Mildura ( ) is a regional city in north-west

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 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 ...

. Located on the Victorian side of the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray; Ngarrindjeri language, Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta language, Yorta Yorta: ''Dhungala'' or ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is List of rivers of Australia, Aust ...

, Mildura had a

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 34,565 at the 2021 census. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point,

Merbein Merbein is a town in the Rural City of Mildura, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. It is on the Calder Highway between Mildura and the Murray River crossing at the Murray River crossings, Abbotsford Bridge to Curlwaa, New South Wales, Cu ...

and Red Cliffs are included, the combined urban area had a population of 58,914 in 2021, having grown marginally at an average annual rate of 1.3% year-on-year over the preceding five years. Mildura is the largest settlement in the

Sunraysia Sunraysia is a region located in northwestern Victoria and southwestern New South Wales in Australia. The region is renowned for its sunshine, intensive horticulture including grapes and oranges. Its main centre is Mildura, Victoria. The are ...

region, where around 90% of Australia's table grape exports are grown. Likewise, it is a major horticultural centre notable for its overall (table, sultana and wine) grape production, supplying about 80% of Victoria's grapes.Mildura
, ''Department of Planning and Community Development, Mildura Rural City Council'', Accessed 27 September 2007 Many wineries also source grapes from Mildura. It is very close to the

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 ...

border, the Murray River, from which it draws an abundant supply of irrigation water. It is known as Australia's first 'irrigation colony'. The city's central business district is located just a short distance from the banks of the Murray. Langtree Avenue is the main shopping and dining precinct in Mildura, with the middle section of the street a pedestrian mall. The other major retail precinct is along Fifteenth Street in the Mildura South area, where a mid-sized undercover shopping mall and several big box stores are located. The city's name was taken from the Mildura homestead, an early sheep station which covered most of the area. The urban area of Mildura is surrounded by irrigated horticulture, where the original grape and citrus blocks were located with water irrigated from the Murray River.

History

Mildura has a long history of orange and grape farming, and an even longer history of Aboriginal occupation. This includes the Latje Latje and

Ngintait The Ngintait, or Ngindadj, are an Australian Aboriginal peoples of the northwest corner of the state of Victoria, and partly in South Australia. Nine people, all of one family, claim descent from the tribe, which was dispersed in the 19th century. ...

peoples, amongst others, being the original inhabitants of present-day Mildura.

Toponymy

There are several theories as to the origin of the name Mildura. While it was the name of the sheep station, without precedent in the English language, most historians believe it to have originated from

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia 50,000 to 65,000 year ...

words. However, the

etymology Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...

of Mildura is not certain, as in several local dialects, the words ''mill'' and ''dura'' have different meanings. The word ''dura'' is generally thought to mean "earth", "sand" or "rock" in the local Ladji Ladji language. However, usage of the word ''mill'' varies by dialect and may mean "red" or "water", and thus, interpretations of the name can vary from "red earth" to "water rock".

Prehistory and European settlement

Many Aboriginal people lived around the site of Mildura because of the abundant food. Local tribes included the

Latjilatji The Latjilatji, sometimes spelt Latji Latji or Latje Latje are an Indigenous Australian people of the state of Victoria, Australia. Name The ethnonym Latjilatji consists of a reduplication of the word for "no" (''latja''). Language Latji-Latji l ...

and Jarijari. The first Europeans in the area arrived in 1857 and brought sheep to graze the rich pastures.

Irrigation settlement

A major

drought A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, ...

in Victoria from 1877 to 1884 prompted

Alfred Deakin Alfred Deakin (3 August 1856 – 7 October 1919) was an Australian politician who served as the second Prime Minister of Australia, prime minister of Australia from 1903 to 1904, 1905 to 1908, and 1909 to 1910. He held office as the leader of th ...

, then a minister in the

State Government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonom ...

and chairman of a

Royal Commission A royal commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies. They have been held in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Mauritius and Saudi Arabia. In republics an equi ...

on water supply, to visit the

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...

areas of California. There he met

George George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

and William Chaffey. In 1886, Canadian-American irrigator

George Chaffey George Chaffey (28 January 1848 – 1 March 1932) was a Canadian engineer, inventor and entrepreneur who with his brother William developed large parts of Southern California, including what became the community of Etiwanda and the cities of Ont ...

came to Australia and selected a derelict sheep station known as Mildura as the site for his first irrigation settlement, signing an agreement with the Victorian government to spend at least £300,000 on permanent improvements at Mildura in the next twenty years. After much political wrangling, the settlement of Mildura was established in 1887. The Post Office opened on 23 January 1888.

Growth

The nearby towns of Wentworth, Gol Gol, Curlwaa and Yelta sprang up in the mid-to-late 19th century. In the 1890s came the scourge of the

rabbit Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated ...

. This devastated the sheep farmers, especially south of the Murray. There was also a financial recession at this time. Combined, these factors restricted growth of the new settlement. After this period, the new settlement grew and grew. It was soon the main town of the district. Suburbs and new satellite towns sprang up. From the 1920s, a number of 'suburban' train services were established to Merbein and Red Cliffs. These were operated by

railcar A railcar (not to be confused with the generic term railroad car or railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coa ...

s. In 1934, Mildura was officially proclaimed a city. Post war Mildura experienced a large influx of migrants particularly from European and Mediterranean countries including Italy and Greece. Many of these migrants were attracted by the opportunities for unskilled labour offered by the

fruit picking Fruit picking or fruit harvesting is a seasonal activity (paid or recreational) that occurs during harvest time in areas with fruit growing wild or being farmed in orchards. Some farms market " You-Pick" for orchards, such as the tradition of App ...

industry.

