Traralgon ( ) is a town located in the east of the Latrobe Valley in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia and the most populous city in the City of Latrobe and the region. The urban population of Traralgon at the was 26,907. It is the largest and fastest growing city in the greater Latrobe Valley area, which has a population of 77,168 at the 2021 Census and is administered by the City of Latrobe.

Naming

The origin of the name Traralgon is unconfirmed. The name was used for the

pastoral lease A pastoral lease, sometimes called a pastoral run, is an arrangement used in both Australia and New Zealand where government-owned Crown land is leased out to graziers for the purpose of livestock grazing on rangelands. Australia Pastoral lease ...

of the Hobson brothers in 1844, centred on Traralgon Creek, and was alternatively rendered 'Tralgon' by Dr Edumund Hobson. The town was also spelt "Taralgon" in the earliest records of the Gippsland Times available in 1861. The Gippsland Farmers' Journal wrote in 1889 that the town name was originally spelt 'Tarralgon' and that it was the Indigenous name for 'the river of little fish'. However, these words are not reflected in modern linguists' knowledge of Gunai/Kurnai language. Records of the language show that the words or mean 'river', the words or mean 'little', while the words or mean 'fish'. It might be possible to combine words into , which sounds similar to 'Traralgon', but no such compound word was recorded. In 1989, Don Macreadie wrote that Paweł Strzelecki named Traralgon after

Taralga Taralga is the traditional land of the Gundungurra people. Today it is a small village in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, in Upper Lachlan Shire. It is located at the intersection of the Goulburn-Oberon Road and the Lagga ...

, the hometown of Charlie Tarra, but the statement lacks evidence.

History

Traralgon is situated on the traditional lands of the Indigenous Gunai/Kurnai nation, which includes the lands of the

Braiakaulung The Braiakaulung are an Indigenous Australian people, one of the five tribes of the Gunai/Kurnai nation, in the state of Victoria, Australia. They were recognized by Norman Tindale as an independent tribal grouping. Name The Braiakaulung are al ...

clan of Bunjil Kraura, who lived to the north of

Latrobe River The Latrobe River (or sometimes La Trobe or LaTrobe) is a perennial river of the West Gippsland catchment, located in the West Gippsland region of the Australian state of Victoria. The Latrobe River and its associated sub-catchment is an import ...

(called ''Durt'yowan'' in Gunai language), as well as the clan of Woollum-Woollum, who lived on the hills to the south of the river and were more affiliated with the

Brataualung people The Brataualung are an Indigenous Australian people, one of the five tribes of Gippsland, in the state of Victoria, Australia, and part of a wider regional grouping known as the Kurnai. Language Brataualung language is a variety of what is gener ...

. Gunai/Kurnai people manufactured stone tools, as long as 5,000 years ago, from silcrete quarries in the Haunted Hills, west of Morwell. Scarred trees and rock sites with axe-grinding grooves are also found in the local area. The Gippsland region was inhabited by the Gunai/Kurnai people for a period in excess of 20,000 years, according to evidence of occupation found at the

New Guinea II cave New Guinea II is a limestone cave and rockshelter on the Snowy River at the end of New Guinea Track, near Buchan, Victoria. The cave was within the country of the Krowathunkooloong clan of the Gunaikurnai nation. The deep cave system has an overh ...

near Buchan, Victoria. In other parts of Victoria evidence of Indigenous occupation has been found for many more thousands of years.

Expeditions

The first non-Indigenous visitors to the area of Traralgon included the party of Count Paweł Strzelecki on their journey from the

Snowy Mountains The Snowy Mountains, known informally as "The Snowies", is an IBRA subregion in southern New South Wales, Australia, and is the tallest mountain range in mainland Australia, being part of the continent's Great Dividing Range cordillera system ...

in April 1840, after Strzelecki had named Australia's highest peak as Mount Kosciuszko. Charley Tarra, a

Burra Burra Burra is a pastoral centre and historic tourist town in the mid-north of South Australia. It lies east of the Clare Valley in the Bald Hills range, part of the northern Mount Lofty Ranges, and on Burra Creek. The town began as a single company ...

man from the NSW town of

, was the Indigenous guide for the party, which included Strzelecki; the New South Wales men James MacArthur and James Riley; and their servants, Irish convict James Nolan and African convict John Rent. The party crossed Latrobe River and travelled along Traralgon Creek to a heavily forested area, where the party was forced to abandon their horses and equipment. The location was commemorated by monument at Traralgon Creek, Koornalla, erected in 1927. The team's rations were reduced to a slice of bacon and a biscuit per day, but Tarra hunted for animals to end their hunger. They traversed the headwaters of

Morwell River The Morwell River is a perennial river of the West Gippsland catchment, located in the West Gippsland and South Gippsland regions of the Australian state of Victoria. Location and features Formed by the confluence of the West Branch and East Bra ...

