Undera is a town in the

Goulburn Valley The Goulburn Valley is a sub-region, part of the Hume region of the Australian state of Victoria. The sub-region consists of those areas in the catchment of the Goulburn River and other nearby streams, and is part of the Murray-Darling Basin. ...

region of northern

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 ...

, Australia. The town in the

City of Greater Shepparton The City of Greater Shepparton is a Local government areas of Victoria, local government area in the Hume (region), Hume region of Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia, located in the north-east part of the state. It covers an area of and, in A ...

local government area, north of the state capital,

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and north-west of the regional centre of

Shepparton Shepparton () (Yorta Yorta language, Yortayorta: ''Kanny-goopna'') is a city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River (Victoria), Goulburn River in northern Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, approximately north-northeast of Mel ...

. At the , Undera and the surrounding area had a population of 545, declining to just 442 by 2016.

History

In 1874, when the area came under farm-selection activity, a township was surveyed and named Undera, the Post Office opening on 24 August 1875. It is thought that the name is derived from an Aboriginal word, most likely meaning fat. Before being named Undera, the area was known as Mundoona. A school was opened in 1876, and Catholic and Presbyterian churches were opened the following year. The Undera district extends northwards to Undera North and a westerly bend of the

Goulburn River The Goulburn River, a major inland perennial river of the Goulburn Broken catchment, part of the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the Alpine, Northern Country/North Central, and Southern Riverina regions of the Australian state of Victor ...

. Whilst the township is in the Goulburn Valley irrigation area, the northern parts sustained a local timber industry until the 1940s, and are mixed grazing and agricultural. Undera has a school (21 pupils, 1998), a church, a memorial hall, (1928), a large reserve with a

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

track and a

tennis court A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the centre. The same surface can be used to play both Types of tennis match, doubles and singles matches. A variet ...

. The town has an

Australian Rules 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 ...

football team competing in the

Kyabram & District Football League The Kyabram District Football Netball League (KDL) is a minor Australian rules football league in Victoria (Australia), Victoria made up of 15 teams. The KDL is made up of smaller country town football clubs in the Goulburn Valley. The majori ...

. Its census populations have been 95 (1911), 350 (1933) and 156 (1966).

Sport

Undera is the home of the Undera Park Speedway, a

motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four clockwise, anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that ...

track located in the Undera Park Recreation Reserve (). The venue has hosted many important events, including one of the rounds for the

Australian Solo Championship The Australian Individual Speedway Championship historically known as the Australian Solo Championship is a motorcycle speedway championship held each year to determine the Australian national champion. It is organised by Motorcycling Australia ...

. It has also hosted the Australian Under-21 Championship, Australian Under-16 Championship, Australian Sidecar Championship, and the

Victorian Individual Speedway Championship The Victorian Individual Speedway Championship is a Motorcycle speedway championship held annually in Australia's southernmost mainland state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria to determine the State champion. The event is organised by the Motor ...

, U/21, U/16 and

Sidecar A sidecar is a one-wheeled device attached to the side of a motorcycle, Scooter (motorcycle), scooter, or bicycle, making the whole a three-wheeled vehicle. The combination of a motorcycle with a sidecar is sometimes called a ''rig'', ''outfit' ...

Championships.

References

External links

Towns in Victoria (state) City of Greater Shepparton {{Hume-geo-stub