Nowingi toxic waste proposal

In 2004, there was a controversial proposal by the

Victorian Government The Victoria State Government, also referred to as the Victorian Government, is the executive government of the Australian state of Victoria. As a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, the State Government was first formed in 1851 when Vic ...

to build a state-level Long Term Containment Facility (LTCF) for Industrial Waste in Nowingi, approximately 50 km south of Mildura. The site is a small enclave of

state forest A state forest or national forest is a forest that is administered or protected by a sovereign state, sovereign or federated state, or territory (country subdivision), territory. Background State forests are forests that are Administration (gov ...

surrounded by

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

, and contains habitat important to a number of threatened species. The abandoning of the LTCF proposal was received with jubilation by opponents of the LTCF, not only in the Mildura area and elsewhere in Victoria, but also across the border in South Australia where there were fears that the toxic waste might affect the water supply via the

and thereby the fruit-growing industries of the

Riverland The Riverland is a region of South Australia. It covers an area of along the Murray River, River Murray from where it flows into South Australia from New South Wales and Victoria (Australia), Victoria downstream to Blanchetown, South Australia ...

and

Murraylands The Murraylands is a geographical region of the Australian state of South Australia (SA); its name reflects that of the river running through it. Lying due east of South Australia's capital city, Adelaide, it extends from the eastern slopes ...

. The Mildura Rural City Council and residents spent almost $2 million fighting the Government's proposal for the LTCF at Nowingi. On 10 January 2007 the Victorian Government did not rule out some form of reimbursement for the council's legal and other costs in opposing the LTCF. "The general rule is that people bear their own costs, that is most likely to apply in this case ... but I've indicated and I am prepared to talk to the council and mayor about the whole issue of how Mildura moves forward and I'll do that," John Thwaites said.

World ballooning championships

In late June to early July 2004, the 16th

World Hot Air Ballooning Championships The World Hot Air Ballooning Championships are the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Hot Air Balloon Championship and the FAI Women's World Hot Air Balloon Championship. These biennial events for hot air ballooning Hot air ...

was held in Mildura,

Geography

Topography

Mildura is situated on flat land without hills or mountains on the southern bank of the Murray River and surrounded to the west, north and east by lakes and

billabong In Australian English, a billabong ( ) is a small body of water, usually permanent. It is usually an oxbow lake caused by a change in course of a river or creek, but other types of small lakes, ponds or waterholes are also called billabongs ...

s including Lake Hawthorn, Lake Ranfurly and Lake Gol Gol. Several towns surround Mildura on the flat plains including

to the west as well as Irymple and Red Cliffs to the south which could be considered suburban areas or satellite towns separated by small stretches of open farmland. While the land along the river and irrigation channels is fertile, much of the land around Mildura is also dry, saline and semi-arid.

Urban structure

Mildura is a largely low-rise and low density urban area that is overwhelmingly dependent upon private vehicles for transportation. Residential dwellings consist almost solely of

single-family detached home A single-family detached home, also called a single-detached dwelling, single-family residence (SFR) or separate house is a free-standing residential building. It is defined in opposition to a multi-family residential dwelling. Definitions ...

s on relatively large allotments. The population has been growing rapidly for several decades with most of the residential growth occurring in the south, south western and more recently the eastern parts of the urban area. The central business district (CBD) is located at the northern end of the urban area, fronting onto the Murray River. The main shopping street of Mildura is Langtree Avenue, which features a

pedestrian mall Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town restricted to use by people on foot or ...

and shopping centre. The area between Seventh and Eight Streets is known as Feast Street, and is home to many boutique eateries and beverage dispensaries. The combined (CBD) area, known as City Heart, complements the Mildura Central Shopping Centre, located at the opposite end of the urban area on the corner of Fifteenth Street and Deakin Avenue. The latter, so named after Alfred Deakin, 'the Victorian Cabinet Minister who introduced the concept of an irrigated settlement in Australia', itself runs around twelve kilometres in a south-west direction from Seventh Street before terminating in peri-urban farmland. Fifteenth Street is the main strip of

big box store A big-box store, a hyperstore, a supercenter, a superstore, or a megastore is a physically large retail establishment, usually part of a chain of stores. The term sometimes also refers, by extension, to the company that operates the store. The ...

s, car dealerships and other commercial enterprises. The tallest buildings are exemplified by the two-storey 1934 Old Mildura Base Hospital, two-storey Marina Dockside apartments completed in 2010 and the three-storey tower/spire of the 1920s T&G building. Other notable tall structures that serve as literal landmarks in the city include the 'new' water tower, built in the 1950s, and the 'old' water tower, now partially subsumed by a hotel.

Climate

Mildura has a

cold semi-arid climate Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute thermodynamic ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

: ''BSk'') with hot summers and cool winters. It is only about 50 metres above sea level despite being several hundred kilometres from the coast. It enjoys 132.0 clear days annually. Rainfall totals are about 280 mm a year and are spread evenly across the months and seasons with winter and spring having the most rainy days. Average maximum temperatures range from a hot in summer to a cool in winter. Minimum temperatures range from around in summer to in winter, when

frost Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor that deposits onto a freezing surface. Frost forms when the air contains more water vapor than it can normally hold at a specific temperature. The process is simila ...

is common and often destructive to irrigated crops. Mildura experiences some very hot days in summer with temperatures exceeding 40 °C (104 °F) on a number of days per year, however are at times succeeded by

cold fronts A cold front is the leading edge of a cooler mass of air at ground level that replaces a warmer mass of air and lies within a pronounced surface trough of low pressure. It often forms behind an extratropical cyclone (to the west in the Northern ...

off the

Bight The word is derived from Old English ''byht'' (“bend, angle, corner; bay, bight”). In modern English, bight may refer to: * Bight (geography), recess of a coast, bay, or other curved feature * Bight (knot), a curved section, slack part, or loo ...