, before making a difficult journey across the heavily forested mountain range. They reached Anderson's run in Western Port in May 1840, then walked to Melbourne. To honour the men, the mountain range was named the Strzelecki Ranges, part of the forest was named Tarra Valley, later merged into

Tarra-Bulga National Park The Tarra-Bulga National Park is a small national park located in the South Gippsland region of eastern Victoria, Australia approximately south east of Melbourne. The park is located south of Traralgon on the Traralgon-Balook Road and north o ...

, and the river running from the valley to

Port Albert Port Albert is a coastal town in Victoria, Australia, on the coast of Corner Inlet on the Yarram - Port Albert Road, south-east of Morwell, south-east of Melbourne, in the Shire of Wellington. At the , Port Albert had a population of 293. L ...

was named

Tarra River The Tarra River is a river of Colombia. It drains into Lake Maracaibo via the Catatumbo River. Several discredited claims of large monkey-like creatures originated in this region. See also *List of rivers of Colombia Atlantic Ocean Amazon R ...

. Strzelecki named the region as Gipps' Land, later becoming Gippsland, in honour of his sponsor NSW Governor George Gipps. In June 1840, a party consisting of Tarra, Riley, John Rutledge and

Shoalhaven The City of Shoalhaven is a local government area in the south-eastern coastal region of New South Wales, Australia. The area is about south of Sydney. The Princes Highway passes through the area, and the South Coast railway line traverses t ...

Indigenous man John Pigeon went on a second expedition to retrieve the lost horses and managed to retrieve one, by travelling through the mountains of West Gippsland, across a path that would roughly trace the present-day

Princes Highway Princes Highway is a major road in Australia, extending from Sydney via Melbourne to Adelaide through the states of New South Wales, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and South Australia. It has a length of (along Highway 1) or via the former ...

. A third expedition was made from Port Albert to Latrobe Valley in March 1841 that included William Brodribb, Alexander Kinghorne, Norman McLeod and Kirsopp with Tarra as their guide. In June 1841, a fourth expedition was made along the same route by William's brother Albert Brodribb, pastoralist Edward Hobson, Dr Edward Barker and four

Boon wurrung The Boonwurrung people are an Aboriginal people of the Kulin nation, who are the traditional owners of the land from the Werribee River to Wilsons Promontory in the Australian state of Victoria. Their territory includes part of what is now the c ...

men.

Pastoral leases

The area around Traralgon was first settled by Europeans in the 1840s. Due to the Latrobe Valley having relatively high rainfall, the land is very fertile, and farming was quickly established. As with much of central and western Gippsland, this was mainly dairy farming. In the Gippsland region between 1840 and 1860, the population of settlers grew from a few to 2,000 and the recorded Gunai population fell from 2,000 to a handful. The first Europeans to take land in Traralgon were the brothers Dr Edmund Hobson and Edward Hobson who purchased a 19,000 acre

in 1844, which they called Traralgon. In April 1844, Edward to a large mob of cattle out from their station near Arthur's Seat to Traralgon arriving two months later. Albert Brodribb and William Bennett started Hazelwood Station in 1844 and the following year James Rintoul had taken a run in Loy Yang and Thomas Gorringe had taken up a run at Maryvale.

