Yarrawonga

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title: "Yarrawonga" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["towns-in-victoria-(state)", "shire-of-moira", "populated-places-on-the-murray-river"] topic_path: "general/towns-in-victoria-state" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yarrawonga" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox Australian place"]

Field	Value
type	town
name	Yarrawonga
state	vic
caption	Belmore street
use_lga_map	yes
coordinates
lga	Shire of Moira
postcode	3730
pop	8,661
pop_year
pop_footnotes
elevation	128.9
maxtemp	23.0
mintemp	9.0
rainfall	477.2
stategov	Ovens Valley
fedgov	Nicholls
dist1	268
dir1	NNE
location1	Melbourne
dist2	92
dir2	W
location2	Albury (NSW)
dist3	81
dir3	NE
location3	Shepparton
dist4	89
dir4	W
location4	Wodonga
dist5	433
dir5	WSW
location5	Canberra
near-nw	Burramine
near-n	Mulwala (NSW)
near-ne	Mulwala (NSW)
near-w	Burramine
near-e	Bathumi
near-sw	Telford
near-s	Yarrawonga South
near-se	Bundalong
::

Geography

The town is located approximately 264 km north-east of the state capital, Melbourne, situated on the south bank of the Murray River, the border between Victoria and New South Wales.

Yarrawonga's twin town of Mulwala is on the other side of the Murray River.

History

Yarrawonga is Aboriginal, meaning 'cormorant’s nesting place,' 'where the cormorant builds' or 'yarra' meaning 'waterfalls,' and 'wonga' meaning 'pigeon.' It is believed the Mulla Walla people occupied the area before the first white settlers arrived in 1842.

Yarrawonga was founded as a village in 1868, with a Post Office being opened on 28 November 1874, and a courthouse the very same year. It was connected by rail to Melbourne in 1886.

Yarrawonga was proclaimed a shire in 1891, It was renamed from 'North Yarrawonga Shire' (1891) to 'Yarrawonga Shire' in 1893.

Yarrawonga Weir and Lake Mulwala were constructed in the late 1930s as part of the Murray-Darling Irrigation Scheme.

Historically, one of the major industries in the Yarrawonga/Mulwala area has been the explosives factory, which was constructed in Mulwala over 1942–43. It is now operated by French company Thales but remains an Australian Department of Defence asset.

The Yarrawonga Magistrates' Court closed on 1 January 1990.

Demographics

In the 2016 census, Yarrawonga recorded a population of 7,930, 51.1% female and 48.9% male. The median age of the Yarrawonga population was 50 years, 12 years above the national median of 38. 81.9% of people living in Yarrawonga were born in Australia. The other top responses for country of birth were England 2.4%, Scotland 0.7%, New Zealand 0.5%, India 0.4% and the Philippines 0.4%. 88.4% of people spoke only English at home; the next most common languages were 0.2% Italian, 0.2% Gujarati, 0.2% Punjabi, 0.2% French and 0.1% German.

In the 2021 census, Yarrawonga recorded a population of 8,661 people, 51.5% female and 48.5% male. The median age of the Yarrawonga population was 52 years, 14 years above the national median of 38. 84.8% of people living in Yarrawonga were born in Australia. The other top responses for country of birth were England 2.2%, New Zealand 0.7%, the Philippines 0.6%, Scotland 0.6%, and Germany 0.5%. 90.6% of people spoke only English at home; the next most common languages were 0.3% Filipino, 0.3% Italian, 0.3% Punjabi, 0.3% Cantonese, and 0.2% Urdu.

Sport

The Yarrawonga Football Club (the 'Mighty Pigeons') participates in the Ovens and Murray Football League in the sport of Australian rules football, which has produced Barry Mitchell, Joel Smith, Ben Dixon, and Tom Lonergan as well as Caleb Mitchell.

Transport

Yarrawonga is served by a standard gauge branch railway, which branches off the Melbourne-Sydney line at Benalla and terminates at Oaklands in New South Wales.

Attractions

Yarrawonga's main attraction is Lake Mulwala, formed by the damming of the Murray River. The lake is a popular location for activities such as boating, kayaking and fishing. There are two crossings of the Murray between Yarrawonga and Mulwala; across the weir (Walking path only); and a bridge over Lake Mulwala. This bridge contains an unusual bend and dip in the middle, a result of miscommunication between the two state governments.