. Mildura got record daily rainfall on 5 February 2011 with .

Economy

Fruit and wine production

Mildura is also known as the centre of ''Victoria's Food Bowl'' and is a major producer of citrus fruits (especially oranges), and wine. It is also notable for its grape production, supplying 80% of Victoria's grapes. Many wineries also source grapes from Mildura. The local area produces more than 70% of Australia's dried vine fruits.

Fruit Fly Exclusion Zone

Mildura is part of the Fruit Fly Exclusion Zone, in which fruits or vegetables may not be taken into the area (they can, however, be taken out). This is to stop the Queensland fruit fly from invading crops and plantations which could have a devastating effect on the economy. Disposal bins into which fruit can be disposed of are located along highways entering the zone.

Tourism

Tourism is a A$210 million industry in Mildura. However, a large percentage (30%) are domestic tourists visiting friends or relatives. The city's situation on the Murray River makes it a hub for watersports, paddlesteamers and boat cruises. The still conditions make Mildura ideal for

hot air ballooning Hot air ballooning is the recreational and competitive Extreme sport, adventure sport of flying hot air balloons. Attractive aspects of balloon (aircraft), ballooning include the exceptional quiet (except when the propane burners are firing), th ...

and the Mildura International Balloon Fiesta attracts many visitors. The Australian Inland Botanic Gardens, located nearby in Mourquong is another popular attraction which draws visitors to the city. Australian Inland Botanical Gardens

Mildura Central

Mildura Central's (formerly Centro Mildura) extensive redevelopment in 2005 has positioned the centre as the major shopping destination within the Sunraysia region. Mildura Central is also the only fully enclosed, air-conditioned

shopping centre A shopping center in American English, shopping centre in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English (see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, spelling differences), shopping complex, shopping arcade, ...

in this area and offers a retail mix including representation from a number of national fashion stores. Serving a primary trade area population of 60,000 residents, Mildura Central also receives consumers from beyond the trade area including the

Swan Hill Swan Hill is a List of cities in Australia, city in the northwest of Victoria, Australia on the Murray Valley Highway and on the south bank of the Murray River, downstream from the junction of the Loddon River, Victoria, Loddon River. At the , ...

, Robinvale and

Broken Hill Broken Hill is a city in the Far West (New South Wales), far west region of outback New South Wales, Australia. An inland mining city, it is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Hi ...

. It includes a large

Target Target may refer to: Warfare and shooting * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artille ...

, a

Big W Big W (stylised as BIG W) is an Australian chain of discount department stores, which was founded in regional New South Wales in 1964. The company is a division of the Woolworths Group and as of 2024 operated 179 stores, with around 18,000 emp ...

to the side of Mildura Central, a 19 aisle Woolworths and a Coles supermarket across the road. Other retailers in Mildura Central include

JB Hi-Fi JB Hi-Fi Limited is an Australian consumer electronics retail company. It is publicly listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. Its headquarters are located in Southbank, Melbourne, Victoria. As of June 2024, the company operates 330 sto ...

, Kaisercraft, Jay Jays and

EB Games EB Games (formerly known as Electronics Boutique, EBX, and EB World) was an American computer and video games retailer. First established as an American company in 1977 by James Kim with a single electronics-focused location in the King of Prus ...

Development proposals

Mildura's location in Victoria and consistently strong local lobbying have seen the

Government of Victoria The Victoria State Government, also referred to as the Victorian Government, is the Executive (government), executive government of the Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. As a parliamentary system, parliamentary constitutiona ...

take an interest in the city as a possible centre for population and industry

decentralisation Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those related to planning and decision-making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group and gi ...

programs. There have been numerous proposals involving the state government for large scale developments and investments, many ambitious and speculative that have been shelved indefinitely. Given the large amount of sunlight Mildura receives, it is the site for several proposals for large scale

solar power in Australia Solar power is a major contributor to electricity supply in Australia. As of September 2024, Australia's over 3.92 million solar PV installations had a combined capacity of 37.8 GW photovoltaic (PV) solar power. In 2019, 59 solar PV proj ...

including a massive

solar updraft tower The solar updraft tower (SUT) is a design concept for a renewable energy, renewable-energy power plant for generating electricity from low temperature solar heat. Sunshine heats the air beneath a very wide greenhouse-like roofed collector struct ...

proposal in 2004 and 2010. In 2013, Mildura Solar Concentrator Power Station, a 1.5 MW demonstration plant, was commissioned by Silex Systems and it was expected to be expanded to 100 MW by 2017. However, in August 2014, the project was abandoned by Silex, due to lack of commitment to

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

by the

Abbott government The Abbott government was the federal executive government of Australia led by the 28th Prime Minister Tony Abbott. The government was made up of members of the Liberal–National Coalition. The Leader of The Nationals, Warren Truss, served ...

. The government's plans to scrap the praised Renewable Energy Target (RET) in Australia were cited as one of the main reasons for abandoning the project. International scientists criticised this decision extensively, claiming Australia risks being "left behind the rest of the world" if it cuts its plans for renewable energy. The decision to not build the plant may also cause electricity prices to rise significantly in the country. Another large development which has been controversial was the proposal for Mildura to be the site for Victoria's second casino.