Township established

The township was established in the early 1860s, the first Post Office opening on 1 January 1861. In 1877 the

Gippsland railway line The Gippsland line (also known as the Orbost railway line) is a railway line serving the Latrobe Valley and Gippsland regions of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. It runs east from the state capital Melbourne through the cities of Moe, ...

from

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 ...

was completed with a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

at Traralgon giving the town a major economic boost. Traralgon was part of the area administered by the Rosedale Roads Board, before the

Shire of Traralgon The Shire of Traralgon was a local government area about east-southeast of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1879 until 1994. From 1961 onwards, it did not actually administer t ...

was established in 1879. In the latter part of the 19th century the Shire grew strongly. It was not until the 1930s however that Traralgon began to move away from a farming based economy. In 1939,

Australian Paper Manufacturers Amcor plc is a global packaging company. It develops and produces flexible packaging, rigid containers, specialty cartons, closures and services for food, beverage, pharmaceutical, medical-device, home and personal-care, and other products. The ...

established a paper mill at Maryvale, around from Traralgon. Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

and

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from El ...

visited on 3 March 1954. The president of the Shire of Traralgon, Cr Clem Little met and welcomed the Queen, who was flown by the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

from Sale. She returned to Melbourne by train. In 1961, Traralgon formed its own borough, the Borough of Traralgon following a decade of lobbying to separate the urban areas of Traralgon from the Shire. Traralgon was proclaimed a city in 1964. The old town hall and mechanics institute were demolished in 1973. Further development resulted from the expansion of the power generation industry following World War II, particularly through the now defunct

State Electricity Commission of Victoria The State Electricity Commission of Victoria (SECV, ECV or SEC) is a government-owned electricity supplier in Victoria, Australia. It was set up in 1918, and by 1972 it was the sole agency in the state for electricity generation, transmission, ...

. This included large expansions at

Yallourn Yallourn, Victoria was a company town in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia built between the 1920s and 1950s to house employees of the State Electricity Commission of Victoria, who operated the nearby Yallourn Power Station, Victoria, Yal ...

and Hazelwood Power Stations and the construction of the massive

Loy Yang Power Station The Loy Yang Power Station is a brown coal- fired thermal power station located on the outskirts of the city of Traralgon, in south-eastern Victoria, Australia. It consists of two sections, known as Loy Yang A (4 units) and Loy Yang B (2 units). ...

in the 1970s and 1980s. An

Australian Securities & Investments Commission The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is an independent commission of the Australian Government tasked as the national corporate regulator. ASIC's role is to regulate company and financial services and enforce laws to pro ...

information processing centre was established in the early 1990s, at the time employing around 400 people. The City of Traralgon and Shire of Traralgon continued a separate existence until they were amalgamated into the Shire of Latrobe in 1994. Completion of the Loy Yang power stations, extensive voluntary departures from the electricity industry and privatisation of the Victorian electricity industry in the early 1990s had devastating effects on the economy of the Latrobe Valley. Traralgon, with a more diversified economy, suffered to a lesser extent than the neighbouring towns of Morwell and

Moe Moe, MOE, MoE or m.o.e. may refer to: In arts and entertainment Characters * Moe Szyslak, from the animated television show ''The Simpsons'' * Moe, leader of The Three Stooges, played by Moe Howard * Moe Higurashi, supporting character in ''Yash ...

both of which relied almost exclusively on the power stations for their livelihood. Traralgon grew strongly in the mid 2000s, with a figure of 2.7% making it the largest and fastest growing city in the Latrobe Valley.

Heritage listings

Traralgon contains a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * 161-165 Franklin Street:

Traralgon Post Office and Court House Traralgon Post Office and Court House is a heritage-listed post office and former court house complex at 161-169 Franklin Street, Traralgon, Victoria, Australia. It was designed by John Thomas Kelleher and J. R. Brown of the colonial Departmen ...

* Queens Parade: Traralgon Engine Shed and Turntable * Victory Park, Mill Street: Azarole Hawthorn Tree

Geography

Traralgon is situated on expansive flat land in the Traralgon Creek valley catchment between the

Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills, that runs rough ...

in the north and the Strzelecki Ranges in the south. The Traralgon Creek runs through the city's centre and its green belt separates its eastern and western suburban areas. The urban area is hemmed to the south east by the Loy Yang Open Cut.

