Kyabram

Kyabram is located in the centre of a rich irrigation district in the Goulburn River Valley, 200 kilometres north of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Kyabram, the second largest town in the Shire of Campaspe. is situated between the towns of Echuca and Shepparton and is close to the Murray River. As of the 2006 census the town had a population of 7108 people and provides services to a district population of around 16,000.

The township started in the 1870s with town blocks sold 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 name of the town is thought to derive from an Aboriginal word Kiambram meaning "Thick Forest". The Bangerang people were the previous settlers in the Goulburn valley. 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 at the start of the twentieth century, a political campaign which succeeded in reducing the number of state parliamentarians.

Kyabram was formally proclaimed a town on 4 July 1973.

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 (Tongala), Heinz (Girgarre) and Bonlac (Stanhope) 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 (Kyabram Secondary College, Dawes Rd and Haslem St Primary Schools) to one P-12 school containing three campuses (Dawes, Haslem and Fisher). Kyabram also has a Roman Catholic primary and secondary school (St Augustine's), 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 3300 copies (Victorian Country Press Association 2008).

Surrounding smaller towns include Merrigum (pop. 490), Lancaster, Undera, Cooma, Wyuna, Kyvalley, Girgarre, Stanhope and Tongala.

Attractions include the Kyabram Fauna Park, a 55 hectare 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 local football team is known as the Bombers who compete in the Goulburn Valley Football League. Kyabram has produced a number of AFL recruits such as Brett Deledio and Kayne Pettifer, both at Richmond. Other players include former Melbourne & Victorian Captain Gary Lyon. 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
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.