Culture

Since early settlement Mildura has been home to artists, writers and creative people. Organisations such as the Red Cliffs Musical Society, Eisteddfod, Mildura Ballet Guild and

Mildura Country Music Festival The Mildura Country Music Festival was an annual Australian country music festival based in Mildura, Victoria. The 1994 event was held in October, which the Australian Country Music Ambassador, Kelly Tassone felt was "fast becoming a favourite ...

have helped grow a reputation for home grown talent and creative community. The hub of this community is the Mildura Arts Centre, which began as a gallery space at Rio Vista House in the 1950s and became fully established in 1956 with the building of a new regional art gallery and performing arts theatre. In 2012, after two years of construction, the new Mildura Arts Centre opened. Mildura is host to many annual festivals such as the

, the International Balloon Fiesta, the Jazz Food & Wine Festival, Mildura Wentworth Arts Festival, Murray River International Music Festival, Mildura Writers Festival, Mildura Palimpsest, and the Mildura Show. There is also the annual Mildura masters coarse fishing competition held in November which attracts a number of international and local coarse anglers and the Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show

Demographics

As of the , there were 34,565 people residing in 15,694 households.

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

make up 5.5% of Mildura's population. 75.2% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

2.6%,

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

1.5%,

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

1.3%,

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

1.0%, and

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

0.9%. 76.7% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

2.3%,

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

1.4%,

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overseas Vietnamese, Vietnamese people living outside Vietna ...

1.1%, Turkish 1.1% and Punjabi 0.9%. The most common responses for religion were No Religion, so described 41.4%,

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

19.1% and

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

8.3%.

Crime

In 2018, Mildura recorded the highest rural crime rate in Victoria and the fourth highest crime rate in the state overall.

Organised Crime

Mildura has long been associated with the Calabrian Mafia, with claims made by police in 1966 that annual organised crime meetings were held in Mildura to co-ordinate nationwide criminal activities. In a 1960s National Anti-Mafia Directorate report by John T. Cusack (United States' Bureau of Narcotics) and Ugo Macera (assistant commissioner of police in Calabria) claims were made that the "ancient Calabrian Secret Criminal Society known as the L'Onorata Societa" and the "'

Ndrangheta The 'Ndrangheta (, , ) is a mafia-type organized crime, criminal syndicate originating from the Calabria region of Italy. Gratteri & Nicaso, ''Fratelli di Sangue'', pp. 65–68 This body, also referred to as the Commission in reference to the ...

" were operating "throughout the State, with large segments in the fruit growing and farming areas of Mildura and Shepparton" adding that "There are reports the Society has existed in Victoria since 1930". They have reportedly been involved in revenge killings, cannabis production and weapons purchases. During the 1980s, the Mildura Mafia emerged as a major crime group that dominated marijuana production in Australia and ran an Australia-wide money-laundering network. Several notable mafia murders have been linked to the region including the suspected mafia hit on 43-year-old Marco Medici in 1983, police believe the murder may be connected to the assassination of anti-drug crusader Donald MacKay at

Griffith Griffith may refer to: People * Griffith (name) * Griffith (surname) * Griffith (given name) Places Antarctica * Mount Griffith, Ross Dependency * Griffith Peak (Antarctica), Marie Byrd Land * Griffith Glacier, Marie Byrd Land * Griffith Ridge, ...

in 1977. The 1984 murders of Melbourne gangsters Rocco Medici and Giuseppe Furina are also connected to Mildura through the Medici family. In 1982, 42-year-old Mildura greengrocer Dominic Marafiote and his parents were murdered after Marafiote gave South Australian police the names of Calabrian mafia bosses in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. In 2016 Mildura residents Nicola Ciconte, Vincenzo Medici and Michael Calleja were convicted and sentenced in Italy for their role in a plot to smuggle up to 500 kilograms of cocaine into Australia.

Methamphetamine epidemic

Mildura has recorded significantly higher than average rates of

methamphetamine Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug use, recreational or Performance-enhancing substance, performance-enhancing drug and less commonly as a secon ...

use. Rural methamphetamine use overall is 2.5 times higher than in metropolitan areas. Prior to 2010 rates of use of illicit drugs in rural areas were significantly lower than those in the cities. In 2014, a Mildura-based Comancheros Motorcycle Club member and former Australian Defence Force (ADF) sniper, Joshua Faulkhead, was arrested after being caught transporting large quantities of methamphetamine, cocaine and ecstasy between Sydney and Mildura. Faulkhead was sentenced to nine years and five months in jail. In 2015, 20 people were involved in a large drug trafficking operation in Mildura in north-west Victoria. Methamphetamine, marijuana and ecstasy were seized in raids. The drugs seized were reported to be worth more than $15,000. $20,000 in cash were seized and a number of weapons were also seized. Later that same year, Stephen Gillard and Geoffrey Hitchen from South Penrith, were arrested for possession of $300,000 worth of methamphetamines in scrubland off the Mallee Highway at Tutye, west of

Ouyen Ouyen is a town in Victoria, Australia, located in the Rural City of Mildura at the junction of the Calder Highway and Mallee Highway, south of Mildura, and northwest of Melbourne. At the 2016 census, the town had a population of 1,045. Hi ...

. Local farmers uncovered plastic fruit juice bottles containing the drugs after noticing the men behaving strangely the previous day. In 2017, a joint Australian Federal Police (AFP) and United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) investigation lead to the seizure of $2.4 million in cash at the Mildura Airport, after 255 kilograms crystal methamphetamine were found at a storage facility in Northern California in June. The bust was part of an investigation into an alleged conspiracy to use a light plane to export drugs from the US to Australia. The 72-year-old pilot, a 52-year-old man from Zetland, and a 58-year-old Melbourne man were charged with conspiracy to import a commercial quantity of border controlled drugs and money laundering offences. The crystal methamphetamine was reported to be worth $255 million. Those arrests were connected to $2.4 million which was found in Mildura, in a prime mover that was driven from Adelaide in April.