Urban Structure

Traralgon is part of the Latrobe Valley tri-city urban area, a small area of industry and agricultural land separates it from neighbouring Morwell. Traralgon together with adjacent Morwell forms an urban area with an estimated population of 41,984 as at June 2018. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. In the five years prior, the urban area had experienced a modest average annual growth in population of 0.5%. The Traralgon portion the combined Morwell area had a population of 27,958, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. also at June 2018. Greater Traralgon includes localities such as Traralgon, the suburb of Traralgon East and the relatively sparsely populated satellite localities of Hazelwood and Traralgon South to the south, and Tyers and

Glengarry The Glengarry bonnet is a traditional Scots cap made of thick-milled woollen material, decorated with a toorie on top, frequently a rosette cockade on the left side, and ribbons hanging behind. It is normally worn as part of Scottish military ...

to the north. The Traralgon

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

is centred around Seymour and Franklin Streets. An indoor shopping mall called

Traralgon Centre Plaza Traralgon Centre Plaza, formerly Stockland Traralgon, is a shopping centre in Traralgon, Victoria, Australia. History Developed by the Grollo Group, it opened in November 1985 as Traralgon Centre Plaza. In June 1989 it was sold to Barnett Corpo ...

was opened in 1985. Commercial and light industry sprawl along most of the eastern stretch of the Princes Highway. Notable heritage buildings include the Post Office and Courthouse erected in 1886 and Ryans Hotel erected in 1914, both in Franklin Street.

Climate

Traralgon experiences an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Cfb''). Nights in Traralgon are about 2 °C colder than in

From 9 June 2021 Traralgon was one of the hardest-hit towns with 200 homes evacuated when an

east coast low Australian east coast lows (known locally as east coast lows, maritime lows and sometimes as east coast cyclones) are extratropical cyclones or low-pressure systems on the coast of southeastern Australia that may be caused by both mid-latitude an ...

weather system caused widespread flash flooding across Gippsland.

Economy

The economy is primarily driven by the

primary sector The primary sector of the economy includes any industry involved in the extraction and production of raw materials, such as farming, logging, fishing, forestry and mining. The primary sector tends to make up a larger portion of the economy in de ...

, natural resources and the

secondary sector In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in construction. ...

including

coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

, processing and fossil-fuel power generation for the National Electricity Market. Along with electricity production, Traralgon benefits from the mining for oil and

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

in the nearby

Bass Strait Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The strait provides the most direct waterwa ...

fields. A significant forestry industry operates including logging of both plantation and natural forest timber, The largest

paper mill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt, ...

in Australia is located nearby in Maryvale and provides local employment for over 2,000 people. The local

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

industry is involved in the production of

wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. As ...

and

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 ...

products, as well as

vegetable Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, ...

growing. The

tertiary sector of the economy The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the second ...

is also important for employment with major government administration offices for the

Department of Health & Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is ...

Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) was a government department in Victoria, Australia. Commencing operation in January 2015, the DELWP was created in the aftermath of the 2014 state election, with Premier Daniel Andr ...

and Environment Protection Authority.

Education

Traralgon features a number of primary and secondary schools, including state, catholic and independent schools. The local primary schools include Grey Street Primary School (formerly Traralgon Primary School), Kosciuszko Street Primary School, Liddiard Road Primary School, Stockdale Road Primary School, St Michaels Primary School, St Gabriels Primary School, Chairo Christian School (formerly Flinders Christian Community College]) and St Pauls Anglican Grammar School.

St Paul's Anglican Grammar School St Paul's Anglican Grammar School is a multi-campus private Anglican co-educational early learning, primary, and secondary day school, with campuses located in and , Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1982 in Warragul, St Paul's is a member of th ...

and Chairo Christian School are also secondary schools. In addition Traralgon has the Latrobe Special Developmental School catering for students from 4.5 to 18 years of age with an intellectual and physical disability. The local government secondary school,

Traralgon College Traralgon College is a dual-campus government-funded co-educational secondary day school, located in Traralgon, Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Traralgon College serves 1,200 students with two campuses. The east campus is the Junior Campus (Ye ...

, has two campuses, the junior campus (years 7–9) located on Liddiard Rd in Traralgon's east, with the senior campus (years 10–12) on Grey St in Traralgon's west. There is also a Catholic secondary school,

Lavalla Catholic College Lavalla Catholic College is a dual-campus independent Roman Catholic co-educational secondary day school, located in the towns of Traralgon and Newborough in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. Currently, the school has approximately ...

