Kyabram is a town in north central

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 Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Kyabram is located in the centre of a rich

irrigation district In the United States an irrigation district is a cooperative, self-governing public corporation set up as a subdivision of the State government, with definite geographic boundaries, organized, and having taxing power to obtain and distribute water f ...

in the Goulburn River Valley, north 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 ...

. It is the second-largest town in the

Shire of Campaspe The Shire of Campaspe is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the northern part of the state. It covers an area of and in June 2018 had a population of 37,592. It includes the towns of Girgarre, Echuca, Kyabram, Roches ...

, situated between the towns of

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

Shepparton Shepparton () ( Yortayorta: ''Kanny-goopna'') is a city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River in northern Victoria, Australia, approximately north-northeast of Melbourne. As of the 2021 census, the estimated population of Shepparton, ...

and is close to the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest r ...

, Goulburn River, Campaspe River and Waranga Basin. As of the 2016 census the town had a population of 7,331 people and provides services to a district population of around 16,000. Surrounding smaller towns include

Merrigum Merrigum is a town in the Goulburn Valley region of Victoria, Australia. The town is in the City of Greater Shepparton local government area, north of the state capital, Melbourne. At the , Merrigum had a population of 672. Merrigum Post Office ...

, Lancaster,

Undera Undera is a town in the Goulburn Valley region of northern Victoria, Australia. The town in the City of Greater Shepparton local government area, north of the state capital, Melbourne and north-west of the regional centre of Shepparton. At th ...

, Cooma, Wyuna, Kyvalley, Girgarre, Stanhope and Tongala. The name of the town is thought to derive from an Aboriginal word Kiambram meaning "Thick Forest".

History

The

Bangerang The Pangerang, also spelt Bangerang and Bangarang, are the Indigenous Australians who traditionally occupied much of what is now north-eastern Victoria stretching along the Murray River to Echuca and into the areas of the southern Riverina in Ne ...

people are the original inhabitants of the Goulburn valley. The township started in the 1870s with the first sale of town blocks held in 1876. Kyabram Post Office opened on 23 September 1878. Sheridan Post Office opened on 1 December 1884. On 8 April 1886, in anticipation of the arrival of the railway at what was then Sheridan, Kyabram was renamed Kyabram East and Sheridan was renamed Kyabram. The Kyabram Mechanics' Institute was built in 1891. John Allan, who lived in Kyabram from 1873, became

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 Assembly ...

in 1924 and Australia's first Country Party premier. Allan was associated with the

Kyabram Reform Movement Kyabram is a town in north central Victoria, Australia. Kyabram is located in the centre of a rich irrigation district in the Goulburn River Valley, north of Melbourne. It is the second-largest town in the Shire of Campaspe, situated between ...

, a conservative political organisation formed at the start of the 20th century and led by Benjamin Goddard, a local businessman. The movement's campaign played a significant role in the downfall of the

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera ''Pavo (genus), Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female pea ...

state government in June 1902 and its sound defeat in the subsequent October election. The incoming Irvine government substantially reduced the number of state parliamentarians, a key demand of the movement. Kyabram was formally proclaimed a town on 4 July 1973. The Kyabram Magistrates' Court closed on 1 January 1990.

Economy

The district is dependent on the primary industries of

dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...

ing and fruit

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of larg ...

Henry Jones IXL Henry Jones IXL was a company primarily known as a manufacturer of jams, conserves and sauces in Australia. The brand was owned and its products manufactured by SPC Ardmona from 2004, which was itself owned by Coca-Cola Amatil from February 200 ...

, a subsidiary of

SPC Ardmona SPC Global Limited, trading as SPC Australia and formerly SPC Ardmona, is an Australian-based company that specialises in large fruit packing and owns and operates a canning factory in Shepparton. SPCA closed its Mooroopna processing plant in ...

, operate a plant in the town, manufacturing IXL

jams Jams or JAMS may refer to: *Plural form of jam, a type of fruit preserve *Jams (clothing line) *JAMS (organization), United States organization that provides alternative dispute resolution services *The JAMs, former name of The KLF, a British band ...

. The town provides engineering, financial advisors, solicitors and accounting services to the district as well as cold storage and specialist dairy services. Kyabram also boasts a family owned Camel dairy unique to Australia.

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Switzerland, Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other me ...

(Tongala) downsizing,

Southern Processing Ltd Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

and

Fonterra Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited is a New Zealand multinational publicly traded dairy co-operative owned by around 9,000 New Zealand farmers. The company is responsible for approximately 30% of the world's dairy exports and with revenue exce ...

(Stanhope) all have food processing plants nearby.

Facilities

Medical and aged care services in the town include a 46-bed hospital, a 30-bed home for the aged, infant welfare centre, ambulance station, several doctors, dentists and other health practitioners. A residential drug and alcohol rehab. Kyabram also has a local police station and volunteer CFA station.

Education

Kyabram has combined three state schools (

Kyabram Secondary College Kyabram P–12 College, previously, "Kyabram High School" and later "Kyabram Secondary College" is a small high school in the country town of Kyabram, Victoria, Australia. The school has around 1200 students attending from a 20 km radius a ...

, Dawes Rd (Demolished) and Haslem St Primary Schools) to one P-12 school containing three campuses (Dawes, Haslem and Fisher). Kyabram also has a Catholic primary and secondary school (St Augustine's College), two kindergartens and the Kyabram Community & Learning Centre providing community services and adult learning opportunities for the people of Kyabram and the surrounding region. Kyabram also has their own Blue Light
Kyabram Blue Light
branch run by local police, business owners and community members providing youth engagement activities for young people in the district. The group is well known for their program known as KyFit which is a gym based mentoring program conducted throughout the town weekly, which has been the base for many similar programs country wide. Kyabram Blue Light often enters teams in many local events such as the Massive Murray Marathon and the Mad Cow Mud Run, where local police officers and young people come together to form teams. Kyabram Blue Light is currently headed up by Senior Constable Mitchell Bull, who was named Campaspe Shire's Citizen of the Year 2022.