Notable people

Notable people from Mildura include: *

Leigh Adams Leigh Scott Adams (born 28 April 1971 in Mildura, Victoria)Oakes, P.(2004). ''British Speedway Who's Who''. is an Australian former motorcycle speedway rider. He is a multiple Speedway Grand Prix winner and World Team Champion. He also wo ...

, retired

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 ...

rider. Ten time Australian Solo Champion and the 1992 World Under-21 Champion. Including juniors, Adams won a total of 16 Australian championships and 4 World Championships. *

Jason Akermanis Jason Dean Akermanis (born 24 February 1977) is a former professional Australian rules football player who played in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is a Brownlow Medallist and triple premiership player who played for the Brisbane Bears ...

, Australian rules footballer. Won the 2001 Brownlow Medal. * Adam Bland, PGA tour golfer. *

Jason Crump Jason Philip Crump (born 6 August 1975) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider from Australia (UK born). He is a three-time Speedway World Champion, and a World Cup winner. In a 21-year career in Speedway, Crump finished with sev ...

, retired Motorcycle speedway rider. Australia's only triple Speedway World Champion (

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

and

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

). *

Phil Crump Philip John Crump (born 9 February 1952 in Mildura, Victoria) is an Australian former motorcycle speedway rider. who attained third place in the 1976 World Championship. He also won the 1976 Speedway World Team Cup with Australia in the same ...

, retired motorcycle speedway rider. The father of Jason Crump, he is a four time Australian Solo Champion and thirteen time Victorian champion. * Matt Dea, Australian rules footballer. Currently plays for the

Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers or colloquially the Dons, is a professional Australian rules football club that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCrac ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

. * Ken Duncan, OAM, Australian landscape photographer. *

Patricia Edgar Patricia May Edgar AM is an Australian author, television producer, educator and media scholar, best known as the founding director of the Australian Children's Television Foundation. Early life and education Edgar was born in Mildura, Vi ...

, founding director of the

Australian Children's Television Foundation The Australian Children's Television Foundation (ACTF) is a national non-profit children's media production and policy hub. The ACTF helps develop children's television policy; distributes and pays for Australian children's television series; s ...

. * Ted Hill (1915–1988), barrister and communist activist. *

Rick Kelly Rick Kelly (born 17 January 1983) is an Australian professional racing driver who previously competed in the Supercars Championship. He last drove the No. 15 Ford Mustang (sixth generation), Ford Mustang GT for Kelly Racing. Previously, he dro ...

V8 Supercar The Supercars Championship, also known as the Repco Supercars Championship under sponsorship and historically as V8 Supercars, is a touring car racing category in Australia and New Zealand, running as an International Series under Fédération I ...

driver. 2001 Australian Drivers' Champion, 2006 V8 Supercar Champion, and

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

and 2004 Bathurst 1000 winner. *

Todd Kelly Todd Evan Kelly (born 9 October 1979) is a retired Australian professional racing driver who competed in the Supercars Championship, Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. He is the older brother of fellow Supercars driver and former Bathurst ...

, V8 Supercar driver. Winner of the 2003 Bathurst 24 Hour and 2005 Bathurst 1000. *

Sam Kerridge Sam Kerridge (born 26 April 1993) is a former professional Australian rules football player who played for the Adelaide and Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was recruited with pick 27 in the 2011 National Draft. ...

, former Australian rules footballer. Played for the

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club based at Princes Park (stadium), Princes Park in Carlton North, Victoria, Carlton North, an inner suburb of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. The c ...

.
Ben Knight
senior reporter at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. *

Matthew Knights Matthew Knights (born 5 October 1970) is an Australian rules football coach and former player who is currently serving as an assistant coach with the West Coast Eagles. Knights played in the midfield for the Richmond Football Club from 1988 t ...

, former Richmond Football Club captain and former

coach. * Mark Lee, 1980 Premiership player and 1984 Jack Dyer Medalist,

Richmond Football Club The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers or colloquially the Tiges, is a professional Australian rules football team competing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Founded in 1885 in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond, Victoria, Ric ...

Jason Lyons Jason Rodney Lyons (born 15 June 1970 in Mildura, Victoria) is a former Australian international motorcycle speedway rider. Jason is the son of former rider Rod Lyons. Career history Lyons started his United Kingdom career in 1990, with the ...

, retired motorcycle speedway rider.

1999 Speedway World Team Cup The 1999 Speedway World Team Cup was the 40th edition of the FIM Speedway World Team Cup to determine the team world champions. The final took place at the Svítkov Stadium in Pardubice in the Czech Republic. The winners were the Australia t ...

and

2002 Speedway World Cup The 2002 Speedway World Cup (SWC) was the 2nd Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, FIM Speedway World Cup season. The final took place on 10 August 2002 in Peterborough, England. The tournament was won by Australia national speedway tea ...

winner and a three time Victorian Champion. *

Kris McCarthy Kristopher James "Kris" McCarthy (born 15 October 1979 in Mildura) is a retired Australian middle-distance runner who specialised in the 800 metres. He represented his country at the 2000 Summer Olympics without reaching the semifinals. He won t ...

, Olympic middle-distance runner. * Ron McEwin, (1928–2007) former Essendon VFL player. * Warren Monson (1975–2023),

sidecar speedway Sidecar Speedway is a motorcycle sport involving 4 crews of a rider and a passenger competing over 4 laps on an oval shale surface. Rules are governed by the national speedway federation and are not dissimilar to conventional speedway rules. Si ...

rider. Two times winner of the

FIM FIM may refer to: Organizations and companies * Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, the International Motorcycling Federation * Flint Institute of Music, in Michigan, United States * Fox Interactive Media, now News Corp. Digital Media * ...