. Lavalla has two campuses in Traralgon's West end, and a third campus in Newborough. The junior campus, St Paul's, neighbours Traralgon College's senior campus on Grey St. The senior campus, Kildare, is located in Kosciuszko St. Chairo Christian School on Liddiard Rd is a P– 8 school. A number of Traralgon families also send their children to the three independent Anglican grammar schools in the region, two of which are about 40 minutes drive from Traralgon: St. Paul's Anglican Grammar School, which has a campus in Traralgon as well as Warragul, or

Gippsland Grammar School (The truth will set you free) , established = 1924 , type = Independent, co-educational, day & boarding , denomination = Anglican , slogan = , principal = Mic ...

in Sale. TAFE and University education is also available within the region. Traralgon is a 15-minute drive from Federation University Australia's Gippsland Campus, located in the neighbouring town of Churchill. Traralgon is also home to one of a number of campuses for the region's TAFE provider, TAFE Gippsland.

Sport

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 ...

is popular. There are two senior clubs, the Traralgon Maroons (which briefly 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 ...

between 1996–1997) currently competing in the

Gippsland Football League The Gippsland League (formerly known as the West Gippsland Latrobe Football League) is an Australian rules football and netball league in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. It is considered the only AFL Victoria major league in Gippsla ...

and Traralgon-Tyers United competing in the

North Gippsland Football League The North Gippsland Football League (NGFL) is an Australian rules football league in the Central Gippsland area of Victoria, Australia. History The NGFL was formed in 1955 through the merger of the Cowwarr Football League and the Sale Distric ...

. There is also a junior league, Traralgon and District Junior Football League, with most games played from the West End Sporting Complex.

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 ...

is also popular, with a local league, the Traralgon and District Cricket Association (TDCA) operating.

Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

is represented by two clubs - Traralgon City and Traralgon Olympians - who both play in the Latrobe Valley Soccer League. The Victorian regional leagues are the eighth level of

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

in Victoria, and the ninth nationally. The home grounds are Harold Preston Reserve and Harold Preston Park respectively. There is a local

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

league, the Traralgon Basketball Association with a stadium at the Traralgon Sports Complex. The Traralgon Sports Stadium played host to preliminary round games of the Basketball competition during the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...

which were held in

. The local

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

team is the Traralgon Redsox. Traralgon has a horse racing club, the Latrobe Valley Racing Club, which schedules two race meetings a year including the Cup meeting in December. The Traralgon Greyhound Racing Club holds regular

greyhound racing Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around a track. There are two forms of greyhound racing, track racing (normally around an oval track) and coursing; the latter is now banned in most countries. Tra ...

meetings at Glenview Park. The first meeting was held on 28 June 1973. Golfers play at the course of the Traralgon Golf Club on the Princes Highway. The Traralgon Harriers are a running club that runs 5 or 6 km races every Thursday night and also organise Victoria's oldest marathon, the

Traralgon Marathon The Traralgon Marathon is an annual marathon road running event held in Traralgon, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. It has been held every year since 1968, and is the "oldest continuously run marathon in Australia" . The race is organ ...

, held every June. The Latrobe Valley Cycling club hold road and track racing events on most weeks throughout the year. Traralgon Pistol Club and Traralgon small bore rifle Club also located in the town.

Entertainment

The entertainment precinct which spans Kay, Grey and Franklin Streets attracts people from surrounding towns to several nightclubs, bars and restaurants located there.

Local media

Newspapers

The weekly ''

Latrobe Valley Express Latrobe or La Trobe may refer to: People * Christian Ignatius Latrobe (1758–1836), English clergyman and musician * Charles La Trobe (1801–1875), first lieutenant-governor of Victoria, Australia, son of C. I. Latrobe * Benjamin Henry Latrobe ( ...

'' newspaper is delivered to all homes on Wednesday nights, in Traralgon, Morwell and

. The '' Traralgon Record'' newspaper has been digitised from 1886 to 1932 as part of the Australian Newspapers Digitisation Program. Melbourne Newspapers such as ''

The Weekly Times The Herald and Weekly Times Pty Ltd (HWT) is a newspaper publishing company based in Melbourne, Australia. It is owned and operated by News Pty Ltd, which as News Ltd, purchased the HWT in 1987. Newspapers The HWT's newspaper interests date b ...

'', ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' and the ''

Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the Murdoch owned News Corp. The ''Herald S ...

'' and national newspapers like ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

'', '' The Saturday Paper, and the ''

Australian Financial Review ''The Australian Financial Review'' (abbreviated to the ''AFR'') is an Australian business-focused, compact daily newspaper covering the current business and economic affairs of Australia and the world. The newspaper is based in Sydney, New Sou ...

