Warracknabeal

Warracknabeal (/ˈwɒrɪknəbiːl/ WORR-ik-nə-beel) is a town in the Australian state of Victoria, located in the Victorian wheatbelt. Situated on the banks of the Yarriambiack Creek, 330 km northwest of Melbourne, it is the business and services centre of the northern Wimmera and southern Mallee districts, and hosts local government offices of the Shire of Yarriambiack. At the 2021 census, the Warracknabeal township had a population of 2,359.

The original inhabitants of the area around Warracknabeal were the Wotjobaluk tribe of Aboriginal people. The town's name is believed to derive from an Aboriginal expression meaning "place of big gums shading the water hole". The earliest European settlers in the area included Andrew and Robert Scott, who established the first run of the name.

The Post Office opened on 1 September 1861 and was known as Werracknebeal until 1885.

Among the historical buildings are a 1872 prison cell built from red and yellow gum, a Tudor-style post office, several 19th-century hotels and pubs, and a four-storey water tower from 1886. There is also an agricultural machinery museum housing pieces from the history of farming in the Mallee and Wimmera districts.

The Warracknabeal Magistrates' Court closed on 1 January 1990.

Warracknabeal's bounded locality includes the rural neighbourhoods of Batchica 36°11′10″S 142°23′54″E / 36.1862°S 142.3982°E / -36.1862; 142.3982 (Batchica), whose post office opened as Yellangip South in 1908, renamed Batchica in 1909, and closed in 1931; Challambra 36°14′46″S 142°31′53″E / 36.2460°S 142.5315°E / -36.2460; 142.5315 (Challambra), whose post office opened as Challamba Dam (sic) around 1902, which was renamed Challamba in 1905 and closed in 1918; and Mellis 36°17′47″S 142°28′57″E / 36.2963°S 142.4824°E / -36.2963; 142.4824 (Mellis), whose post office opened around 1907 and closed in 1954.

The formally recognised traditional owners for the area in which Warracknabeal sits are the Wotjobaluk, Jaadwa, Jadawadjali, Wergaia and Jupagik nations. These nations are represented by the Barengi Gadjin Land Council Aboriginal Corporation.

As of the 2021 census, 2,359 people resided in Warracknabeal, a slight decline from 2,438 in the 2016 census, with several hundred more living in the surrounding district. Per the 2016 censes, the median age of persons in Warracknabeal was 50 years. Children aged 0–14 years made up 16% of the population. People over the age of 65 years made up 27.8 percent of the population. There are slightly more females than males, with 50.2% of the population female and 49.8% male. The average household size is 2.1 persons per household. The average number of children per family for families with children is 1.9.