Speedway Sidecar World Cup. * Lochie O'Brien, Carlton AFL player. * Ellen Sandell, politician and environmentalist, currently deputy leader of the Victorian Greens. * Ariel Steinberg, Australian rules footballer formerly playing for the

. * Dylan Stephens,

Sydney Swans The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a Austral ...

and

North Melbourne Football Club The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Kangaroos or colloquially the Roos, is a professional Australian rules football club. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AF ...

AFL player. *

Colin Sylvia Colin Martin Sylvia (8 November 1985 – 28 October 2018) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Melbourne Football Club and Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Football career At 15 years of age, Syl ...

, former

Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons or colloquially the Dees, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier comp ...

and

Fremantle Football Club The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Dockers or colloquially Freo, is a professional Australian rules football club competing in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The team was founded in 1994 to represen ...

midfielder. *

Chris Tarrant Christopher John Tarrant (born 10 October 1946) is a retired English broadcaster, television personality, radio DJ and stand up comedian. He is best known for presenting the ITV children's television show '' Tiswas'' from 1974 to 1981, and th ...

Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. ...

defender. *

Robbie Tarrant Robbie Tarrant (born 25 April 1989) is a former professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), having previously played for the North Melbourne Football Club. He is the y ...

, Australian rules footballer *

Cam Waters Cameron Christopher Waters (born 3 August 1994) is an Australian professional racing driver who competes in the Repco Supercars Championship. He currently drives the No. 6 Ford Mustang GT for Tickford Racing. Waters last competed part-time in t ...

, racing driver. * Josh Waters, Superbike rider, Suzuki works rider for 2014, winner of race 2 Brands Hatch BSB, 20 July 2014. *

Dale Weightman Dale Weightman (born 3 October 1959) is a former 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 play ...

, Richmond Football Club 1978–1993. *

Arron Wood Arron Wood is an Australian environmentalist, consultant and previously Deputy Lord Mayor and Acting Lord Mayor of the City of Melbourne. Wood, a graduate of the University of Melbourne with a degree in forestry, forest science, was the younges ...

, former deputy Lord Mayor and acting Lord Mayor of Melbourne. * Julia Zaetta, editor of Better Homes and Gardens. *

Tania Zaetta Tania Zaetta (born 17 November 1970) is an Australian actress and television presenter. Early life Zaetta was born to an Italian father and an Australian mother, and is the granddaughter of amateur botanist James Howard Browne. She spent the ...

, actress and television presenter.

Media

Local newspapers include the

Sunraysia Daily The ''Sunraysia Daily'' is a local newspaper in the north-western Sunraysia region of Victoria, Australia, it is published on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. From its first publication in 1920 until 14 September 2007, it was published ...

, Mildura Midweek and Mildura Weekly. Online news sources include the Mildura Independent Star, Rural Rebel Media (Independent) and River 1467 AM News. Local radio stations include ABC Mildura Swan Hill (National), River 1467 AM (3ML) (Commercial), 97.9 Sun FM Sunraysia (Commercial), 99.5 Star FM (Commercial), and Hot FM (Community). Local TV stations include ABC TV,

SBS TV SBS TV (Seoul Broadcasting System Television) is a South Korean free-to-air television channel operated by Seoul Broadcasting System. The channel was launched on 9 December 1991. Unlike competing network MBC, SBS operates using a federalized ...

, Seven,

WIN Television WIN Television is an Australian television broadcasting, Australian television network owned and operated by WIN Corporation that is based in Wollongong, New South Wales. WIN commenced transmissions on 18 March 1962 as a single television stat ...

, 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 c ...

7flix 7flix is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Seven Network on 28 February 2016. 7flix targets a variety of viewers and offers drama, comedy, reality, docusoap, and movies. History On 18 Decembe ...

7Bravo 7Bravo is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Seven Network under license from NBCUniversal International Networks on 15 January 2023. The channel contains programming from NBCUniversal's Americ ...

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, anima ...

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 The la ...

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 Scr ...

ABC Family American cable television, cable and satellite television network Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through four different owners and six different name changes dur ...

, ABC Kids,

ABC Entertains ABC Entertains is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It was launched on 4 December 2009 as a children's channel called ABC3. It was rebranded on 19 September 2016 to ABC ME. It rebra ...

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

SBS HD SBS is a multicultural public TV network in Australia. Launched on 24 October 1980, it is the responsibility of SBS's television division, and is available nationally. In 2024, SBS had a 9.3% audience share, compared to 2023 when SBS had an 8. ...

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 V ...

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, annual films, art films and mainstream cinema and interviews with intern ...

SBS Food SBS Food (formerly Food Network) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). The channel airs programs about food and cooking, from cultures around the world. History SBS first ...

NITV National Indigenous Television (NITV) is an Australian free-to-air television channel that broadcasts programming produced and presented largely by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It includes the six-day-a-week ''NITV News Updat ...

and

SBS WorldWatch SBS WorldWatch is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). The channel shows multilingual international news bulletins in more than 30 languages, as well as two local bulletins ...

Network 10 Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's UK & Australia division and is one of the five national free-to-a ...