'' are also available.

Television

The area was the first in Australia to receive its own regional television station,

GLV-10 GLV and BCV are television stations licensed to serve Traralgon and Bendigo and regional Victoria, Australia. The stations are owned and operated by 10 (Southern Cross Austereo), Southern Cross 10. History Early years GLV-10 in Traralgon was th ...

Gippsland (now Southern Cross 10), when it launched on 9 December 1961. Programs from the three main commercial television networks (

Seven 7 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 7 or seven may also refer to: * AD 7, the seventh year of the AD era * 7 BC, the seventh year before the AD era * The month of July Music Artists * Seven (Swiss singer) (born 1978), a Swiss recording artist ...

, Nine and

Ten Ten, TEN or 10 may refer to: * 10, an even natural number following 9 and preceding 11 * one of the years 10 BC, AD 10, 1910 and 2010 * October, the tenth month of the year Places * Mount Ten, in Vietnam * Tongren Fenghuang Airport (IATA code ...

) are all re-broadcast into Latrobe Valley by their regional affiliates –

( AMV), WIN ( VTV) and Southern Cross Austereo ( GLV). All broadcast from the Latrobe Valley transmitter at Mount Tassie. All the commercial stations are based in Traralgon and have local commercials placed on their broadcasts. Local news is available on all three commercial networks: * WIN broadcasts a half-hour '' WIN News'' bulletin each weeknight at 5:30pm, produced 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 wate ...

. * Southern Cross Austereo and

broadcast short local news and weather updates throughout the day, produced and broadcast from Seven's

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

studios and SCA's Tasmanian studios. Nine previously produced a local news bulletin branded ''Nine News Gippsland'' and later ''Nine News Local'' for a brief period between 2017 and 2021 that aired on the Southern Cross Austereo primary channel when it was previously affiliated with Nine. Both national public broadcasters,

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

( ABC TV) and SBS ( SBS TV) are broadcast into the Latrobe Valley as well, via Mount Tassie, as well as from the Dandenong Ranges transmitters located east of Melbourne. Additional digital multi-channels broadcast by all the networks in addition to the ones listed above are available on the digital service called

Freeview Freeview may refer to: *Freeview (Australia), the marketing name for the digital terrestrial television platform in Australia *Freeview (New Zealand), a digital satellite and digital terrestrial television platform in New Zealand *Freeview (UK), a ...

to viewers in Traralgon and the Gippsland/Latrobe Valley region. These channels include HD simulcasts of the primary channel (available on channels 20, 30, 50, 60 and 80). As well as ABC TV Plus, ABC Me,

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

, SBS Viceland, SBS World Movies,

10 Bold 10 Bold is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel owned by Network 10. It originally launched on 26 March 2009 as One HD with a focus on broadcasting sports-based programming and events, but rebranded to One in April 2011 to ...

10 Peach 10 Peach is an Australian free-to-air television channel operated by Network 10. It was launched on 11 January 2011 as Eleven. It is owned by ElevenCo, which was established as a joint venture between Ten Network Holdings and CBS Studios Inter ...

10 Shake 10 Shake is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel owned by Network 10. It launched on 27 September 2020 at 6am. The channel includes a mix of shows for people aged forty and under. It broadcasts programming for children fro ...

, 7two,

7mate 7mate is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Seven Network on 25 September 2010. The channel contains sport and regular programs aimed primarily to a male audience, with programming drawn from a c ...

, 7flix,

7bravo The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

, 9Gem, 9Go!, 9Life and Sky News Regional. Television transmissions from Mount Dandenong for the Melbourne market (Seven, Nine and Ten) can also be received in

digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Technology and computing Hardware *Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals **Digital camera, which captures and stores digital i ...

in Traralgon with a suitable roof-top antenna. Subscription television service

Foxtel Foxtel is an Australian pay television company—operating in cable television, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April 2018, superseding an earlier company from 1995. The service was establi ...

(previously Austar until 2014) is available via satellite.

Radio

There are two radio stations with studios located in Traralgon – TRFM (99.5 MHz) and

Gold 1242 Gippsland's GOLD 1242 & GOLD FM 98.3 (call sign: 3GV) is an Australian radio station operating west of Traralgon, Victoria. It is owned by Ace Radio and shares studios with sister station TRFM, formerly 3TR and 3TRFM. The station broadcasts on th ...

