridgewater).

Tourism

Tourism is a major component of the Bendigo economy, generating over A$364 million in 2008/09. Bendigo is popular with heritage tourists and cultural tourists with the focus of tourism on the city's gold rush history. Prominent attractions include the Central Deborah Gold Mine, the

Bendigo Tramways Trams in Bendigo have operated since 1890. They ceased to operate as a means of public transport in 1972 but part of the main network continues to operate today as a tourist attraction. Limited trials have also been made in 2009 with operating ...

(both of which are managed by the Bendigo Trust, a council-intertwined organisation dedicated to preserving Bendigo's heritage), the

Golden Dragon Museum The Golden Dragon Museum () is situated in the city of Bendigo, Victoria, Australia. The museum is dedicated to the culture and history of Chinese Australians, particularly in the region. Built on the historical site of one of Bendigo's Chinatown ...

, the Bendigo Pottery, and the Great Stupa.

Commerce

The main retail centre of Bendigo is the central business district, with the suburbs of Eaglehawk, Kangaroo Flat, Golden Square, Strathdale, and Epsom also having shopping districts. The city was home to one of Australia's few provincial

stock exchanges A stock exchange, securities exchange, or bourse is an exchange where stockbrokers and traders can buy and sell securities, such as shares of stock, bonds and other financial instruments. Stock exchanges may also provide facilities for the ...

, the

Bendigo Stock Exchange Bendigo Stock Exchange (BSX) was a small stock exchange based in Australia. The exchange targeted its listing rules at small to medium-sized businesses and offered lower listing fees than the Australian Securities Exchange. It listed various s ...

(BSX), founded in the 1860s. The city is the home of the headquarters of the

Bendigo Bank Bendigo and Adelaide Bank is an Australian financial institution, operating primarily in retail banking. The company was formed by the merger of Bendigo Bank and Adelaide Bank in November 2007. Before the merger, Bendigo Bank delivered its p ...

, established in 1858 as a building society. It is now a large retail bank with community bank branches throughout Australia. The bank is headquartered in Bendigo and is a major employer in the city (it also has a regional office at

Melbourne Docklands Docklands, also known as Melbourne Docklands, is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. Docklands recorded a population ...

Manufacturing

The City of Greater Bendigo Community Profile indicated that about 10.2% of the workforce were employed in manufacturing in 2011. After the

, the introduction of deep quartz mining in Bendigo caused the development of a heavy manufacturing industry. Little of that now remains, but a large foundry (Keech Castings) makes mining, train, and other steel parts and a rubber factory remains (Motherson Elastomers, formerly Empire Rubber).

Thales Australia Thales Australia (formerly Australian Defence Industries and ADI Limited) is a defence contractor based in Australia. It is a subsidiary of the French defence technology conglomerate Thales Group. Thales Australia had been engaged in numerous pr ...

(formerly ADI Limited) is an important heavy engineering company. Australia Defence Apparel is another key defence industry participant making military and police uniforms and bulletproof vests.

Intervet Merck & Co., Inc. is an American Multinational corporation, multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Rahway, New Jersey, and is named for Merck Group, founded in Germany in 1668, of whom it was once the American arm. The company doe ...

(formerly Ausvac) is an important biotechnology company, producing vaccines for animals.

Education

The

Bendigo Senior Secondary College Bendigo Senior Secondary College (BSSC), is an Australian government-funded co-educational secondary school for Year 11 and Year 12 students located in the centre of Bendigo, Victoria. It is the largest provider of VCE, VET and VCAL in the stat ...

is the largest VCE provider in the state.

Catherine McAuley College Catherine McAuley College (formerly Catholic College Bendigo until 2018) is a coeducational Catholic secondary school in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia. The school has two campuses in Coolock and St Mary's. The Coolock campus is located in th ...

follows close after, which ranges from years 7–9 at the Coolock campus and 10–12 at the St Mary's campus. Girton Grammar School, an independent school, provides education to students from years Prep-12. The Bendigo campus of

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora. The university was established in 1964, becoming the third university in the state of Victoria a ...

is also a large and growing educational institution with nearly 5,000 undergraduates and postgraduates.

