Ballarat

Ballarat (/ˌbæləˈræt/ BAL-ə-RAT)[3] is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201,[4] making it the third largest city in Victoria.[5][6]

Ballarat
Victoria
Aerial view of Ballarat Central with Mt. Warrenheip on the horizon
Ballarat
Coordinates37°33′39″S 143°50′51″E
Population116,201 (2021)[1] (19th)
 • Density338.19/km2 (875.90/sq mi)
Established1838
Postcode(s)3350
Elevation435–630 m (1,427–2,067 ft) AHD
Area343.6 km2 (132.7 sq mi)[2] (2016 census – SUA)
Time zoneAEST (UTC+10)
 • Summer (DST)AEDT (UTC+11)
Location
LGA(s)City of Ballarat
State electorate(s)
  • Eureka
  • Ripon
  • Wendouree
Federal division(s)Ballarat
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall
17.7 °C
64 °F
6.6 °C
44 °F
689.4 mm
27.1 in

Within months of Victoria separating from the colony of New South Wales in 1851, gold was discovered near Ballarat, sparking the Victorian gold rush. Ballarat subsequently became a thriving boomtown that for a time rivalled Melbourne, the capital of Victoria, in terms of wealth and cultural influence. In 1854, following a period of civil disobedience in Ballarat over gold licenses, local miners launched an armed uprising against government forces. Known as the Eureka Rebellion, it led to the introduction of male suffrage in Australia, and as such is interpreted as the origin of Australian democracy. The rebellion's symbol, the Eureka Flag, has become a national symbol. It was on display at Ballarat's Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka (MADE) from 2013 until MADE closed in 2018.

Proclaimed a city in 1871, Ballarat's prosperity, unlike that of many other gold boomtowns, continued until the late 19th century, as the city's fields experienced sustained high gold yields for many decades. By the turn of the century, Ballarat's importance relative to Melbourne rapidly faded with the slowing of gold extraction. It has endured as a major regional centre and is the commercial capital and largest city of the Central Highlands, as well as a significant tourist destination. Ballarat is known for its history, culture and well-preserved colonial-era heritage, with much of the city subject to heritage overlays.

History

Prehistory and European settlement

The Ballarat region was first populated by the Wadawurrung people, an Indigenous Australian people.[7] The first Europeans to sight the area were an 1837 party of six mostly Scottish squatters from Geelong, led by Somerville Learmonth and Brendan Birch, who were in search of land less affected by the severe drought for their sheep to graze. The party scaled Mount Buninyong; among them were Somerville's brother Thomas Livingstone Learmonth, William Cross Yuille and Henry Anderson, all three of whom later claimed land in what is now Ballarat.

The Yuille family, Scottish settlers Archibald Buchanan Yuille and his brother William Cross Yuille, arrived in 1837 and squatted a 10,000-acre (4,000 ha) sheep run. The first houses were built near Woolshed Creek by William Yuille and Anderson (Sebastopol), while Yuille erected a hut at Black Swamp (Lake Wendouree) in 1838. Outsiders originally knew of the settlement as Yuille's Station and Yuille's Swamp. Archibald Yuille named the area "Ballaarat". Some claim the name is derived from a local Wathaurong Aboriginal word for the area, balla arat. The meaning of this word is not certain; however several translations have been made and it is generally thought to mean "resting place". In some dialects, balla means "bent elbow", which is translated to mean reclining or resting and arat meaning "place".[8] Another claim is that the name derives from Yuille's native Gaelic Baile Ararat (Town of Ararat), alluding to the resting place of Noah's Ark. The present spelling was officially adopted by the City of Ballarat in 1996.

Gold rush era

Painting by Eugene von Guerard of Ballarat's tent city in the summer of 1853–54.

The first publicised discovery of gold in the region was by Thomas Hiscock on 2 August 1851, in Buninyong to the south.[9] The find brought other prospectors to the area and on 19 August 1851, more gold was found at Poverty Point.[10] Within days, a gold rush began, bringing thousands of prospectors to the Yarrowee Valley, which became known as the Ballarat diggings. Yields were particularly high, with the first prospectors in the area extracting between half an ounce[11] (which was more than the average wage of the time) and up to five ounces of alluvial gold per day. As news of the Victorian gold rush reached the world, Ballarat gained an international reputation as a particularly rich goldfield. As a result, a huge influx of immigrants occurred, including many from Ireland and China, gathering in a collection of prospecting shanty towns around the creeks and hills. Within a few months, numerous alluvial runs were established, several deep mining leads began, and the population had swelled to over 1,000 people.[12]

The first post office opened on 1 November 1851, the first to open in a Victorian gold-mining settlement.[13] Parts of the district were first surveyed by William Urquhart[14] as early as October 1851.[15] By 1852 his grid plan and wide streets for land sales in the new township of West Ballarat,[16] built upon a plateau of basalt, contrasted markedly with the existing narrow unplanned streets, tents, and gullies of the original East Ballarat settlement. The new town's main streets of the time were named in honour of police commissioners and gold commissioners of the time, with the main street, Sturt Street, named after Evelyn Pitfield Shirley Sturt; Dana Street named after Henry Dana; Lydiard Street after his assistant; Doveton Street after Francis Crossman Doveton, Ballarat's first gold commissioner; Armstrong after David Armstrong; and Mair Street after William Mair.[17] These officials were based at the government encampment (after which nearby Camp Street was named), which was strategically positioned on an escarpment with an optimal view over the district's diggings.

The first newspaper, The Banner, published on 11 September 1853, was one of many to be distributed during the gold-rush period. Print media played a large role in the early history of the settlement.[18] Ballarat attracted a sizable number of miners from the Californian 1848 gold rush, and some were known as Ballafornians.[19]

Troopers storm the rebels' stockade during the 1854 Eureka Rebellion.

