Traralgon ( ) is a town located in the east of the

Latrobe Valley The Latrobe Valley is an inland geographical district and urban area of the Gippsland region in the state of Victoria, Australia. The traditional owners are the Brayakaulung of the Gunai nation. The district lies east of Melbourne and nes ...

in the

Gippsland Gippsland is a rural region that makes up the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains to the rainward (southern) side of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It cove ...

region of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, Australia and the most populous city of the

City of Latrobe The City of Latrobe is a local government area in the Gippsland region in eastern Victoria, Australia, located in the eastern part of the state. It covers an area of and in June 2018 had a population of 75,211. It is primarily urban with the v ...

. 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 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 Sir Paweł Edmund Strzelecki (;By Australian English speakers: pɔːl strʌzlɛki (paul struhzLECKi). 20 July 17976 October 1873), also known as Paul Edmund de Strzelecki and Sir Paul Strzelecki, was a Polish explorer, geologist, humanitarian ...

named Traralgon after Taralga, the hometown of Charlie Tarra, but the statement lacks evidence.

History

Traralgon is situated on the traditional lands of the

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

Gunai/Kurnai nation, which includes the lands of the Braiakaulung 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 The Gunaikurnai or Gunai/Kurnai ( ) language, also spelt Gunnai, Kurnai, Ganai, Gaanay, or Kurnay ) is an Australian Aboriginal dialect cluster of the Gunaikurnai people in Gippsland in south-east Victoria. Bidawal was either a divergent di ...

), 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 genera ...

. Gunai/Kurnai people manufactured stone tools, as long as 5,000 years ago, from

silcrete Silcrete is an indurated (resists crumbling or powdering) soil duricrust formed when surface soil, sand, and gravel are cemented by dissolved silica. The formation of silcrete is similar to that of calcrete, formed by calcium carbonate, and ferr ...

quarries in the Haunted Hills, west of

Morwell Morwell is a town in the Latrobe Valley area of Gippsland, in South-Eastern Victoria, Australia approximately 152 km (94 mi) east of Melbourne. Morwell has a population of 14,389 people at the . It is both the seat of local governme ...

. 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 over ...

near

Buchan, Victoria Buchan ( ) is a town in the east Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. The town is situated adjacent to the Buchan River, in the Shire of East Gippsland, upstream from the river's junction with the Snowy River. At the 2011 census, Buchan a ...

. 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 syst ...

in April 1840, after Strzelecki had named Australia's highest peak as

Mount Kosciuszko Mount Kosciuszko ( ; Ngarigo: , ), previously spelled Mount Kosciusko, is mainland Australia's tallest mountain, at 2,228 metres (7,310 ft) above sea level. It is located on the Main Range of the Snowy Mountains in Kosciuszko National ...

. Charley Tarra, a Burra Burra man from the NSW town of Taralga, 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 Br ...

, before making a difficult journey across the heavily forested mountain range. They reached Anderson's run in

Western Port Western Port, ( Boonwurrung: ''Warn Marin'') commonly but unofficially known as Western Port Bay, is a large tidal bay in southern Victoria, Australia, opening into Bass Strait. It is the second largest bay in the state. Geographically, it is ...

in May 1840, then walked to Melbourne. To honour the men, the mountain range was named the

Strzelecki Ranges The Strzelecki Ranges (pronounced STREHZ leckee) is a set of low mountain ridges located in the West Gippsland and South Gippsland regions of the Australian state of Victoria. The Ranges are named after Paweł Edmund Strzelecki, a Polish expl ...

, 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 ...

, 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. ...

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

, in honour of his sponsor NSW Governor

George Gipps Sir George Gipps (23 December 1790 – 28 February 1847) was the Governor of the British colony of New South Wales for eight years, between 1838 and 1846. His governorship oversaw a tumultuous period where the rights to land were bitterly conte ...

. 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 retrieved 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 and South Australia. It has a length of (along Highway 1) or via the former alignments of the hi ...

. 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 ...

men.

Pastoral leases

The area around Traralgon was first settled by Europeans in the 1840s. Due to the

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 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 Arthur's Seat ( gd, Suidhe Artair, ) is an ancient volcano which is the main peak of the group of hills in Edinburgh, Scotland, which form most of Holyrood Park, described by Robert Louis Stevenson as "a hill for magnitude, a mountain in virtu ...

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 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 metro ...

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 Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

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 ...

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 durin ...

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 E ...

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. This included large expansions at

Yallourn Yallourn, Victoria was a company town in 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 complex. However, expansion of the ...

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

. Traralgon, with a more diversified economy, suffered to a lesser extent than the neighbouring towns of

and Moe 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 Departm ...