Farming and agriculture

The surrounding area, or "gold country", is quite harsh, rocky land with scrubby regrowth vegetation. The box-ironbark forest is used for timber (mainly sleepers and firewood) and beekeeping. Sheep and cattle are grazed in the cleared areas. There are some large poultry and pig farms. Some relatively fertile areas are present along the rivers and creeks, where wheat and other crops such as

canola Close-up of canola blooms Canola flower Rapeseed oil is one of the oldest known vegetable oils. There are both edible and industrial forms produced from rapeseed, the seed of several cultivars of the plant family Brassicaceae. Historically, ...

are grown. The area produces premium wines, including

Shiraz Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the population of the city was 1,565,572 p ...

, from a growing

viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for '' vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of '' Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ...

industry. Salinity is a problem in many valleys, but is under control. A relatively small

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as e ...

oil industry operates there. Bendigo provides services (including a large livestock exchange) to a large agricultural and grazing area on the Murray plains to its north.

Gold mining

One of the major revolutions in gold mining (during the Victorian gold rush) came when fields such as Bendigo, but also Ballarat, Ararat and the goldfields close to Mount Alexander, turned out to have large gold deposits below the superficial alluvial deposits that had been (partially) mined out. Gold at Bendigo was found in quartz reef systems, hosted within highly deformed mudstones and sandstones or were washed away into channels of ancient rivers. Tunnels as deep as 900 m (3000 ft) ( Stawell) were possible. Until overtaken in the 1890s by the Western Australia goldfields, Bendigo was the most productive Australian gold area, with a total production over 622 tonnes (20 million ounces). Over the 100-odd year period from 1851 to 1954, the 3,600-hectare area that made up the Bendigo gold field yielded 777 tonnes (25 million ounces) of gold. A large amount of gold remains in the Bendigo goldfields, estimated to be at least as much again as what has been removed. The decline in mining was partly due to the depth of mines and the presence of water in the deep mines.

Infrastructure

Transport

Bendigo is connected via the

to Melbourne, which is fewer than two hours by car. The remaining section of highway nearest Bendigo has been upgraded to dual carriageway standard ensuring that motorists can travel up to speeds of for most of the journey. Many other regional centres are also connected to Melbourne via Bendigo, making it a gateway city in the transport of produce and materials from northern Victoria and the Murray to the Port of Melbourne and beyond. Bendigo acts as a major rail hub for northern Victoria, being at the junction of several lines including the

Bendigo line The Deniliquin railway line (also known as the Echuca railway line) is a broad-gauge railway line serving northwestern Victoria, Australia. The line runs from the border settlement of Deniliquin into Bendigo, before turning south-southeast to ...

which runs south to

and lines running north including the

Swan Hill Swan Hill is a city in the northwest of Victoria, Australia on the Murray Valley Highway and on the south bank of the Murray River, downstream from the junction of the Loddon River. At , Swan Hill had a population of 11,508. Indigenous Peo ...

Echuca Echuca ( ) is a town on the banks of the Murray River and Campaspe River in Victoria, Australia. The border town of Moama is adjacent on the northern side of the Murray River in New South Wales. Echuca is the administrative centre and largest ...

and Eaglehawk–Inglewood lines.

V/Line V/Line is a statutory authority that operates regional passenger train and coach services in Victoria, Australia. It provides passenger train services on five commuter lines and eight long-distance routes from its major hub at Southern Cros ...

operates regular VLocity passenger rail services to Melbourne with the shortest peak journeys taking approximately 91 minutes from

Bendigo railway station Bendigo railway station is located on the Deniliquin and Piangil lines in Victoria, Australia. It serves the city of Bendigo, and opened on 21 October 1862 as Sandhurst. It was renamed Bendigo on 1 September 1891.Kangaroo Flat railway station on the Bendigo Line,

Epsom Railway Station Epsom railway station serves the town of Epsom in Surrey, England. It is located off Waterloo Road and is less than two minutes' walk from the town's high street. It is down the line from . The Oyster Pay as you go was extended to Epsom on 2 ...

on the Echuca railway line, and

Eaglehawk railway station Eaglehawk railway station is located on the Piangil line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the north-western Bendigo suburb of Eaglehawk, and it opened on 19 September 1876.

on the Swan Hill railway line. There are also additional train services to and from

and

. The

Regional rail revival The Regional Rail Revival is a joint initiative between the Australian federal government and the Victorian state government to upgrade all regional railway lines in Victoria. The project has an estimated total cost of . of the project's total ...

project will upgrade the Swan Hill and Echuca lines and build three new stations. On the Echuca line, Huntly station (for the outer suburb of Huntly), Goornong Station (A town in greater Bendigo) and on the Swan Hill line Raywood station (A town in greater Bendigo) All set to open between 2021 and 2022. Residents celebrated the opening of the new Goornong Railway Station at a community event on the weekend of December 11–12, 2021. Victoria's electronic ticketing system,

Myki Myki ( ), stylised as myki, is a reloadable credit card-sized contactless smart card ticketing system used for electronic payment of fares on most public transport services in Melbourne and regional Victoria, Australia. Myki replaced the ...