Civil disobedience in Ballarat led to an armed civil uprising, the Eureka Rebellion (colloquially referred to as the "Eureka Stockade") which took place in Ballarat on 3 December 1854. The event, in which 22 miners were killed, is considered to be a defining moment in Australian history.

The city earned the nickname "The Golden City" in the 1850s.[20] The gold rush population peaked at almost 60,000, mostly male diggers, by 1858.[21] However the early population was largely itinerant. As quickly as the alluvial deposits drew prospectors to Ballarat, the rate of gold extraction fluctuated and, as they were rapidly worked dry, many quickly moved to rush other fields as new findings were announced, particularly Mount Alexander in 1852, Fiery Creek[22] in 1855, and Ararat in 1857. By 1859, a smaller number of permanent settlers numbering around 23,000,[23] many of whom had built personal wealth in gold, established a prosperous economy based around a shift to deep underground gold mining.

Confidence of the city's early citizens in the enduring future of their city is evident in the sheer scale of many of the early public buildings, generous public recreational spaces, and opulence of many of its commercial establishments and private housing. A local steam locomotive industry developed from 1854 with the Phoenix Foundry operating until 1906.[24] The railway came to the town with the opening of the Geelong–Ballarat line in 1862 and Ballarat developed as a major railway town.[25] As the city grew the region's original indigenous inhabitants were quickly expelled to the fringe and by 1867 few remained.[7]

Post gold rush

The intersection of Lydiard and Sturt streets, c. 1905, shows a bustling city of trams, horses and pedestrians.

From the late 1860s to the early 20th century, Ballarat made a successful transition from a gold rush town to an industrial-age city. The ramshackle tents and timber buildings gradually made way for permanent buildings, many impressive structures of solid stone and brick mainly built from wealth generated by early mining.

Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh visited between 9 and 13 December 1867 and as the first royal visit, the occasion was met with great fanfare.[26] The Prince Room was prepared at Craigs Royal Hotel for his stay.[27] The city's first civic centre—Prince Alfred Hall—erected over the Yarrowee between the two municipalities, was named in his honour during his visit. The later attempt by Ballaratian Henry James O'Farrell to assassinate the Prince was met with shock and great horror from locals.[26]

Ballarat was proclaimed a city in 1871. Gong Gong dam was built in 1877 to alleviate flooding and to provide a permanent water supply. A direct railway to Melbourne was completed in December 1889.[28] Many industries and workshops had been established as a result of manufacturing and servicing for the deep lead mining industry.

20th century

Development of the Ballarat North Workshops was a major initiative to capitalise on the city's burgeoning role as a railway town and transition from a declining gold mining industry.

Local boosterists at the start of the 20th century adopted the nickname "Athens of Australia", first used to describe Ballarat by the jurist and politician Sir John Madden.[29][30][31][32] The first electricity supply was completed in 1901, and that year a bluestone power station was built at the corner of Ripon Street and Wendouree Parade with the main aim of electrifying the city's tramway network.[33] Despite such advancements, mining activity slowed at this time and Ballarat's growth all but stopped, leading to a decades-long period of decline. The Sunshine rail disaster in 1908 resulted in the death of dozens of Ballarat residents,[34] and in August 1909, a great storm lashed the city, resulting in the death of one person and the injury of seven others, as well as the destruction of numerous homes.[35][36]

Ballarat's significant representation in World War I resulted in heavy human loss. Around this time, it was overtaken in population by the port city of Geelong, further diminishing its provincial status.[37] In response, local lobbyists continually pushed the Victorian government for decentralisation, the greatest success being the Victorian Railways opening the Ballarat North Workshops in April 1917.[38] The Great Depression proved a further setback for Ballarat, with the closure of many institutions and causing the worst unemployment in the city's history, with over a thousand people in the dole queue.[26]:38

The city's two municipalities, Ballarat East and West Town Councils, finally amalgamated in 1921 to form the City of Ballarat.[26]:32

While deep, the depression was also brief. The interwar period proved a period of recovery for Ballarat with a number of major infrastructure projects well underway including a new sewerage system. In 1930, Ballarat Airport was established. By 1931, Ballarat's economy and population was recovering strongly with further diversification of industry, although in 1936 Geelong displaced it as the state's second largest city.[39] During World War II an expanded Ballarat airport was the base of the RAAF Wireless Air Gunners' School as well as the base for USAAF Liberator bomber squadrons. In 1942, Ballarat became connected to the state electricity grid by a 66,000 kV line.[33] Prior to this, power supply was generated locally.

During World War II, Ballarat was the location of RAAF No.1 Inland Aircraft Fuel Depot (IAFD), completed in 1942 in the defence of Australia against a Japanese invasion and decommissioned on 29 August 1944. Usually consisting of four tanks, 31 fuel depots were built across Australia for the storage and supply of aircraft fuel for the RAAF and the US Army Air Forces at a total cost of £900,000 ($1,800,000).[40]

In the post-war era, Ballarat's growth continued. In response to an acute housing shortage, significant suburban expansion occurred. An extensive Housing Commission of Victoria estate was built on the former Ballarat Common (today known as Wendouree West).[41] The estate was originally planned to contain over 750 prefabricated houses. While planning for the estate began in 1949, main construction occurred between 1951 and 1962.