* Queens Parade:

Traralgon Engine Shed and Turntable Traralgon ( ) is a town located in the east of the Latrobe Valley in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia and the most populous city of the City of Latrobe. The urban population of Traralgon at the was 26,907. It is the largest and fastes ...

* 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

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 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 Corp ...

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, nota ...

''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 ...

weather system caused widespread flash flooding across

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 ...

, 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 construc ...

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 The National Electricity Market (NEM) is an arrangement in Australia's electricity sector for the connection of the electricity transmission grids of the eastern and southern Australia states and territories to create a cross-state wholesale el ...

. Along with electricity production, Traralgon benefits from the mining for

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

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 carbon d ...

in the nearby

Bass Strait Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island states and territories of Australia, state of Tasmania from the Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Bo ...

fields. A significant

forestry industry The wood industry or timber industry (sometimes lumber industry -- when referring mainly to sawed boards) is the industry concerned with forestry, logging, timber trade, and the production of primary forest products and wood products (e.g. furn ...

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 ...

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. ...

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 edible flower, flowers, ...

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 seco ...

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

, Department of Health & Human Services,

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 Chairo Christian School is a multi-campus co-educational independent non-denominational Christian School with campuses in Drouin, Victoria, Drouin East, Pakenham, Victoria, Leongatha, Victoria, and Traralgon, Victoria. Founded in 1983, Chairo ...

(formerl
Flinders Christian Community College
and St Pauls Anglican Grammar School. St Paul's Anglican Grammar School and

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, 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 = Miche ...

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
Federation Training

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 Gippsl ...

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 st ...

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 Latrobe Valley Soccer League (LVSL) is a soccer league encompassing much of Gippsland and the Latrobe Valley. The association's headquarters are based in the Morwell, Victoria ( Victoria), and are affiliated under the auspices of Football Victo ...

. 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 ...

, 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 t ...

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. Tr ...

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

and Moe. 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 ...

'', ''

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 ...

'' 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 ''The Saturday Paper'' is an Australian weekly newspaper, launched on 1 March 2014 in hard copy, as an online newspaper and in mobile news format. The paper is circulated throughout Australian capital cities and major regional centres. Since ...

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

Nine 9 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 9 or nine may also refer to: Dates * AD 9, the ninth year of the AD era * 9 BC, the ninth year before the AD era * 9, numerical symbol for the month of September Places * Nine, Portugal, a parish in the ...

and Ten) are all re-broadcast into

by their regional affiliates -

Prime7 Prime7, formerly Prime Television and other names, was an Australian television network. Prime Television launched on 17 March 1962 as '' CBN-8'' in Orange, and later expanded to cover regional New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Ca ...

( AMV), WIN ( VTV) and

Southern Cross Austereo Southern Cross Media Group Limited, doing business as Southern Cross Austereo, is an Australian media company which operates broadcast radio and television stations. It is the largest radio broadcaster in Australia, operating 86 radio stati ...

( GLV). All broadcast from the

transmitter at Mount Tassie. All the commercial stations are based in

Traralgon Traralgon ( ) is a town located in the east of the Latrobe Valley in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia and the most populous city of the City of Latrobe. The urban population of Traralgon at the was 26,907. It is the largest and fastes ...

and have local commercials placed on their broadcasts. Local news is available on all three commercial networks: * WIN broadcasts a half-hour ''

WIN News ''WIN News'' is a local television news service in parts of regional Australia, produced by WIN Television. 12 regional bulletins and news update services are presented from WIN's headquarters in Wollongong, and until 2021 included production ...

'' 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 w ...

. *

and

broadcast short local news and weather updates throughout the day, produced and broadcast from Prime7'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 ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

studios.

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

primary channel when it was previously affiliated with Nine. Both national public broadcasters, ABC ( 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 TV Plus (formerly ABC2 and ABC Comedy) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and part of its ABC Television network. The channel broadcasts a range of general entertainment pr ...

ABC Me ABC Me (stylised as ABC ME) is an Australian English language children's free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It was officially launched by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on 4 December 2009 as ABC3. Hist ...

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 with David Muir''; other programs include morning news-talk show '' Good Morning America'', '' ...

SBS Viceland SBS Viceland (stylised as SBS VICELAND) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). It began as SBS TWO on 1 June 2009, and was branded as SBS 2 between 2013 and 2016. On 8 April 2017, SBS ...

SBS World Movies SBS World Movies is an Australian free-to-air television channel showing international movies. The channel features foreign language films, documentaries, independent and mainstream cinema and interviews with international movie stars. It w ...

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 Inte ...

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 fr ...

, 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 ...

9Gem 9Gem is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, launched by the Nine Network in September 2010. The channel provides general entertainment and movie programming, from which the original name "GEM" is derived. History Nine N ...