, was implemented on rail services between Eaglehawk and Melbourne on 17 July 2013. Bendigo is also served by an extensive bus network that radiates mostly from the CBD with the main terminus at the railway station towards the suburbs. The city is also served by several taxi services.

Trams in Bendigo Trams in Bendigo have operated since 1890. They ceased to operate as a means of public transport in 1972 but part of the main network continues to operate today as a tourist attraction. Limited trials have also been made in 2009 with operating ...

have historically operated an extensive network as a form of public transport, but the remains of the network were reduced to a tourist service in 1972. Short trials of commuter tram services were held in 2008 and 2009 with little ridership. The second, "Take a Tram", proved more successful, running twice as long as the previous trial. By the end of the "Take a Tram" program, ridership had increased and was increasing. However, due to lack of government subsidy or backing, the program ended. Bendigo is served by the Bendigo Airport, which is located to the north of the city on the Midland Highway. The Bendigo Airport Strategic Plan was approved in 2010 for proposed infrastructure upgrades including runway extension and buildings to facilitate larger planes and the possibility of regular passenger services from major cities in other states. In 2016, Bendigo Airport was upgraded with a new taxiway system, new lighting, and a new 1.6-km north–south runway. On 10 December 2018,

Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founde ...

announced that they would fly between Sydney and Bendigo six times a week, the first of which commenced on 31 March 2019.

Health

The Bendigo Base Hospital now known as Bendigo Health is the city's largest hospital, only public hospital, and a major regional hospital. St John of God is the largest private hospital. Bendigo is also served by a privately owned smaller surgical facility, the Bendigo Day Surgery.

Utilities

Bendigo is entitled to a portion of the water in

Lake Eppalock Lake Eppalock is an Australian reservoir in North Central Victoria about northwest of Melbourne. It was formed by the construction of a major earth and rockfill embankment dam, known as Eppalock Dam, with a controlled chute spillway across th ...

, an irrigation reservoir on the

. Developments have led to the building of a pipeline from Waranga to Lake Eppalock and thence to Bendigo in 2007. In 1858 Bendigo water works hired Joseph Brady as an engineer and he designed nine reservoirs and a channel system called the Coliban main channel which provides water from the

Malmsbury Malmsbury is a town in central Victoria, Australia on the Old Calder Highway (C794), 95 km north-west of the state capital, Melbourne and 11 km north-west of Kyneton. Situated close by the Coliban River, Malmsbury has a population ...

reservoir to customers in central Victoria.

Sister cities

* Penzance, Cornwall, United Kingdom * Los Altos, California, United States *

Tianshui Tianshui is the second-largest city in Gansu Province, China. The city is located in the southeast of the province, along the upper reaches of the Wei River and at the boundary of the Loess Plateau and the Qinling Mountains. As of the 2020 ce ...

, Gansu, China

Notable residents

Arts and entertainment *

Harold Desbrowe Annear Harold Desbrowe-Annear (16 August 1865 – 22 June 1933) was an influential Australian architect who was at the forefront of the development of the Arts and Crafts movement in the country. During the 1890s he was an instructor in architecture a ...

, architect *

Bunney Brooke Dorothy Cronin (9 January 1920 – 2 April 2000), professionally known as Bunney Brooke, was an Australian actress, creator, producer, director, designer, playwright and casting agent, best known for her being one of the early faces of Aust ...

, TV actress *

Amy Castles Amy Eliza Castles (25 July 1880 – 19 November 1951), was an Australian soprano. Family The daughter of Joseph Castles (1849-1933), and Mary Ellen Castles (1855-1937), née Fallon, Amy Eliza Castles was born in Melbourne, Australia on 25 July 188 ...

, singer *

Ola Cohn Ola Cohn (born Carola Cohn; 25 April 1892 – 23 December 1964) was an Australian artist, author and philanthropist best known for her work in sculpture in a modernist style and famous for her ''Fairies Tree'' in the Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne. ...

, sculptor *

, 2005 ''Australian Idol'' winner *

Colleen Hewett Colleen Hewett (born 16 April 1950) is an Australian singer and actress. Hewett's top 40 singles on the Kent Music Report include " Super Star", " Day by Day" (both 1971), " Carry That Weight" (1972), "Dreaming My Dreams with You" (1980) ...