The 1950s brought a new optimism to the city. On 17 April 1952 it was announced that Lake Wendouree was to be the venue for rowing events of the 1956 Summer Olympics,[26] and work soon began on an Olympic village in Gillies Street. A new prefabricted power terminal substation at Norman Street Ballarat North was constructed between 1951 and 1953 by the State Electricity Commission.[42] The first Begonia Festival, a highly successful community celebration, was held in 1953. Elizabeth II visited on 8 March 1954.[26] The Civic Centre, Prince Alfred Hall had burned down suspiciously that year; however a new Civic Hall was constructed and opened in March 1955. On 23 November 1956, the Olympic torch was carried through the city, and the following day the rowing events were held at the lake.[26] On 2 March 1958 the Queen Mother visited Ballarat.

During the following decades, the city saw increased threats to its heritage. In 1964, the Ballarat City Council passed laws banning pillar-supported verandahs in the CBD, which threatened the removal of historic cast iron verandahs in the city. The by-law was met by staunch opposition from the National Trust, which had begun campaigning to protect some of the city's most historic buildings.[26]:58 By the 1970s, Ballarat began to officially recognise its substantial heritage, and the first heritage controls were recommended to ensure its preservation. With the opening of Sovereign Hill, the city made a rapid shift to become a major cultural tourist destination, visited by thousands each year.

During the 1970s, a further 300 houses were constructed at Wendouree West. Private housing in the adjacent suburb of Wendouree closely matched and eventually eclipsed this by the mid-1960s. The suburb of greater Wendouree and Wendouree West had evolved as the suburban middle-class heart of the city. Charles, Prince of Wales visited Ballarat on 28 October 1974 during which he toured Sovereign Hill, the Ballarat College of Advanced Education's new Mt Helen Campus and the White Swan Reservoir and spoke at Civic Hall.[43]

Ballarat played an important role in the Stolen Generation throughout the 20th century, where the Ballarat Orphanage saw Aboriginal children who had been taken from their families. The Ballarat and District Aboriginal Co-operative (BADAC) was established by members of the Ballarat and district Aboriginal community in 1979. It became a co-operative to deliver health, social, welfare and community development programs to local Aboriginal people. In 2017, local Aboriginal community elder Ted Lovett was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for services to the indigenous community and for his works in eliminating racism in sports in south-west Victoria. Karen Heap and Ted Lovett were listed on the Victoria's Aboriginal Honour Role both in part for their work at BADAC.[44]

21st century

View of central Ballarat from St Peter's Anglican Church

The city continued to grow at the national average throughout the late 20th century and early 21st century. In 2008 the City of Ballarat released a plan directing that growth of the city over the next 30 years is to be concentrated to the west of the city centre. The Ballarat West Growth Area Plan was approved by the city and state government in 2010, planning an extensive fringe development consisting of 14,000 new homes and up to 40,000 new residents including new activity centres and employment zones.[45][46]

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse final report, published on 15 December 2017, found that 139 people made a claim of child sexual abuse to the Diocese of Ballarat between 1980 and 2015, and 21 alleged perpetrators were identified in these claims. Seventeen of the 21 alleged and convicted perpetrators were priests, which is 8.7% of the priests who ministered during this period.[47] About 45 victims are estimated to have committed suicide.[48]

Geography

Ballarat's skyline is hidden from this view of the city looking east across Lake Wendouree to Mount Warrenheip.
Mount Warrenheip dominating the skyline from Dawson Street, with the town hall clock tower on the right.

Ballarat lies at the foothills of the Great Dividing Range in Central Western Victoria. Also known as the Central Highlands, it is named so because of its elevated position and moderate hills and terrain with a lack of any alpine mountains that are situated a few hundred kilometres NE. The city lies within a mostly gently undulating section of the midland volcanic plains which stretch from Creswick in the north, to Rokewood in the south, and from Lal Lal in the south-east to Pittong in the west.

Geologically, the area consists of alluvial sediment and volcanic flows originating from now-extinct volcanoes such as nearby Buninyong (750m, 2460 ft) and Warrenheip (746m, 2446 ft), which are the area's tallest peaks. As a result, the basin contains large areas of fertile agricultural soil.[49] Ballarat itself is situated on an alluvial basin of the Yarrowee catchment and its tributary creeks, penetrated by sub-ranges of schists composed of granites and quartz. Along with the visible river and creeks, the catchment basin has numerous active and inactive aquifers and natural wetlands, which are used for urban water supply, agriculture and recreation.

There are numerous densely forested areas around Ballarat; however due to historic wood milling and land clearing there remain no old-growth forests. The major natural bodies of water are in the west and include the former shallow swamps of Lake Wendouree which is central to the city's western suburbs and beyond Winter's Swamp and the large Lake Burrumbeet wetland complex. Almost all of the other numerous bodies of water have been created artificially and include several reservoirs, the largest being the White Swan Reservoir and smaller suburban lakes such as Lake Esmond.

The contiguous urban area of Ballarat covers approximately 90 km2 (35 sq mi) of the local government area's 740 km2 (286 sq mi).[50] Approximately 90% of the urban area's land use is residential and suburban.[50] From the city centre this area extends approximately 6 kilometres (4 miles) north to the hills around Invermay, approximately 7.5 km (4.7 mi) east to Leigh Creek in the foothills of Mount Warrenheip, approximately 7 km (4 mi) west along the plains to Lucas and approximately 8.5 km (5.3 mi) south along the Yarrowee River and Canadian Creek valley to the fringe of Buninyong.[17] The central city is situated low in the valley of the Yarrowee River and surrounded by hills such that the city skyline is visible only from the hills and the lower lying inner eastern suburbs. The reach of the Yarrowee River toward Ballarat Central becomes a stormwater drain and is completely covered over as it flows under the CBD.