Climate

Yarrawonga has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) with hot, dry summers and cool, cloudy winters. The weather radar at Yarrawonga has proven a useful tool in monitoring important weather systems as far south as Marysville, west to Bendigo and north to Griffith, meeting its eastern limit at the Snowy Mountains and is thus a reliable monitor of snowfall systems approaching from the west.

|location = Yarrawonga (1993–2024); 129 m AMSL; 36.03° S, 146.03° E |metric first = Yes |single line = Yes |rain colour = green |Jan record high C = 46.0 |Feb record high C = 46.0 |Mar record high C = 39.9 |Apr record high C = 36.7 |May record high C = 28.9 |Jun record high C = 23.0 |Jul record high C = 21.0 |Aug record high C = 25.7 |Sep record high C = 34.0 |Oct record high C = 36.4 |Nov record high C = 42.4 |Dec record high C = 44.3 |year record high C = 46.0 |Jan high C = 32.9 |Feb high C = 31.7 |Mar high C = 28.1 |Apr high C = 23.0 |May high C = 18.1 |Jun high C = 14.5 |Jul high C = 13.6 |Aug high C = 15.3 |Sep high C = 18.6 |Oct high C = 22.8 |Nov high C = 27.2 |Dec high C = 30.3 |year high C = 23.0 |Jan low C = 16.1 |Feb low C = 15.7 |Mar low C = 13.0 |Apr low C = 9.1 |May low C = 6.1 |Jun low C = 4.0 |Jul low C = 3.4 |Aug low C = 3.7 |Sep low C = 5.1 |Oct low C = 7.5 |Nov low C = 11.1 |Dec low C = 13.4 |year low C = 9.0 |Jan record low C = 4.4 |Feb record low C = 4.7 |Mar record low C = 3.3 |Apr record low C = -0.5 |May record low C = -1.9 |Jun record low C = -5.3 |Jul record low C = -4.4 |Aug record low C = -6.0 |Sep record low C = -3.4 |Oct record low C = -1.4 |Nov record low C = 0.6 |Dec record low C = 2.2 |year record low C = -6.0 |Jan rain mm = 36.4 |Feb rain mm = 39.0 |Mar rain mm = 35.4 |Apr rain mm = 31.9 |May rain mm = 35.8 |Jun rain mm = 42.4 |Jul rain mm = 44.9 |Aug rain mm = 39.1 |Sep rain mm = 42.8 |Oct rain mm = 42.1 |Nov rain mm = 48.1 |Dec rain mm = 41.2 |year rain mm = 479.4 |Jan rain days = 5.7 |Feb rain days = 5.4 |Mar rain days = 5.1 |Apr rain days = 6.2 |May rain days = 10.3 |Jun rain days = 14.7 |Jul rain days = 17.1 |Aug rain days = 14.1 |Sep rain days = 10.2 |Oct rain days = 8.6 |Nov rain days = 8.1 |Dec rain days = 6.1 |unit rain days = 0.2mm |humidity colour = green |Jan afthumidity = 29 |Feb afthumidity = 32 |Mar afthumidity = 33 |Apr afthumidity = 42 |May afthumidity = 54 |Jun afthumidity = 65 |Jul afthumidity = 66 |Aug afthumidity = 58 |Sep afthumidity = 53 |Oct afthumidity = 43 |Nov afthumidity = 34 |Dec afthumidity = 29 |source 1 = Bureau of Meteorology |date=April 2022}}

Popular culture

Neil McBeath wrote the song "I'm Going Back To Yarrawonga", published in 1919 and later recorded by Ella Shields and Leonard Hubbard in 1992 and 1996 respectively.
Yarrawonga is also home to Australia's Tallest Man, Kewal Shiels, measuring 7 ft.

Gallery

File:YarrawongaTownHall.JPG|Yarrawonga Town Hall File:ForeshoreYarrawonga.JPG|Foreshore of Lake Mulwala at Yarrawonga File:Victoria Police checkpoint at Yarrawonga on January 12th 2021.jpg|COVID-19 Victorian Border Checkpoint at Yarrawonga in January 2021

Notable people

Anne Curtis, actress, TV host personality

References

"2016 Census QuickStats Yarrawonga". Australian Bureau of Statistics.
''[[Macquarie Dictionary. Macquarie Dictionary, Fourth Edition]]'' (2005). Melbourne, The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd. {{ISBN. 1-876429-14-3
Boon, Robert. (1991). "The Concise Encyclopedia of Australia and New Zealand". Horwitz Grahame Pty Limited.
"Yarrawonga {{!}} Murray River, Lakes, Fishing {{!}} Britannica".
(1984). "Yarrawonga". Helen Benton.
(2008-11-27). "Yarrawonga - Culture and History".
"Post Office List".
"Redevelopment of Propellant Manufacturing and Other Specified Capabilities at Mulwala".
"Defence Home - Thales Group".
(May 2001). "Review of Legal Services in Rural and Regional Victoria". Parliament of Victoria Law Reform Committee.
{{Census 2016 AUS
{{Census 2021 AUS
"Early Transport & Bridges of Yarrawonga Mulwala". Yarrawonga Mulwala Tourism Inc.
"Yarrawonga Radar".
{{BoM Aust stats. (April 2022)
Marshall, Konrad. (2019-02-15). "It's all smiles as Australia’s tallest man takes life in his stride".

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