, both owned by

Ace Radio Ace Radio Broadcasters is an Australian media company. Formed in 1984, it operates 21 commercial radio stations in Victoria and southern New South Wales, as well as the digital marketing agency Ace Digital and ''The Weekly Advertiser'', a free ...

. The FM station is broadcast along with the television channels from Mount Tassie while

is broadcast from an AM transmitter near Sale. Warragul radio stations Triple M (97.9 MHz) and

3GG 3GG is an Australian commercial radio station based in Warragul, Victoria owned by Capital Radio Network. Formerly owned and operated by Resonate Broadcasting and prior, RG Capital and Macquarie Regional RadioWorks, it was acquired by the Capita ...

(531 kHz) also service this region. Most

stations are rebroadcast locally and available in Traralgon, along with 774 ABC Melbourne which is able to be received directly from

and the local

ABC Gippsland ABC Gippsland (call sign: 3GLR) is an ABC Local Radio station in Gippsland, Victoria. The station is based in Sale and covers from Warragul, through to Mallacoota. Amber Irving-Guthrie hosts the Breakfast program, Alice Walker presents Mornings ...

station (100.7 MHz). Some Melbourne stations both on the AM band and the FM band can be heard in the more elevated parts of Traralgon, however DAB+ is not available without a vertically polarized roof-top antenna. Community radio stations Gippsland FM (104.7 MHz) based in Morwell and Life FM (103.9 MHz) based in Sale are also broadcast into the Latrobe Valley and can be heard in Traralgon.

Transport

Road transport Road transport or road transportation is a type of transport using roads. Transport on roads can be roughly grouped into the transportation of goods and transportation of people. In many countries licensing requirements and safety regulations e ...

and the

motor vehicle A motor vehicle, also known as motorized vehicle or automotive vehicle, is a self-propelled land vehicle, commonly wheeled, that does not operate on Track (rail transport), rails (such as trains or trams) and is used for the transportation of pe ...

is the main form of transport. The

runs through the city and close to the CBD which received heavy regional traffic (although a Traralgon Bypass road is undergoing planning). The

Hyland Highway Hyland Highway is a road connecting the towns of Traralgon and Yarram in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. The highway was named after Sir Herbert Hyland, a popular politician for the Country Party in the Gippsland area. Route High ...

also originates at Traralgon.

Rail transport Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...

includes both

passenger rail Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

and

freight rail Rail freight transport is the use of railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers. A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods wagons (International Union of Railways) hauled ...

. The city's only station is

Traralgon railway station Traralgon railway station is located on the Gippsland line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the city of Traralgon, and it opened on 1 June 1877.

which is on the

served by

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 Cross ...

services from

to Bairnsdale. 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 Traralgon and Melbourne on 8 July 2013. Latrobe Valley Buslines provides local services around Traralgon and other cities in the Latrobe Valley. Latrobe Valley Airport is located close to Traralgon in nearby Morwell and provides

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

. Traralgon has a minimal

bicycle infrastructure Cycling infrastructure is all infrastructure cyclists are allowed to use. Bikeways include bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Roads used by motorists are also cycling infrastructure, except w ...

, with few

segregated cycle facilities Cycling infrastructure is all infrastructure cyclists are allowed to use. Bikeways include bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Roads used by motorists are also cycling infrastructure, except wher ...

. An exception is the 63-kilometre-long Gippsland Plains Rail Trail which connects Traralgon to Stratford via

Cowwarr Cowwarr is a town in Victoria, Australia, 27 kilometres north-east of Traralgon, 174 kilometres east of Melbourne, in the Shire of Wellington. At the 2016 census, Cowwarr and the surrounding area had a population of 368. Established in the 1860s ...

Heyfield Heyfield is a town in Victoria, Australia, with a population of 1,993. It is east of Melbourne, in the Shire of Wellington local government area. Located on the Thomson River, Heyfield is a gateway to the Victorian High Country. History In 1 ...

Tinamba Tinamba is a dairy farming town in Victoria, Australia, Victoria, Australia, located on Traralgon - Maffra Road between Heyfield, Victoria, Heyfield and Maffra, Victoria, Maffra, in the Shire of Wellington. It has a country pub, a church, enginee ...

and

Maffra Maffra is a town in Victoria, Australia, east of Melbourne. It is in the Shire of Wellington local government area and it is the second most populous city of the Shire. It relies mainly on dairy farming and other agriculture, and is the sit ...