10 Bold Drama 10 Bold Drama (set to rebrand as 10 Drama in 2025) 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 eve ...

and

10 Peach Comedy 10 Peach Comedy (set to rebrand as 10 Comedy in 2025) 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 betwee ...

channels were available in Mildura until MDT's closure in June 2024. Of the two main commercial networks,

Seven News Seven News (stylised 7NEWS) is the television news service of the Seven Network and, as of 2021, the highest-rating in Australia. National bulletins are presented from Seven's high definition studios in South Eveleigh, Sydney, while its flags ...

produces short local news and weather updates throughout the day, broadcast from its

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

studios. WIN Mildura produced half-hour ''WIN News'' bulletins for the

region until May 2015. The Sunraysia region, including the city of Mildura, was the first region in Australia to switch off analogue TV broadcast in the implementation of the country's DTV transition process. It is also the first region in Australia to switch off a digital TV broadcast, with Mildura Digital Television ceasing operations after WIN and Seven decided to pull the plug due to the station running at a loss since its inception in 2006. MDT concluded operations on 30 June 2024, and the MDT license was handed back to the

Australian Communications and Media Authority The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is an Australian government statutory authority within the Communications portfolio. ACMA was formed on 1 July 2005 with the merger of the Australian Broadcasting Authority and the Aus ...

Sport

Mildura has three

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 teams competing in the

Sunraysia Football League The Sunraysia Football and Netball League, also known simply as the SFNL is an Australian rules league in the Sunraysia district of north-west Victoria (Australia), Victoria and south-west New South Wales. History Australian Rules football ...

; Imperials, Mildura and South Mildura, along with three other clubs nearby in Irymple, Merbein and Red Cliffs. Other clubs in the league are Ouyen United, Robinvale-Euston and Wentworth District. Mildura also have a junior football League ranging from age groups of under 10s to under 16s. The Sunraysia Cricket Association (SCA) operates its competition between October and March annually. The SCA consists of fifteen teams; original SCA teams Coomealla-Wentworth, Merbein, Irymple, Mildura East, Mildura Settlers, Mildura West, Nichols Point and Workers-Gol Gol. The newly established Mildura Royals (whose cricket team is based in Cardross) joined the association for the 2024/25 season, as well as former Red Cliffs Cricket Association teams Curlwaa, Fire Brigade (Red Cliffs), Nursery Ridge (Red Cliffs),

, Tempy, and South West (Red Cliffs). As of the end of the 2024/25 season, the SCA does not include ex-RCCA clubs Millewa, Robinvale- Euston or Cardross cricket clubs, who are in recess. The Sunraysia Rugby League is also based in Mildura and has six senior men's teams competing for the annual premiership.

Rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

matches are played from May to September. Mildura is a town well-known for

motor sport Motorsport or motor sport are sporting events, competitions and related activities that primarily involve the use of automobiles, motorcycles, motorboats and powered aircraft. For each of these vehicle types, the more specific terms ''automobile ...

s. It has several tracks in the region to cater for different types of motor sports, including the Mildura Kart Club (Go-Kart racing), Timmis Speedway (Automobile speedway), Olympic Park Speedway (

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 ...

), Sunset Strip (1/8-mile drag racing), and North West Victoria Motorcycle Club. (Off-road motorcycle racing). The Mildura TT Circuit hosted the Australian TT in the 1950s. Mildura has six swimming clubs and local competitions are regularly held during summer. Clubs train all year round. Mildura has a history of producing many country, state and national champions. The Sunraysia Baseball League plays during autumn and winter and has four baseball clubs in the league; Hawks, Saints, Eagles and Wanderers. There are four junior grades (U/7s, U/10s, U/13s and U/16s), three senior grades (A, B and C Grade) and a women's competition. Basketball is also popular in Mildura with hundreds of teams in all divisions entered in the Mildura Basketball Association's summer league.

Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

also has a large following in Mildura, with there being a popular junior and senior league played during the winter months. The league consists of six teams, those being Three Colours, Mildura City, Mildura United, Irymple Knights, Nichols Point and Northern Suns. Mildura is home to four field hockey teams (Koowinda, Mildura Wanderers, Rivaside and Waratahs) which compete in the Sunraysia Hockey Association. The association has grades for males and females, ranging from Under 9s to A grade. Roller Derby is a growing sport in the region, with Mildura having its own league, the Mildura Roller Derby League, which participates in competitions around Victoria and, at least annually, holds a tournament in Mildura. Mildura has a horse racing club, the Mildura Racing Club, which schedules around nine race meetings a year including the Mildura Cup meeting in May. The Mildura

Harness Racing Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Australia ...

Club conducts regular meetings at its racetrack in the city. Golfers play at the course of the Mildura Golf Club on Twelfth Street.

Transport

Mildura is on the intersection of the

Sturt Highway Sturt Highway is an Australian national highway in New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. It is an important road link for the transport of passengers and freight between Sydney and Adelaide and the regions along the route. Initiall ...

from

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

to Sydney and the

Calder Highway Calder Highway is a rural highway in Australia, linking Mildura and the Victoria/New South Wales border to Bendigo, in North Central Victoria. South of Bendigo, where the former highway has been upgraded to freeway-standard, Calder Freeway li ...

to Melbourne via

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is an Australian city in north-central Victoria. The city is located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2022, Bendigo has a popula ...

. Deakin Avenue, the main street of Mildura, is known as the longest straight avenue in Australia, at 12.1 km. CDC Mildura, BusBiz and

Dysons Dyson Group of Companies, operating as Dysons, is a bus and coach operator in Victoria, Australia. The oldest of its subsidiary companies is L.C. Dysons Bus Services, which was founded in June 1952 and is based in Bundoora, Victoria, Bundoora ...

operate

V/Line V/Line is a statutory authority that operates Regional rail, regional passenger rail and Intercity bus service, coach services in the Australian state of Victoria (state), Victoria. It provides passenger train services on five Commuter rail, ...

bus services that connect Mildura to various parts of Victoria and southern New South Wales.