Urban structure

Map of the urban area (grey) and the extent of the municipal area

The city is home to nationally significant heritage structures. These include the Ballarat Botanical Gardens (established 1857),[51] with the greatest concentration of public statuary,[52] the official Prime Ministers Avenue, the longest running lyric theatre building (Her Majesty's Theatre, established 1875),[53] the first municipal observatory, established 1886,[54] and the earliest and longest war memorial avenue (the Avenue of Honour, established between 1917 and 1919).[55]

Ballarat is a primarily low-rise city. The City of Ballarat defines two Major Activity Centres within the urban area – the Central Business District (CBD) and Wendouree with a high concentration of business, retail and community function based primarily on the Melbourne 2030 planning model and a further 11 neighbourhood activity centres.[56] The tallest building in urban Ballarat is the seven-storey Henry Bolte wing of the Ballarat Base Hospital (1994). Beyond the central area, urban Ballarat extends into several suburban areas with a mixture of housing styles. Predominant styles are 19th-century villas, Victorian terraces,[57] Federation homes and Georgian red brick homes. Settlement patterns around Ballarat consist of small villages and country towns, some with less than a few thousand people.

The Central Business District (located in Ballarat Central) is a large mixed-use office and retail district bounded to the north by railway lines, to the west by Drummond Street, to the south to Grant street and to the east by Princes Street and spanning the floodplain of the Yarrowee River. Lydiard, Sturt Streets, Armstrong, Doveton, Dana Street and Bridge Street (known as Bridge Mall) along with the historic centre of East Ballarat—Main Street and Bakery Hill have retained stands of commercial and civic buildings of state and national heritage significance.

The inner established suburbs were initially laid out around the key mining areas and include Ballarat East, Bakery Hill, Golden Point, Soldiers Hill, Black Hill, Brown Hill, Eureka, Canadian, Mount Pleasant, Redan, Sebastopol and Newington.

The post gold rush era has seen a boom in expansion, extending the conurbation north, south and west. To the west, Ballarat has expanded West to Lucas, Alfredton, Delacombe To The North West Wendouree, Wendouree West and Miners Rest To the north it has expanded to Ballarat North, Invermay Park,[58] Invermay, Victoria[59] Invermay and Nerrina; to the east to Warrenheip and south to Sebastopol, Mount Clear and Mount Helen with the urban area encroaching the large town of Buninyong.

Wendouree is currently the only major suburban activity centre with a large indoor shopping mall—Stockland Shopping Centre (expanded in 2007[60]) and also has a number of surrounding retail parks including a strip shopping centre along Howitt Street including the large retail chain Harvey Norman. Elsewhere are small suburban hubs with supermarkets such as IGA (supermarkets) and small stretches of shopfronts.

Unlike Melbourne, Ballarat does not have a defined urban growth boundary.[61] This has put continuing pressure on the city council to approve development applications for subdivisions outside of the city fringe. In response to lobbying by landholders, the Ballarat West Growth Area Plan, a major greenfield land development plan, was prepared and has approved by the city and state government to allow for planned fringe communities consisting of 14,000 new homes and up to 40,000 new residents, effectively doubling the city's urban area by extending the urban sprawl from Sebastopol, Delacombe and Alfredton west toward Bonshaw, Smythes Creek and Cardigan[45][46] with a new suburb to be known as Lucas to be created.[62] New activity centres have been developed at Delacombe and Alfredton.

Architecture

Victorian era buildings

Ballarat is renowned for its Victorian architectural heritage. In 2003 Ballarat was the first of two Australian cities to be registered as a member of the International League of Historical Cities and in 2006 hosted the 10th World League of Historical Cities Congress.[63] The city's history is a major focus of the Collaborative Research Centre in Australian History, part of Federation University Australia, and is located at old Ballarat Gaol.

The legacy of the wealth generated during Ballarat's gold boom is still visible in a large number of fine stone buildings in and around the city, especially in the Lydiard Street area. This precinct contains some of Victoria's finest examples of Victorian era buildings, many of which are on the Victorian Heritage Register or classified by the National Trust of Australia. Notable civic buildings include the Town Hall (1870–72), the former Post Office (1864), the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery (1887), the Mechanics' Institute (1860, 1869), the Queen Victoria Wards of the Ballarat Base Hospital (1890s) and the Ballarat railway station (1862, 1877, 1888). Other historic buildings include the Provincial Hotel (1909), Reid's Coffee Palace (1886), Craig's Royal Hotel (1862–1890) and Her Majesty's Theatre (1875), the oldest intact and operating lyric theatre in Australia[53] and Ballarat Fire Station (1864, 1911) one of Victoria's oldest fire fighting structures[64] and the Jewish synagogue (1861) the oldest surviving synagogue on the Australian mainland.[65]

Streetscape with the former Post Office at the rear
Ballarat East Fire Station, the oldest continually operating fire station in the Southern Hemisphere, and the site of the first operational telephone, made by Henry Sutton.

Restoration of historic buildings is encouraged including a low interest council Heritage Loans Scheme.[66] and the prevention of demolition by neglect discouraged by council policies.[67] Since the 1970s,[68] the local council has become increasingly aware of the economic and social value of heritage preservation.[69] This is in stark contrast to the 1950s and 60s when Ballarat followed Melbourne in encouraging the removal of Victorian buildings, verandahs in particular. Recent restoration projects funded by the Ballarat include the reconstruction of significant cast iron lace verandahs including the Mining Exchange, Art Gallery (2007), Mechanics institute (2005–)[70] on Lydiard Street and in 2010 the restoration of the Town Hall and the long neglected Unicorn Hotel façade on Sturt Street.[71]

Ballarat Citizens for Thoughtful Development formed in 1998 and was incorporated as Ballarat Heritage Watch in 2005 to ensure that the city's architectural heritage is given due consideration in the planning process.[72]

The Ballarat Botanical Gardens (established in 1858) are recognised as the finest example of a regional botanical gardens in Australia and are home to many heritage listed exotic tree species and feature a modern glasshouse and horticultural centre and the Prime Ministers Avenue which features bronze busts of every past Australian Prime Minister.

