Finley is a town in the

Riverina The Riverina () is an agricultural list of regions in Australia, region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, a climate with significant seaso ...

region of

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 ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It is the largest town in the

Berrigan Shire Berrigan Shire is a local government area in the southern Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire lies on the New South Wales State border with Victoria formed by the Murray River. The Shire is adjacent to the Newell and Rive ...

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

. At the 2016 census, Finley had a population of 2,455. The town is located approximately west of

Albury Albury (; ) is a major regional city that is located in the Murray River, Murray region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the twin city of Albury–Wodonga, Albury-Wodonga and is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of ...

on the intersection of the

Newell Highway Newell Highway is a National Highway (Australia), national highway in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. It provides the major road link between southeastern Queensland and Victoria (state), Victoria via central NSW and as such carries large amo ...

and Riverina Highways.

Settlement

Europeans first settled the area around Finley in the early 1840s, with wheat becoming the main crop. The first permanent residence in the town was built in 1878. The post office opened on 1 January 1881 but was known as Murray Hut until 1893. Periods of severe drought, combined with the Great Depression of the early 1930s, forced many farmers to abandon their holdings. In 1935, construction on the Mulwala Canal began in order to provide employment and bring water to the area's rich farmland, with irrigation reaching the area in 1939, celebrated with a 'Back-To-Finley' event. This enabled the region to prosper with beef and dairy cattle, sheep, wheat, rice, barley, maize and canola. The Finley Agricultural & Pastoral Association was formed in 1912 and held its first show on 17 September 1913. The same agricultural show is still held annually on the first Sunday in September (

Father's Day Father's Day is a day set aside for honoring one's father, as well as fatherhood, paternal bonds, and the influence of fathers in society. "Father's Day" complements similar celebrations honoring family members, such as Mother's Day and, in som ...

Heritage

The Finley Railway Precinct is listed as a heritage site due to its pioneer station group with the building and platform located at ground level (Yass Town being the only such other building). The yard contains much of the original layout and buildings with intact goods shed, gantry crane, lamp room as well a small second station building. The site represents the then outer limits of railway expansion, the intense competition between states for trade and the change in attitude to railway construction in the outer areas of New South Wales. It was a terminus from 1898 until the line was extended to Tocumwal in 1914.

Education

Finley has two primary schools, St Joseph's School (

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

) and Finley Public School. Finley High School attracts students from a wide catchment including the towns of Berrigan,

Tocumwal Tocumwal ( ) is a town in the southern Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Berrigan Shire Local government in Australia, local government area. The town, north of the city of Melbourne, lies on the northern bank of the Murray ...

Jerilderie Jerilderie is a small, rural town in the central Riverina region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the Murrumbidgee Council Local government areas of New South Wales, Local Government Area. At the , Jerilderie had a pop ...

and Blighty. Finley is also home to a campus of Riverina

TAFE Technical and further education or simply TAFE () is the common name in Australia for vocational education, as a subset of tertiary education. TAFE institutions provide a wide range of predominantly vocational courses. Colloquially also known ...

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 Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

and

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...

are all very popular in the town. Sporting teams include the Finley Football Club, which competes in the Murray Football League. The town also offers soccer, touch football, basketball, tennis and a Pony Club. The Finley Rodeo Committee holds an annual

rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqu ...

every January and Finley Apex Club hosts a

tractor pull Truck and tractor pulling, also known as power pulling, is a form of a motorsport competition in which antique or modified tractors pull a heavy drag or sled along an , track, with the winner being the tractor that pulls the drag the farth ...

every February. Finley has an 18-hole green grass golf course and two bowling green locations. Finley formerly had two rugby league teams, the first of which was the Finley Tigers, which competed in the Group 17 competition and won the 1975 Reserve Grade premiership. Another club, the Southern Riverina Jets, relocated from

in the mid 1990s and won four Goulburn Murray Rugby League First Grade titles in 1993, 1994, 1997 and 2002, before folding in 2008.

Notable residents

Pamela Bone
- Journalist and human rights advocate * Shane Crawford - Former Hawthorn

er and 1999

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as Charlie), is awarded to the best and fairest player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by the f ...

list, 2019 I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here contestant * Craig Giles - musician * Jack Hawkins - Former

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

er * Tom Hawkins - Former

er * Allan Jeans - Former

coach, of St Kilda and Hawthorn * David Murphy - Former

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

er * Members of rock band

Spiderbait Spiderbait is an Australian alternative rock band from Finley, New South Wales, formed in 1989 by bass guitarist and singer Janet English, drummer and singer Kram, and guitarist Damian Whitty. In 2004, the group's cover version of the 1930s Lea ...

: Kram, Damian Whitty an
Janet English
* Mark Whiley - Former GWS Giants and Carlton Blues

References

External links

Community website

Berrigan Shire - Official Site

Finley Railway Station

Finley Show Society Inc.
{{authority control Towns in Berrigan Shire Towns in the Riverina Towns in New South Wales Newell Highway Murrumbidgee Council