, singer and actress *

Russell Jack Russell Goldfield Jack Order of Australia, AM (; born 13 January 1935) is the founder of the Golden Dragon Museum. Russell was born in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia, to Herbalism, herbalist, Harry Louey Jack and Gladys May. He attended Long Gully P ...

, founder of the

Sam Jinks Sam Jinks is an Australian sculptor who creates lifelike but fragile figures using silicone, resin, calcium carbonate, fibreglass and hair. Jinks describes the human form as "a physics lesson in a ball of bones and meat". Jink's work has been ex ...

, sculptor *

Roger Kemp Francis Roderick Kemp AO, OBE, (Eaglehawk, 3 July 1908 - Melbourne 14 September 1987), known as Roger, was one of Australia's foremost practitioners of transcendental abstraction. Kemp developed a system of symbols and motifs which were deployed ...

, artist *

Victor Kennedy Martin Victor Kennedy (1895–1952), known widely as Victor Kennedy, was an author, journalist and significant figure in Australian literature. Born in Eaglehawk near Bendigo on 11 August 1895 to Martin William and Mary Jane Kennedy (). Kennedy w ...

, writer and journalist * Keith Lamb, lead singer of

Hush Hush may refer to: Film and television * ''Hush'' (1921 film), starring Clara Kimball Young * ''Hush'' (1998 film), starring Gwyneth Paltrow * ''Hush!'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film directed by Ryosuke Hashiguchi * ''Hush'' (2005 film), starring ...

* Sarah McKenzie, jazz singer, pianist, and composer *

Ernest Moffitt Ernest Edward Moffitt (15 September 1871 – 23 March 1899) was an Australian artist. Life Moffitt was born in Bendigo, Victoria the son of John Thomas Lowry Moffitt, draper, and his wife Mary Emily, ''née'' Rogers. He was educated at All Sai ...

, artist * William Moore, art and drama critic * William David Murdoch, concert pianist * John Bernard O'Hara, poet and schoolmaster * Alfred Henry O'Keeffe, artist *

Pollyfilla Pollyfilla (aka Colin McLean) (born August 1978GayNZ.com. (2004-03"At a Glance: Colin McLean. a.k.a. Miss Pollyfilla."Retrieved 2007-07-09.) is a drag queen originally from Wellington City, Wellington, New Zealand. The drag persona of Colin McLea ...

, drag performer and costume designer *

Ian Rilen Ian William Rilen (12 August 194730 October 2006) was an Australian musician. He was bass guitarist and songwriter with Rock N' Roll band Rose Tattoo, and led punk rock group X while also providing lead guitar, rhythm guitar and vocals. Rile ...

, bass guitarist with

Rose Tattoo Rose Tattoo are an Australian rock and roll band, now led by Angry Anderson, which formed in Sydney in 1976. Their sound is hard rock mixed with blues rock influences, with songs including "Bad Boy for Love", "Rock 'n' Roll Outlaw", "Nice Bo ...

Virginia Trioli Virginia Frances Trioli (born 16 August 1965) is an Australian journalist, author, radio and television presenter. Trioli currently hosts the morning program on ABC Radio Melbourne in Melbourne. She has previously been co-host of the Australi ...

, journalist and television host * Christian Waller, artist *

Lincoln Younes Lincoln Younes (born 31 January 1992) is an Australian actor. He made his debut in an episode of ''City Homicide'' in 2009, before playing Romeo Kovac in Showcase drama series ''Tangle'' until 2012. He received the ASTRA Award for Most Outsta ...

, actor Business * Herbert Robinson Brookes, businessman, pastoralist, public official and philanthropist * Fletcher Jones, Australian entrepreneur * Frank McEncroe, inventor of the

Chiko Roll The Chiko Roll is an Australian savoury snack invented by Frank McEncroe, inspired by the Chinese spring roll and first sold in 1951 as the "Chicken Roll" despite not actually containing chicken. The snack was designed to be easily eaten on the ...

Sidney Myer Sidney Myer (born Simcha Myer Baevski (); 8 February 18785 September 1934) was a Russian-born Jewish-Australian businessman and philanthropist, best known for founding Myer, Australia's largest chain of department stores. Early life Myer was ...