Ballarat is notable for its very wide boulevards. The main street is Sturt Street and is considered one of the finest main avenues in Australia with over 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) of central gardens known as the Sturt Street Gardens featuring bandstands, fountains, statues, monuments, memorials and lampposts. Ballarat is home to the largest of a collection of Avenues of Honour in Victoria. The 15-kilometre-long (9.3-mile) Ballarat Avenue of Honour consists of a total of approximately 4,000 trees, mostly deciduous which in many parts arch completely over the road. Each tree has a bronze plaque dedicated to a soldier from the Ballarat region who enlisted during World War I. The Avenue of Honour and the Arch of Victory are on the Victorian Heritage Register and are seen by approximately 20,000 visitors each year.

The city also has the greatest concentration of public statuary in any Australian city with many parks and streets featuring sculptures and statues dating from the 1860s to the present. Some of the other notable memorials located in the Sturt Street Gardens in the middle of Ballarat's main boulevard include a bandstand situated in the heart of the city that was funded and built by the City of Ballarat Band in 1913 as a tribute to the bandsmen of the RMS Titanic, a fountain dedicated to the early explorers Burke and Wills, and those dedicated to monarchs and those who have played pivotal roles in the development of the city and its rich social fabric. These include, Robert Burns, Peter Lalor, Sir Albert Coates, Harold Edward Elliott (Pompey Elliot), William Dunstan, King George V, Queen Victoria and more.

Ballarat has an extensive array of significant war memorials, the most recent of which is the Australian Ex Prisoner of War Memorial. The most prominent memorial in the city is the Ballarat Victory Arch that spans the old Western Highway on the Western approaches of the city. The archway serves as the focal point for the Avenue of Honour. Other significant individual monuments located along Sturt Street include those dedicated to the Boer War (1899–1901), the World War II (1939–1945) cenotaph, and Vietnam (1962–1972) (located adjacent to the Arch of Victory).

Climate

Ballarat has a moderate oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb)[73][74] with four distinct seasons. Its elevation, ranging between 400 and 630 metres (1,310 and 2,070 feet) above sea level, causes its mean monthly temperatures to tend to be on average 3 to 5 °C (5 to 9 °F) below those of Melbourne, especially in winter. The mean daily maximum temperature for January is 25.1 °C (77 °F),[75] while the mean minimum is 10.9 °C (52 °F).[75] In July, the mean maximum is 10.0 °C (50 °F); average July minimum is 3.2 °C (38 °F). Ballarat has 55.2 clear days annually.[75]

The city has a well known reputation for unpredictable and extreme weather, ranging from snowfall to intense heatwaves.[76] Perhaps the most infamous feature of Ballarat's climate is the chilly winter, often accentuated by driving winds.[77]

Fog is common on autumn and winter mornings but usually dissipates by mid-morning.

Temperatures can dip below freezing from May to September, however a low of 0-2 C° is more common - widespread frosts and fog are a regular sight. Snowfall typically falls on nearby Mount Buninyong and Mount Warrenheip a few times a year, but in the urban area only once or twice, particularly during heavy winters. Snow has been known to fall heavily with several inches accumulating even in the CBD. Heavy snow seasons occurred in 1900–1902 and 1905–1907 (with record falls in 1906), and moderate snow seasons were recorded during the 1940s and 1980s. Snowfalls in the urban area have occurred in recent years: November 2006 (light),[78] July 2007 (heavy),[79][80] June 2008 (light),[81] August 2008 (light),[82] August 2014 (moderate)[83] and June 2016 (light),[84] July 2017 (light), June 2018 (moderate), May 2019 (light),[85] and August and September 2020 (light and heavy).[86]

Snowy scene in Sturt Gardens in 1905

The mean annual rainfall is 693 millimetres (27.3 inches),[75] with August being the wettest month (75 mm or 3.0 in). There are an average of 198 rain-free days per year.[75] Like much of Australia, Ballarat experiences cyclical drought and heavy rainfall. Flooding of the Yarrowee catchment occurs occasionally. In 1869 a serious flood of the Yarrowee River put most of the lower section of business district including Bridge and Grenville streets under water and caused the loss of two lives.[87] Prolonged drought (an average annual rainfall with falls averaging as low as 400 mm (16 in) per year since 2001) caused Lake Wendouree to dry up completely for the first time in its history between 2006 and 2007. More recently higher rainfall levels have been recorded including 95.0 mm (3.74 in) in the 24 hours to 9 am on 14 January 2011,[88] ending a four-day period of flooding rains across much of Victoria and Tasmania,[89][90][91] and contributing to the wettest January on record, with a total of 206.0 mm (8.11 in) of rain for the month.[88][92]

The city's mean daily wind run is 470 km,[93] almost twice that of Melbourne, making it one of the windiest cities in Australia. This in turn causes warm summers to feel substantially cooler and near freezing winter days to have a far below zero wind chill.[94]

Ballarat's highest maximum recorded temperature was 44.1 °C (111 °F) on 7 February 2009 during the 2009 southeastern Australia heat wave.[95] This was 2.1 °C (3.8 °F) above the previous record of 42.0 °C (108 °F), set on 25 January 2003. The lowest-ever recorded minimum was −6.3 °C (21 °F) at sunrise on 19 July 2015.[96]