Greyhound Australia Greyhound Australia is an Australian coach operator that operates services in all mainland states and territories. It is owned by Entrada Travel Group. The company was established in 1928 and is not affiliated with similarly named companies ...

run buses to Adelaide and Sydney via

NSW TrainLink NSW TrainLink is a regional train and coach operator in Australia, providing services throughout New South Wales and into Australian Capital Territory, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria (state), Victoria, Queensland and South Australia ...

run buses to Sydney. The Henty Highway Bus Service runs buses to

Horsham Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

. Mildura has a railway connection to Melbourne, which is used for freight transport that generally runs three times a week in each direction. In May 2006, it was announced that the Mildura line would receive a $73 million upgrade using gauge convertible sleepers.

Mildura Airport Mildura Airport is located southwest of Mildura, Victoria, Australia. It is the busiest regional airport in Victoria, the 33rd busiest Australian airport Refers to "Regular Public Transport (RPT) operations only" and has twice been named Au ...

is the busiest regional airport in Victoria.

Education

St Joseph's College

In 1905, a small group of Sisters of Mercy came from Wentworth to Mildura and established a convent in a weatherboard building on the corner of Pine Avenue and Tenth Street. Catholic secondary education commenced in Mildura in 1906 when the Sisters of Mercy began conducting classes in rooms attached to the original convent in Pine Avenue. The Certificate of Registration of a School, dated 31 December 1906, indicates that sub-primary, primary and secondary classes were being conducted from the convent at the time. In 1911 boarding school facilities were provided in Olive Avenue and in 1914 a new school was erected in Walnut Avenue. The first buildings of St Joseph's College at its present site were opened in 1929. The college has well equipped classrooms, science and computer laboratories, creative arts and design and technology complex, religious education centre, library, sports facilities, staff and student amenities.

Mildura Senior College

The college has been closely linked with the development of Mildura since the opening of the irrigation settlement by the Chaffeys in the 1880s. In 1890 the Governor of Victoria, Lord Hopetoun, laid the foundation stone of what was to become the Chaffey Agricultural College but, due to financial difficulties, the college was not built. In 1911, the Education Department of Victoria agreed to erect a high school on the Chaffey College site and Mildura High School was officially opened in September 1912. The diamond jubilee of the school was celebrated on 8 and 9 September 1972. It celebrated its 75th anniversary in August 1987 and in 2012 celebrated its centenary over the weekend of 14–16 September. As part of a strategic plan by the Ministry of Education in 1990, Mildura High School changed its name to Mildura Secondary College to reflect the changing nature of educational delivery in secondary schools. Again, as a result of restructuring in education provision since 1995, the college has been known as Mildura Senior College, catering exclusively for the final two years of secondary education. Mildura Senior College caters exclusively for Year 11 & 12 students. In 2013 there will be approximately 500 students in Year 11 and 400 in Year 12. Entrance to Year 11 is open to all students living in the Sunraysia District who have successfully completed Year 10. The decision regarding the satisfactory completion of Year 10 is the responsibility of the 7-10 College. Enrolment at the College is also dependent on factors such as age, behaviour record and other achievements. Please see the section on enrolment for further information.

Chaffey Secondary College

Chaffey Secondary College is a Victorian state government secondary school catering for students in Years 7 to 10 located in Deakin Avenue. In 2012 the college had 640 students enrolled. The college offers 120 to 140 different courses each term as part of its modular learning program. Students and families participate in a program of course counselling and student-led presentations each term to help students create the most appropriate course for their ability, pathway and interests. The college has a double-court gymnasium which it operates as a joint-use facility with the Mildura Rural City Council. The college operates a small theatre with seating for up to 220 people.

Sunraysia Institute of TAFE

Sunraysia Institute of TAFE's main campus is located in Benetook Avenue. In 2008, the institute had 6,592 students enrolled.

La Trobe University

La Trobe University operates a regional campus in Mildura, with 500 students enrolled as of 14 February 2018.

In popular culture

Two

Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond. The Chief of Navy is also jointly responsible to the Minister for D ...

vessels have been named after Mildura, HMAS Mildura and HMS Mildura. The songs "Mildura (Home of Mine)" and "Come to Mildura – the Land of Winter Sunshine" were written by Reg. Stoneham in the 1920s. G. H. Ball's "My Old Home Town (Mildura)" was recorded on the B-side of John Collinson's first recording of "

Waltzing Matilda "Waltzing Matilda" is a song developed in the Australian style of poetry and folk music called a bush ballad. It has been described as the country's "unofficial national anthem". The title was Australian slang for travelling on foot (waltzing ...

" in 1926.

Sister cities

Upland, California Upland is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States, on the border with neighboring Los Angeles County. The municipality is located at an elevation of . As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, which, like Mildura, was established as an irrigation community by George and William ChaffeyChaffey, William Benjamin (1856–1926)
by Peter Westcott, Australian Dictionary of Biography, accessed March 30, 2013 * Kumatori,

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Dali City Dali City (, Bai: or ) is the county-level seat of the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture in northwestern Yunnan, China. Dali City is administered through 12 township-level districts, two of which are also commonly referred to as Dali. Xiag ...

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

References

External links

Official Tourism Website – Mildura

Murray River info – Mildura

Mildura Bureau of Meteorology Field Office

Watch historical footage of Mildura and surrounds
dating from 1920-2001 from the

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting, and providing access to a national c ...

of Australia's collection.
Mildura - Visit NSW
{{Authority control Mildura Rural City of Mildura Cities in Victoria (state) Planned communities in Australia Wine regions of Victoria (state) Populated places on the Murray River 1887 establishments in Australia