Bombala, New South Wales

Bombala is a town in the Monaro region of south-eastern New South Wales, Australia, in Bombala Council. It is located approximately 485 km kilometres south of the state capital, Sydney, and 80 km kilometres south of the town of Cooma. The name derives from an Aboriginal word meaning "Meeting of the waters". The town lies on the banks of the Bombala River. At the 2006 census, Bombala had a population of 1,206 people.



Bombala was proposed in 1903 by King O'Malley as the site of the parliamentary seat of Australia. It was considered as a location because it was half way between the two cities of Sydney and Melbourne. The proposal was ultimately rejected in favour of Canberra. The railway reached Bombala in 1921 and closed in 1986 The town lies on the banks of the Bombala River being an extension of the line from Queanbeyan to Cooma. The line was and still is known as the Goulburn to Bombala line.

Principal industries of the area include grazing and timber. Tourism is also growing in importance to the local economy. There is also a small amount of specialty producers with meat rabbits, lavender and many herbs being grown in the district. Delegate situated 36km west of Bombala is the next largest town in the Bombala Shire. The Snowy River March which commenced from Delegate in 1916 went via Bombala to Goulburn.

The timber industry has slowly began to overtake many of the historic properties surrounding Bombala, such as the over 150 year old property of Aston, 10 km south-west of the township.

The area is known for possibly the largest population of Platypus in New South Wales and promotes the area as Platypus Country.