Climate data for Ballarat (Ballarat Aerodrome: averages 1991–2020, records 1957–2021)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 42.0
(107.6)
44.1
(111.4)
37.9
(100.2)
32.2
(90.0)
26.1
(79.0)
21.6
(70.9)
19.1
(66.4)
23.0
(73.4)
27.9
(82.2)
33.4
(92.1)
37.3
(99.1)
43.5
(110.3)
44.1
(111.4)
Average high °C (°F) 26.2
(79.2)
25.7
(78.3)
22.9
(73.2)
18.4
(65.1)
14.2
(57.6)
10.9
(51.6)
9.9
(49.8)
11.3
(52.3)
14.1
(57.4)
17.3
(63.1)
20.4
(68.7)
23.5
(74.3)
18.0
(64.4)
Daily mean °C (°F) 18.1
(64.6)
18.4
(65.1)
16.2
(61.2)
12.6
(54.7)
9.8
(49.6)
7.3
(45.1)
6.6
(43.9)
7.4
(45.3)
9.1
(48.4)
11.1
(52.0)
13.9
(57.0)
15.9
(60.6)
12.2
(54.0)
Average low °C (°F) 11.0
(51.8)
11.5
(52.7)
9.9
(49.8)
7.0
(44.6)
5.1
(41.2)
3.6
(38.5)
3.0
(37.4)
3.1
(37.6)
4.4
(39.9)
5.9
(42.6)
7.9
(46.2)
9.5
(49.1)
6.9
(44.4)
Record low °C (°F) 0.7
(33.3)
−1.4
(29.5)
−0.6
(30.9)
−4.1
(24.6)
−4.5
(23.9)
−4.6
(23.7)
−6.3
(20.7)
−5.0
(23.0)
−4.6
(23.7)
−3.6
(25.5)
−1.0
(30.2)
−1.0
(30.2)
−5.6
(21.9)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 39.7
(1.56)
31.2
(1.23)
35.9
(1.41)
43.4
(1.71)
52.2
(2.06)
61.9
(2.44)
62.0
(2.44)
72.3
(2.85)
68.4
(2.69)
59.1
(2.33)
56.6
(2.23)
52.2
(2.06)
635.4
(25.02)
Average rainy days 7.7 6.9 8.5 11.7 15.8 18.2 19.9 18.6 16.8 14.5 11.8 10.5 160.9
Average afternoon relative humidity (%) 44 43 46 55 69 77 76 72 65 60 56 48 59
Source: [97][98]

Environment

Natural reserves and commons

Ballarat Town Common in autumn 2018

While there are no national parks in Ballarat's proximity, Ballarat is bordered by extensive bushland to the north, south and south west and sensitive wetlands to the east. The most central park to the city is the 130 ha Victoria Park, with a plethora of ovals and fields, playgrounds, walking tracks and quiet roads. There are a number of nearby state parks and large reserves including the Enfield State Park,[99] Creswick Regional Park, Mount Warrenheip Flora Reserve, Mount Buninyong Reserve and Lake Burrumbeet park. There are also smaller parks, like Black Hill, Victoria Park, Pioneer Park and Yarowee Reserve, located within walking distance of the city centre.

Ballarat is unique in Australia—and internationally—for having retained much of its commons land, which can be used by any resident of Ballarat. Ballarat Town Common, Ballarat West Town Common and Ballarat Common are located to the west of the city. Ballarat Town Common can be accessed via Howe Street in Miners Rest and is used by dog walkers and ramblers, especially because of its open grass fields and native wetland. Ballarat West Town Common is presently farmed on by licensed farmers.[100] The commons were reduced in size during the 20th century for property development.[101]

The region is home to a large koala population with protected areas established in the city's outer southern and eastern settlements.[102][103]

Pollution

As a growing regional city there are issues including pollution, waterway health and invasive species. Air quality is generally good,[104] however dust is sometimes an issue in the summer months[105] and woodsmoke from fireplaces contributes to reductions in visibility in the winter months.[106] Ballarat's waterways have historically been affected by heavy pollution from both mining and industry.[107]

The Ballarat Environment Network formed in 1993 to provide a voice for environmental and nature conservation issues in Ballarat and its surroundings.[108] Another large lobby group for sustainability in the city is the Ballarat Renewable Energy And Zero Emissions (BREAZE) formed in 2006.[109] The City of Ballarat released an Environment Sustainability Strategy for the city in 2007.[110]

Many parts of urban Ballarat have been affected by the introduction of exotic species, particularly introduced flora. Common gorse is one such problem which has prompted the formation of an official Ballarat Region Gorse Task Force in 1999 to control.[111] European rabbits[112] and red foxes[113] cause significant environmental damage in the region's agriculture areas.

Economy

The economy of Ballarat is driven by all three economic sectors, though contemporary Ballarat has emerged as a primarily service economy with its main industry being the service industry and its key areas of business including tourism, hospitality, retail, professional services, government administration and education. Secondary sector including manufacturing, which had grown in the 20th century remains an important sector. The city's historic primary sector roots including mining and agriculture continue to play a role, though one that has declined since the 20th century. Industries emerging this century include information technology service sector and renewable energy.

Service industries

As a major service centre for the populous goldfields region, Ballarat has large sectors of employment in business including retail, professional services and trades as well as state and federal government branch offices for public services and health care and non-government service organisations. Collectively these industries employ more than half of the city's workforce and generate the bulk of the city's economic activity.