9Go! 9Go! is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Nine Network on 9 August 2009, replacing Nine Guide. It is a youthful channel that offers a mix of comedy, reality, general entertainment, movies, ani ...

9Life 9Life is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel owned by Nine Entertainment. The channel airs mostly foreign lifestyle and reality programs, with the channel having a licensing agreement with Discovery Inc. (previously Scripp ...

and

Sky News Regional Sky News Australia is an Australian news channel owned by News Corp Australia. Originally launched on 19 February 1996, it broadcasts rolling news coverage throughout the day, while its prime time lineup is dedicated to opinion-based programs f ...

. Television transmissions from

Mount Dandenong Mount Dandenong is a small township/suburb of Greater Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, east from Melbourne's central business district, located within the Shire of Yarra Ranges local government area. Mount Dandenong recorded a population of 1,2 ...

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 ...

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 Austar was an Australian telecommunications company. Its main business activity was subscription television but it has also been involved with internet access and mobile phones. It was founded in 1995 under the name Community Entertainment Tele ...

until 2014) is available via satellite.

Radio

There are two radio stations with studios located in Traralgon –

TRFM TRFM (Callsign: 3TFM) is a commercial radio station broadcasting from Traralgon, Victoria, Australia. It is currently owned by Ace Radio & broadcasts A Contemporary Hits Radio (CHR) format. It features both locally produced content & nationally ...

(99.5 MHz) and Gold 1242, 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 fre ...

. The FM station is broadcast along with the television channels from Mount Tassie while Gold 1242 is broadcast from an AM transmitter near Sale.

Warragul Warragul is a town in Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne. Warragul lies between the Strzelecki Ranges to the south and the Mount Baw Baw Plateau of the Great Dividing Range to the north. As of the , the town had a population of 19,8 ...

radio stations

Triple M Triple M is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 40 radio stations broadcasting a mainstream rock music format and 5 digital radio stations. The network dates back to ...

(97.9 MHz) and 3GG (531 kHz) also service this region. Most ABC stations are rebroadcast locally and available in Traralgon, along with

774 ABC Melbourne ABC Radio Melbourne (official callsign: 3LO) is an ABC Local Radio station in Melbourne, Australia. It began transmission on 13 October 1924, and was Melbourne's second licensed radio station after 3AR. Most Local Radio stations in Victoria sim ...

which is able to be received directly from

and the local ABC Gippsland 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

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 ...

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 rails (such as trains or trams) and is used for the transportation of people or cargo. The ...

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 Hig ...

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 prep ...

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 Gippsland railway line 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

Bairnsdale Bairnsdale () ( Ganai: ''Wy-yung'') is a city in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia in a region traditionally owned by the Tatungalung clan of the Gunaikurnai people. The estimated population of Bairnsdale urban area was 15,411 at Ju ...

. 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 th ...

, 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 wh ...

, 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 whe ...

. An exception is the 63-kilometer-long

Gippsland Plains Rail Trail The Gippsland Plains Rail Trail is a 67 km recreational trail following the former historic Gippsland Plains railway line/ Maffra railway line route between Traralgon and Stratford in Central Gippsland, Victoria. The trail passes through dair ...

which connects Traralgon to Stratford via Cowwarr,

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, located on Traralgon - Maffra Road between Heyfield and Maffra Maffra is a town in Victoria, Australia, east of Melbourne. It is in the Shire of Wellington local government area ...

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 si ...

. 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

* Fran Hammond (Basketball player) *

Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet, (3 September 1899 – 31 August 1985), usually known as Macfarlane or Mac Burnet, was an Australian virologist known for his contributions to immunology. He won a Nobel Prize in 1960 for predicting acquired immune ...

(scientist, recipient of 1960

Nobel Prize in medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, according ...

) *

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) *

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") *

Gord Bamford Gord Bamford (born April 17, 1976) is an Australian-Canadian country music singer. He has released ten studio albums. Alberta-raised Bamford stands as one of the most decorated artists in Canadian country music with 26 Canadian Country Music Ass ...

(Australian-Canadian country music singer) * 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) *

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 ...

(WNBA player) *

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 Ne ...

(Science YouTuber) * Bernie Quinlan (Australian Rules Footballer) *

Michael Voss Michael Voss (born 7 July 1975) is a former professional Australian rules football player with the Brisbane Bears/Lions and current senior coach of the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Voss was a triple premiersh ...

(Australian Rules Footballer) *

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) * Tim Hein (Minister, University Theology Lecturer, podcaster, guitarist) * Thomas Headon (Musician)

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 (Australia) Towns in the Latrobe Valley City of Latrobe