Kyabram is a large town in north central Victoria, Australia. Kyabram is located in the centre of a rich irrigation district in the Goulburn River Valley, north of Melbourne. It is the second-largest town in the Shire of Campaspe, situated between the towns of Echuca and Shepparton and is close to the Murray River, Goulburn River, Campaspe River and Waranga Basin. As of the 2011 census the town had a population of 7,321 people and provides services to a district population of around 16,000. The name of the town is thought to derive from an Aboriginal word Kiambram meaning "Thick Forest".
History
The Bangerang people were the original inhabitants of the Goulburn valley. The township started in the 1870s with the first sale of town blocks held in 1876. Kyabram Post Office opened on 23 September 1878. Sheridan Post Office opened on 1 December 1884. On 8 April 1886, in anticipation of the arrival of the railway at what was then Sheridan, Kyabram was renamed Kyabram East and Sheridan was renamed Kyabram. The Kyabram Mechanics' Institute was built in 1891. John Allan, who lived in Kyabram from 1873, became Premier of Victoria in 1924 and Australia's first Country Party premier. Allan was associated with the Kyabram Reform Movement, a conservative political organisation formed at the start of the 20th century and led by Benjamin Goddard, a local businessman. The movement's campaign played a significant role in the downfall of the Peacock state government in June 1902 and its sound defeat in the subsequent September elections. The incoming Irvine government substantially reduced the number of state parliamentarians, a key demand of the movement. Kyabram was formally proclaimed a town on 4 July 1973. The Kyabram Magistrates' Court closed on 1 January 1990.
Economy
The district is dependent on the primary industries of dairying and fruit orchards. Henry Jones IXL, a subsidiary of SPC Ardmona, operate a plant in the town, manufacturing IXL jams. The town provides engineering, financial advisors, solicitors and accounting services to the district. Nestlé, Southern Processing Ltd and Fonterra all have food processing plants nearby. Medical and aged care services in the town include a 46-bed hospital, a 30-bed home for the aged, infant welfare centre, ambulance station, several doctors, dentists and other health practitioners. In education Kyabram has now combined three state schools to one P-12 school containing three campuses. Kyabram also has a Catholic primary and secondary school, two kindergartens and the Kyabram Community & Learning Centre providing community services and adult learning opportunities for the people of Kyabram and the surrounding region. The local newspaper is called the Kyabram Free Press, a part of the McPherson media group in the region, with a circulation of roughly 3,300 copies. Surrounding smaller towns include Merrigum, Lancaster, Undera, Cooma, Wyuna, Kyvalley, Girgarre, Stanhope and Tongala. Attractions include the Kyabram Fauna Park, a reserve housing five hundred species of wildlife. There are free-roaming kangaroos and emus and hides to observe a variety of water birds.
Sport
Popular sports in Kyabram include Australian rules football and cricket. Jim Higgs was a spin bowler from Kyabram who played for Australia during the late 1970s. The localfootball team is known as the Bombers who compete in the Goulburn Valley Football League. Kyabram has produced a number of AFL recruits such as GWS utility and former Richmond best-and-fairest Brett Deledio, former Melbourne & Victorian Captain Garry Lyon, Richmond's Kayne Pettifer, Brisbane's Patrick Wearden, Hawthorn's Cohen Myers, Carlton's Nick Holman, former North Melbourne rookie Brad Mangan, and Kyabrams first AFLW's player, Julia Crockett-Grills. Netball and soccer are also popular in Kyabram. Golfers play at the course of the Kyabram Valley View Golf and Bowls Club on Curr Road, Mount Scobie, or at the Kyabram Parkland Golf Club, the home of the Victorian Par 3 Amateur Championships, on Racecourse Rd, Kyabram.
Notable residents
In 2016, former resident Kristen Hilton was appointed Victoria's Human Rights Commissioner, head of the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission. Kyabram is referenced by Irish singer-songwriter Declan O'Rourke on his debut album Since Kyabram. O'Rourke picked up his first acoustic guitar while living in the town as a teenager.