Ballarat is the main retail economy in the region. The city has several key retail districts including a pedestrian mall known as Bridge Mall comprising over 100 traders. There are also indoor shopping malls including Central Square Shopping Centre and Stockland Wendouree. better known as Wendouree Village, with a large number of specialty stores. Major department stores include Myer, Target, Big W, Kmart, Harvey Norman and Harris Scarfe.[114] Additionally each of the major supermarkets (Coles, Woolworths, IGA and Aldi) are represented. Servicing the financial sector are branches of the big four Australian retail banks (National Australia Bank, ANZ, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac) along with Bendigo & Adelaide Bank and St George Bank and a number of smaller independent financial services firms.

Federation University Australia exports education through a large international students program and throughout Australia through distance education programs.

In recent years, a large technology park, the Ballarat Technology Park with communications centre has been established, with tenants including IBM and employing over 1,400 people.[115]

Ballarat West Employment Zone (BWEZ) is located on the north-west fringe of Ballarat, adjacent to the Ballarat Airport, existing rail infrastructure and the Ballarat Western Link Road.[116] Ballarat West Employment Zone (BWEZ) will become the engine room for jobs and economic growth in Ballarat over the next 20 years. The project involves the development of surplus Crown Land for industrial, wholesale, logistics, construction, commercial and residential uses, encouraging employment growth in Ballarat and the surrounding region. BWEZ will also include a freight hub, secure infrastructure and access to road, rail and ports.[116] Businesses located un BWEZ include CHS Broadbent, Westlab Pty Ltd, Agrimac, Milestone Benchtops, Kane Transport and Office Vision.

Tourism and hospitality

Main Street in Sovereign Hill, a large open-air gold mining museum, is Ballarat's most famous attraction.

Ballarat attracts 2.2 million visitors a year[117] and the tourism and hospitality industry is a A$480 million a year sector which accounts for around 15% of Ballarat's economy and employs around 2,870 people.[118] Tourism in Ballarat is promoted by Ballarat Regional Tourism.[119]

A significant heritage tourism industry has not grown substantially in Ballarat since the 1960s. Ballarat is most notable for the award-winning open-air museum known as Sovereign Hill, a recreated 1850s gold mining settlement opened in 1970. Sovereign Hill is Ballarat's biggest tourism drawcard and is consistently rated among the best outdoor museums in the world and continues to expand. Sovereign Hill accounts for over half a million of Ballarat's visitors and $40 million in tourism revenue.[120]

Several businesses and attractions have capitalised on Ballarat's gold mining history. They include Kryal Castle (1972), "Gold Rush Mini Golf" (2002) featuring the "Big Miner" (2006) one of Australia's big things (although the original proposal appeared larger and for the miner to hold the Eureka Flag)[121] at Ballarat's eastern entrance.

Other tourist attractions include the Eureka Centre; The Gold Museum, Ballarat;[122] Ballarat Botanic gardens and Lake Wendouree; the Museum of Australian Democracy; the Ballarat Tramway Museum and Ballarat Ghost Tours and Ballarat Wildlife Park. A large number of Ballarat hotels, motels and restaurants service the tourism industry. The Ballarat Tourist Association is an industry based non-profit, membership organisation representing the city's tourism industry.

Ballarat honours its rich history by hosting a number of annual festivals with historical and cultural focus including the Ballarat Begonia Festival, Ballarat Heritage Weekend and Ballarat Beat Rockabilly Festival.[123]

Manufacturing

According to the 2006 Australian Census, manufacturing is Ballarat's third largest employment sector, accounting for 14.8% of all workers.[124]

Ballarat attracts investment from several international manufacturers. The Australian headquarters of Mars, Incorporated was established in Ballarat in 1979 with the main Ballarat factory producing popular confectionery including Mars bars,[125] Snickers and M&M's for the Australian market as well as expanding in 2013 to produce Maltesers.[126] McCain Foods Limited Australian headquarters was established in Ballarat in 1970 and the company continues to expand its operations.[127] The Ballarat North Workshops is a major manufacturer of public transportation products with current investment from Alstom.[128]

Ballarat also has a large number of home-grown companies producing textiles, general industrial engineering, food products, brick and tiles, building components, prefabricated housing components and automotive components. Brewing was once a large-scale operation, with many large businesses including the public company Phoenix Brewery, and although large-scale brewing has ceased, the city retains a substantial microbrewery industry.[129]

Primary sector

Replica of the "Welcome Nugget", found at Ballarat, the second-largest gold nugget discovered in recorded history

Though historically an important sector, the production of Ballarat's primary sector declined for many decades, recovering only marginally since 2006.[130] Where historically the mining industry supported tens of thousands of workers or the majority of the population, today agriculture dominates the sector, though collectively both industries employ less than thousand people or just over 2% of the City of Ballarat's total workforce.[131]

Ballarat rose to prominence as a goldrush boomtown, though gold no longer plays a pivotal role in the economy of the city. Nevertheless, deep underground mining continues to the present date with a single main mine operating. There are still thought to be large, undiscovered gold reserves in the Ballarat region, with investigations being made by local and national companies.[132] Lihir Gold invested in Ballarat Goldfields in 2006,[133] however it downscaled its operations in 2009 due to the expense of extraction[134] before selling its stake in 2010 to Castlemaine Goldfields.[135] Along with gold, lignite (coal), kaolin (clay) and iron ore have also been mined in the Ballarat region and nearby Lal Lal however many of the resource deposits have since been exhausted. An active quarrying industry with large enterprises including Boral Limited[136] extracts and manufactures building materials from the Ballarat region, including clays, aggregates, cements, asphalts.

