Bungunya is a rural town and

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality, a historical named location or place in Canada * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localitie ...

in the

Goondiwindi Region The Goondiwindi Region is a local government area located in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia along the state's border with New South Wales. Established in 2008, it was preceded by three previous local government areas which dat ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. The locality is on the

border of Queensland Queensland is the north-eastern state of Australia and has land borders with three other Australian states and territories: New South Wales (to the south), South Australia (to the south-west) and Northern Territory (to the west). To the north o ...

and

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. In the , the locality of Bungunya had a population of 62 people.

Geography

Bungunya is located immediately north of the

Macintyre River The Macintyre River, a perennial river that forms part of the Border Rivers group, is part of the Barwon catchment of the Murray-Darling basin, located in the Northern Tablelands and North West Slopes regions of New South Wales, and the So ...

, which is the

border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

between Queensland and

. The Weir River flows from east to west through the northern part of the locality. Other creeks flow from east to west through other parts of the locality. All of these rivers and creeks ultimately flow into the Barwon River in New South Wales. The town is located in the approximate centre of the locality. The Barwon Highway (from

St George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the R ...

Goondiwindi Goondiwindi () is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Goondiwindi Region, Queensland, Australia. It is on the border of Queensland and New South Wales. In the , the locality of Goondiwindi had a population of 6, ...

) passes from east to west through the middle of the locality, immediately to the north of the town. The Meandarra – Talwood Road ( State Route 74) runs north from the Barwon Highway through the centre of the northern part of the locality. The South Western railway line (from

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined wit ...

to Dirranbandi) also passes from east to west through the locality, but to the immediate south of the town. The locality is served by the Bungunya railway station () in the town and was served by the now-abandoned Welltown railway station () in the east of the locality. The land is very flat, approximately 180 metres above sea level, and is extensively developed for agriculture.

History

The name ''Bungunya'' is allegedly an Aboriginal word, meaning a high or safe living place. The language and dialect is unknown but it may be an imported name from

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

Gamilaraay The Gamilaroi, also known as Gomeroi, Kamilaroi, Kamillaroi and other variations, are an Aboriginal Australian people whose lands extend from New South Wales to southern Queensland. They form one of the four largest Indigenous nations in Austr ...

(Gamilaroi, Kamilaroi, Comilroy) is a language from South-West Queensland and North-West New South Wales. The Gamilaraay language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the Balonne Shire Council, including the towns of Dirranbandi, Thallon, Talwood and Bungunya as well as the border towns of

Mungindi Mungindi is a town and locality on the border of New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland, Australia. The town is within Moree Plains Shire in New South Wales. Within Queensland, the locality is split between the Shire of Balonne (the western part) ...

and Boomi extending to Moree, Tamworth and

Coonabarabran Coonabarabran () is a town in Warrumbungle Shire that sits on the divide between the Central West and North West Slopes regions of New South Wales, Australia. At the 2021 census, the town had a population of 2,387, Material was copied from th ...

in NSW. Bungunya Provisional School opened on a half-time basis in 1916, sharing the teacher with Glengower Provisional School. It became a full-time school in 1918 and a state school soon after. Bungunya was once a busy railway centre from which thousands of bales of wool were transported from local

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 ...

s following the

shearing Sheep shearing is the process by which the woollen fleece of a sheep is cut off. The person who removes the sheep's wool is called a '' shearer''. Typically each adult sheep is shorn once each year (depending upon dialect, a sheep may be sai ...

season.

Demographics

In the , the locality of Bungunya had a population of 189 people. In the , the locality of Bungunya had a population of 75 people. In the , the locality of Bungunya had a population of 62 people.

Education

Bungunya State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at George Street (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 22 students with 3 teachers (2 full-time equivalent) and 6 non-teaching staff (2 full-time equivalent). In 2023, the school had an enrolment of 17 students. As at 2024, the school was open, but, as it had no students enrolled, it was not operational. There are no secondary schools in Bungunya nor nearby. The options are

distance education Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance; today, it usually involves online ...

and boarding school.

Gallery

File:Watering facility, Meandarra Rd, Bungunya near Goondiwindi, c 1954.jpg, Watering facility, Meandarra Rd, Bungunya, circa 1954 File:AU-Qld-Bungunya-Barwon Highway-2021.jpg, Barwon Highway westbound, east of Bungunya turn-off (2021). File:AU-Qld-Bungunya-railway siding-2021.jpg, Railway siding and silos (2021). File:AU-Qld-Bungunya-post office-2021.jpg, Post office building, Main Street (2021).

References

External links

* * {{authority control Towns in Queensland Goondiwindi Region Localities in Queensland