Media

The local newspaper is called the ''Kyabram Free Press'', a part of the McPherson media group in the region, with a circulation of roughly 3,300 copies (Victorian Country Press Association 2008). Local police also have a Facebook page distributing local police news
Campaspe Eyewatch

Attractions

Attractions include the

Kyabram Fauna Park The Kyabram Fauna Park is a fauna park in Kyabram, Victoria, Australia. History Until 1967, the current site of the Kyabram Fauna Park was a fallow farmland that had been abandoned for some years. In 1967, the need to utilize this piece of l ...

, a reserve housing five hundred species of wildlife. There are free-roaming

kangaroo Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...

s and

emu The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the genus ''Dromaius''. The emu' ...

s and hides to observe a variety of water birds.

Sport

Popular sports in Kyabram include

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

and

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 striki ...

. The local football team is known as the Bombers who compete in the

Goulburn Valley Football Netball League The Goulburn Valley Football Netball League is an Australian rules football and netball competition based in the Goulburn Valley region of Victoria, Australia. It is a member of the Victorian Country Football League and has won the Victorian Co ...

. Netball and soccer are also popular in Kyabram. Golfers play at the course of the Kyabram Valley View Golf and Bowls Club on Curr Road, Mount Scobie, or at the Kyabram Parkland Golf Club, the home of the Victorian Par 3 Amateur Championships, on Racecourse Rd, Kyabram.

Notable residents

* John Allan, who lived in Kyabram from 1873, became

in 1924 and Australia's first Country Party premier. *

Felice Arena Felice Arena is an Australian children's author, actor and playwright. He is best known for the bestselling and award-winning football-themed '' Specky Magee'' series; the action-packed bionic hero series ''Andy Roid''; the sports-themed ''Sp ...

– author * Dulcie Boling – magazine editor *

Richard Farleigh Richard Bruce Farleigh (born ''Richard Buckland Smith'', 9 November 1960) is an Australian private investor and reality television personality. He is currently a member of the ''Business Review Weekly'' Rich 200 list, a list of the 200 wealth ...

– financial investor * Joe Langtry – Federal MP * Hugh McKenzie – Member of Victorian Legislative Assembly * In 2016, former resident Kristen Hilton was appointed Victoria's Human Rights Commissioner, head of the

Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission The Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission is a statutory authority in the Australian state of Victoria. It replaced the Equal Opportunity Board , set up by Victorian Premier Dick Hamer Sir Rupert James Hamer, (29 July ...

. * Kyabram is referenced by Irish singer-songwriter

Declan O'Rourke Declan O'Rourke (born April 26, 1976) is a singer-songwriter from Dublin, Ireland. Career Early career to 2010 At the age of 13, when living in Australia with his family, O'Rourke was given his first guitar by a priest in Kyabram who recog ...

on his debut album '' Since Kyabram''. O'Rourke picked up his first acoustic guitar while living in the town as a teenager. *

Joe Matera Joe Matera is an Australian guitarist, rock journalist and author. In addition to a solo career, Matera is the guitarist in the Sweden-based rock band Rough Rockers, and was formerly the lead guitarist of Australian famous pop rock band Geisha ...

– musician *

Russell McDonald Russell Stanley Leslie McDonald (12 May 1913 – 20 January 1980) was an Australian politician. Biography He was born in Kyabram to labourer Donald Alexander Leslie McDonald and Jessie Taylor. He ran a service station in Echuca before ent ...

– Member of Victorian Legislative Assembly * Hugh Edward Ryan – priest * Allan Salisbury – cartoonist

Sport

Kyabram has produced a number of

AFL AFL may refer to: Sports * American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues: ** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...

and VFL players: * Allan Bryce *

Brett Deledio Brett Edward Deledio (born 18 April 1987) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played 243 games over 12 seasons with the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), and a further 32 matches over three se ...

* Nick Holman *

Tom McCluskey Thomas Miller "Tammas" McCluskey (31 August 1890 – 4 October 1917) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Carlton and Fitzroy in the Victorian Football League, and with Footscray in the Victorian Football Association (VFA). Fa ...

Garry Lyon Garry Peter Lyon (born 13 September 1967) is a former professional Australian rules football player and was captain of the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Since his retirement from football, he has been mai ...

* Kayne Pettifer * Arch Shields *

Barrie Vagg Barrie Vagg (born 21 January 1943) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Melbourne in the Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one ...

Julia Crockett-Grills Julia Crockett-Grills (born 28 October 1994) is an Australian rules footballer with the Geelong Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW). Crockett-Grills grew up in Kyabram, Victoria and played football as a child before leaving the sport due ...

Kyabram's first

AFLW AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semi-professional Australian rules football league for female players. The first season of the league in February and March 2017 had eight teams; the league expanded to 10 teams in the 2019 season, 1 ...

's player Other sports *

Jim Higgs James Donald Higgs (born 11 July 1950) is a former Australian leg spinner who played in 22 Test cricket, Test matches between 1978 and 1981. In the words of Gideon Haigh "Jim Higgs was Australia's best legspinner between Richie Benaud and Shane ...

cricketer who played for Australia during the late 1970s. *

Cynna Kydd Cynna Kydd (née Neele; born 18 September 1981 in Kyabram, Victoria) is a former Australian professional netball player. Kydd achieved some success in netball and swimming in her early life, and played in the Dairy Farmers State League at the ag ...

netball player

References

External links

Kyabram information

{{authority control Towns in Victoria (Australia) City of Greater Shepparton