. A new cycling and walking path was opened in 2020 between Traralgon and Morwell and with a connection to the Latrobe Regional Hospital (LRH).

Notable people

Sport * Edgar Dunbar – Australian Rules footballer * Harold Dunbar – Australian Rules footballer *

Hugh Dunbar Hugh Ormond Dunbar (27 June 1903 – 17 July 1985) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Melbourne and St Kilda in the Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in ...

– Australian Rules footballer * Nicole Faltum – cricketer *

Kristin Godridge Kristin Godridge (born 7 February 1973) is a retired tennis player from Australia who competed on the WTA Tour from 1987 to 1996. Career Godridge achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 79 in September 1991. Her highest doubles ran ...

– tennis player * Fran Hammond – basketballer * Russell Madden – Australian rules footballer *

Tim Membrey Tim Membrey (born 26 May 1994) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Playing career Early career Membery grew up in Traralgon and attended St Gabriel's Primary Sc ...

– Australian Rules footballer *

Jenna O'Hea Jenna O'Hea (born 6 June 1987) is an Australian professional basketball player who currently plays for the Southside Flyers in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). O'Hea is also currently the captain of Australia's national team, th ...

– basketballer * Len Petch – Australian Rules footballer * Joe Price – Australian Rules footballer *

Bernie Quinlan Bernard Francis Quinlan (born 21 July 1951) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Footscray Football Club and Fitzroy Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). One of a handful of players to have won a Brownlow ...

– Australian Rules footballer * Ted Riches – Australian Rules footballer * Graham Rowley – cyclist *

Jaz Shelley Jazmin Pamela Shelley (born 13 May 2000) is an Australian college basketball player for the Nebraska Cornhuskers of the Big Ten Conference. A point guard, she began her college career at Oregon before transferring to Nebraska after her sophomor ...

– basketballer * Ruby Storm – Paralympic swimmer * Michael Voss – Australian Rules Footballer * Jack White – basketballer Other * Gord Bamford – Australian-Canadian country music singer *

Shannon Barnett Shannon Barnett (born 1982) is an Australian trombonist and composer who was named Young Australian Jazz Artist of the Year at the 2007 Australian Jazz Bell Awards.Paul Edbrooke Paul Andrew Edbrooke (born 5 December 1978) is an Australian politician. He has been a Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly since November 2014, representing the Legislative Assembly seat of Frankston. He was raised in the ...

– politician * Tim Hein – Minister, University Theology Lecturer, podcaster, guitarist *

Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet, (3 September 1899 – 31 August 1985), usually known as Macfarlane or Mac Burnet, was an Australian virology, virologist known for his contributions to immunology. He won a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Nob ...

– scientist, recipient of 1960 Nobel Prize in medicine *

Kristy McBain Kristy Louise McBain (born 29 September 1982) is an Australian politician. She currently represents the division of Eden-Monaro, and is the Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories. Personal life McBain was born in T ...

– politician *

Derek Muller Derek Alexander Muller (born 9 November 1982) is an Australian-Canadian science communicator, filmmaker, and television personality, who is best known for his YouTube channel Veritasium. Muller has also appeared as a correspondent on the Net ...

– science communicator * Danny O'Brien – politician *

Irwin Thomas Irwin Thomas (born Irwin Thomas Whittridge, 6 January 1971) is an American-born Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist. He performs professionally using the stage name Jack Jones from when he was the lead vocalist-guitarist in the band South ...

– musician, formerly known as Jack Jones, of "Southern Sons") * Bill Waters (

Headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

–

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

for Rovers for 35 years, namesake of W.F Waters Award) *

Eva West Evelyn Maude "Eva" West (14 September 1888 – 20 June 1969) was an Australian accountant and local government administrator.Hammett, Jenny (2002West, Evelyn Maude (1888-1969) ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Volume 16. Retrieved 14 Novemb ...

– accountant

References

External links

Traralgon Historical Society

Latrobe City Website

Mid Gippsland Family History Society

Traralgon Visitor Guide – Traralgon.com.au
{{Authority control Cities in Victoria (state) City of Latrobe