, philanthropist and founder of the Myer chain of department stores * Thomas Flanagan, co-founder of Kalgoorlie,

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

in June 1893 Military * Sir

Gilbert Dyett Sir Gilbert Joseph Cullen Dyett (23 June 1891 – 19 December 1964) was an Australian soldier, veterans' rights activist and National President of the Returned Sailors' Soldiers' and Airmens' Imperial League of Australia (1919–46), forerunner o ...

, long-serving president of the

Returned and Services League of Australia The Returned and Services League of Australia (RSL) is a support organisation for people who have served or are serving in the Australian Defence Force. Mission The RSL's mission is to ensure that programs are in place for the well-being, care ...

* Carl Jess,

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (CA), wh ...

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

John Campbell Ross John Campbell Ross (11 March 1899 – 3 June 2009), at the time of his death, was Australia's oldest living person and the last surviving Australian enlisted soldier from the World War I period. As a civilian, Ross worked for Victorian Railw ...

, last Australian World War I veteran Politics *

John Bannon John Charles Bannon (7 May 1943 – 13 December 2015) was an Australian politician and academic. He was the 39th Premier of South Australia, leading the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party from a single term in opposition ba ...

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

Premier of South Australia The premier of South Australia is the head of government in the state of South Australia, Australia. The Government of South Australia follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of South Australia acting as the legislature. The premier is ...

, 1982–1992 *

Noel Beaton Noel Lawrence Beaton (28 December 1925 – 18 December 2004) was an Australian politician. Born in Mooroopna, Victoria, he was educated at state schools and was a volunteer firefighter in his home town, before serving in the military from 19 ...

Federal Member for Bendigo 1960–69, Shadow Minister for Primary Industries 1967–69 * Frank Brennan,

Federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

, 1929–31 * Tom Brennan, older brother of Frank and Federal UAP Senator, 1931–37 *

John Brumby John Mansfield Brumby (born 21 April 1953) is the current Chancellor of La Trobe University and former Victorian Labor Party politician who was Premier of Victoria from 2007 to 2010. He became leader of the Victorian Labor Party and premier ...

Premier of Victoria The premier of Victoria is the head of government in the Australian state of Victoria. The premier is appointed by the governor of Victoria, and is the leader of the political party able to secure a majority in the Victorian Legislative Assemb ...

, 2007–2010 * Daryl McClure (1947 – 2015) was

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

member for Bendigo in the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presidin ...

, 1972–1982 * John Gunn,

, 1924–26 * Edward Heitmann,

politician, 1917–1919 *

John Lutey John Thomas Lutey (18 December 1876 – 22 June 1932) was the Labor Party member for the Western Australian Legislative Assembly seat of Brownhill-Ivanhoe from 1917 to 1932. John Lutey was born on 18 December 1876 at Eaglehawk near Bendigo i ...

, Labor Party member of the West Australian parliament, 1917–1932 * Sir John Quick, Protectionist Party MP for Bendigo, 1901–1913. Knighted on 1 January 1901 for his contribution to Federation *

John Stanistreet John Stanistreet (7 April 1913 – 30 October 1971) was an Australian politician. He was born in Bendigo to legal manager John Jepson Stanistreet and Maud McIlroy. He attended Bendigo High School and Dookie Agricultural College, and in 1929 ...

(1913 – 1971) was

Liberal Country Party The Liberal Country Party (LCP) was a splinter group of the United Country Party, the Victorian branch of the Australian Country Party, formed after federal MP John McEwen was expelled from the state branch for accepting a ministry in the Lyon ...

Member for Bendigo 1955–1958 * Maxwell John "Max" Turner (born 12 February 1947) is a former Member for Bendigo West (1992–1996) * Nicholas Bruce Reid (30 July 1935 – 24 May 2020) was an Australian politician. * Peter Ryan, former leader of the

n National Party Religion * Sydney James Kirkby, Anglican bishop *

Thomas Cahill Thomas Quinn Cahill (March 29, 1940 – October 18, 2022) was an American scholar and writer. He was best known for ''The Hinges of History'' series, a prospective seven-volume series in which the author recounts formative moments in Western civ ...

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

bishop Science *

Martha Durward Farquharson Martha Durward Farquharson (1847 Galway, West Region, Ireland – 12 August 1929, Bendigo, Victoria (Australia)) was an administrator, nurse and private hospital owner. Biography Farquharson was the second of eight children born to John Farquharso ...

, hospital matron *

John Irvine Hunter John Irvine Hunter (24 January 1898 – 10 December 1924)Michael J. Blunt,, '' Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Vol. 9, MUP, 1983, pp 408–9. Retrieved 13 August 2009 was an Australian professor of anatomy. Early life and education Hu ...

, professor of

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having it ...

Frank Milne Frank Milne (born 1946) is an Australian and Canadian economist and financial theorist. He is currently BMO Professor of Economics and Finance in the Economics Dept., Queen's University, Canada. Milne's research interests and contributions h ...

, professor of economics *

Struan Sutherland Struan Keith Sutherland AO (17 June 193611 January 2002) was an Australian medical researcher who developed effective antivenoms and other treatments for people bitten or stung by venomous Australian wildlife. Early life Sutherland was born i ...

, antivenom researcher * Geoffrey Watson, professor of statistics *

Kirby White Oliver Kirby White (January 3, 1884 – April 22, 1943) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1909 to 1911 for the Boston Doves and Pittsburgh Pirates. His minor league career began in 1907. ...

, general practitioner Sport * Australian Football League players: Jim Mooring, Nathan Brown,

Wayne Campbell Wayne Campbell (born 23 September 1972) is a retired Australian rules football player and administrator for the Richmond Football Club in the AFL. He also had assistant coaching roles at the Western Bulldogs for two years. On 29 December ...

Nick Dal Santo Nick Dal Santo (born 22 February 1984) is the senior coach of the St Kilda Football Club in the AFL Women's competition and a retired Australian rules footballer who played for St Kilda and North Melbourne in the Australian Football League ...

Jake Stringer Jake Stringer (born 25 April 1994) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Western Bulldogs from 2013 to 2017. Stringer was selec ...

Eric Fleming Eric Fleming (born Edward Heddy Jr.; July 4, 1925 – September 28, 1966) was an American actor known primarily for his role as Gil Favor in the CBS television series '' Rawhide''. Early life Fleming was born as Edward Heddy Jr. in Santa Pau ...

Trevor Keogh Trevor Keogh (born 26 July 1949) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Carlton in the Victorian Football League. Keogh was recruited from Sandhurst in the Bendigo Football League The Bendigo Football Netball League (p ...

, Barry Mulcair,

Troy Selwood Troy Selwood (born 1 May 1984) is a former Australian rules footballer who played 75 games for the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was also captain of the Geelong Football Club's team in the Victorian Football League ...

, Adam Selwood,

Joel Selwood Joel Anthony Selwood (born 26 May 1988) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was a quadruple premiership player, a six-time All-Australian, and a three-ti ...

Scott Selwood Scott Selwood (born 27 March 1990) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the West Coast Eagles and Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). As an Eagle, Selwood won a John Worsfold Medal i ...

Geoff Southby Geoff Southby (born 27 October 1950) is a former Australian rules footballer in the (then) Victorian Football League (VFL). An attacking full-back who ran hard from defence and stopped the best full-forwards, Southby was a key contributor to C ...

Colin Sylvia Colin Martin Sylvia (8 November 1985 – 28 October 2018) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Melbourne Football Club and Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Football career At 15 years of age, ...

, Brian Walsh, Greg Williams * Ben Hunt, NCAA and NBL basketball player *

Billy Murdoch William Lloyd Murdoch (18 October 1854 – 18 February 1911) was an Australian cricketer who captained the Australian national side in 16 Test matches between 1880 and 1890. This included four tours of England, one of which, in 1882, gave ri ...

, Australian

Test cricket Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last f ...

captain * Chris Hamilton, professional cyclist *

Christine Envall Christine Envall (born 28 November 1972) is an Australian professional bodybuilder and nutritionist. Early life and education Christine Envall was born in 1972 in Queensland, Australia. Her hometown is Bendigo, Victoria Bendigo ( ) is a ...

professional bodybuilder Professional bodybuilding or pro bodybuilding can refer to bodybuilding for an income and/or possessing qualifications such as an IFBB or Wabba International Pro Card. A professional bodybuilder may be one who earns his or her primary income from ...

Craig White Craig White (born 1969) is a former English cricketer, who played Tests and ODIs. He is currently a cricket coach. Domestic career Born 16 December 1969, Morley, West Yorkshire, England, White was brought up in Australia, but later moved back ...

, English cricket player *

Don Blackie Donald Dearness Blackie (5 April 1882 – 18 April 1955) was an Australian Test cricketer who played three Tests as an off-spinner in the summer of 1928–29. At 46 years 253 days of age at the time of his Test debut, Blackie remains the oldest ...