Approximately half (38,000 hectares or 94,000 acres) of the municipality's area is rural with optimal conditions for agriculture including rich volcanic soils and climate.[130] This area is used primarily for agriculture and animal husbandry and generates more than $37 million in commodities.[137] The region supports an active potato growing industry that has supplied local food manufacturers including McCain, though more recently has been threatened by cheaper imports.[138] Other large crops include grains, vegetables, grapes and berries. Cattle and poultry stocks, including sheep, cows and pigs, support an active local meat and dairy industry. The Ballarat Livestock Selling Centre is the largest cattle exchange in regional Victoria.[139] The Ballarat Agricultural and Pastoral Society formed in 1856[140] and has run the Ballarat Show annually since 1859.[141]

A$7.5 million[142] forestry industry is active in nearby state forests as well as on a small scale in the urban area along the Canadian Valley around the suburbs of Mt Clear and Mt Helen areas with pine plantations and sawmill operations.[143]

Renewable energy

Part of the Waubra Wind Farm

The Ballarat region has a rapidly growing renewable energy industry, in particular due to its abundant wind energy, attracting significant investment and generating revenue for local landholders and local councils. The region is also a source of bountiful geothermal energy,[144] solar power[144] and biomass[145][146] although to date, only its wind, solar and hydroelectricity has been harvested commercially. All local commercially produced electricity is sent to the National Electricity Market.

Wind energy is generated by local wind farms. The largest, Waubra Wind Farm, completed in 2009, is capable of producing enough electricity to power a city 3 to 4 times the size of Ballarat.[147] Other significant nearby wind farms include Mount Mercer, completed 2014, which produces enough energy to power 100,000 homes, equivalent to Ballarat's population.[148][149] The first community-owned wind farm in Australia, the Hepburn Wind Project at Leonards Hill, completed in 2011, produces the equivalent amount of electricity used by the town of Daylesford.[150]

Hydroelectricity is generated at White Swan reservoir micro hydro plant established in 2008 and producing the equivalent electricity needs of around 370 homes.[151] Ballarat Solar Park, opened in 2009 at the Airport site in Mitchell Park, is Victoria's first ground-mounted, flat-plate and grid-connected photovoltaic farm. Built by Sharp Corporation for Origin Energy, it is 14,993 m2 (161,380 sq ft) and generates the equivalent electricity needs of around 150 homes.[152]

Demographics

St Peter's Anglican Church, which represents the second most common religious affiliation in Ballarat

Ballarat is the 4th largest inland city in Australia, and the 3rd largest Victorian city behind Melbourne and Geelong. The 2016 Australian national census indicated that the permanent population of the urban area was 101,588[153] out of the City of Ballarat's population of 104,355 and a total of 45,653 households.[154]

The population of Ballarat has increased moderately to 105,471 in June 2018,[5] having an annual growth year-on-year of 1.78% since June 2013 (slightly faster than the national rate of 1.56% during the same period).[5] The recently accelerated growth rate has been attributed by demographers to increased commuter activity arising from surging house and land prices in Melbourne coupled with public transport improvements between Ballarat and Melbourne. While most of the city's population can trace their ancestry to Anglo-Celtic descent, 8.2% of the population are born overseas.[155] Of them, the majority (4.2%) come from North East Europe.[155] 3.4% speak a language other than English.[155] 14.4% of the population is over the age of 65.[155] The median age in Ballarat is 35.8 years.[156]

Ballarat's ethnic make up is partly the result of the mid 19th Century gold rush, where people of Celtic, Anglo-Saxon and East Asian descent emigrated here in the hope of landing a fortune.

The average income of Ballarat, while lower than Melbourne, is higher than average for regional Victoria.[157] Ballaratians in the 2007/08 financial year earned on average A$38,850 a year.[157] The highest earners living in the city's inner suburbs with a mean of $53,174 a year,[158] while the lower earners are centred on the city's southern suburbs.[157] According to the 2006 Census, Ballarat's working population is largely white collar 52.1% consisting of Management, Professionals, Clerical and Administrative Workers and Sales Workers, while 32.9% are blue collar working in Technicians and Trades, Labouring or Machinery Operation.[155] 56.5% of households had access to the Internet in 2006.[155] The unemployment rate as of June 2011 was 7.8%.[159]

50.3% of the population have completed further education after high school.[155]

Christianity is the most common religion in Ballarat. 56.3% indicated that they were Christian while 36.9% stated they had no religion and a further 9.1% did not answer the question. Catholics (24.3%), Anglicans (10.6%) and the Uniting Church (6.8%) were the largest Christian denominations.[160]

Governance

Ballarat Town Hall

Council Chamber in Ballarat Town Hall, Sturt Street, is the seat of local government for the City of Ballarat. The council was created in 1994 as an amalgamation of a number of other municipalities in the region. The city is made up of 3 wards, each represented by three councillors elected once every four years by postal voting.[161] The Mayor of Ballarat, currently Daniel Moloney, is elected from these councillors by their colleagues for a one-year term. The Town Hall and annexe contains some council offices, however the council's administrative headquarters are located at the council owned Phoenix Building and the leased Gordon Buildings on the opposite side of Bath Lane.[162]

In state politics, Ballarat is located in the Legislative Assembly districts of Buninyong and Wendouree, with both of these seats currently held by the Australian Labor Party.[163] In federal politics, Ballarat is located in a single House of Representatives division—the Division of Ballarat. The Division of Ballarat has been a safe Australian Labor Party seat since 2001,[164] and was the seat of the second Prime Minister of Australia, Alfred Deakin.

Law enforcement is overseen from regional police headquarters at the law complex in Dana Street with a single local police station operating in Buninyong. Due to an increase in crime rates and population, two additional local police stations were proposed in 2011 one each for the suburbs of North Ballarat and Sebastopol.[165] Justice is conducted locally overseen through branches of the Supreme, County, Magistrates and Children's Court of Victoria which operate out of the Ballarat courts Complex adjacent police headquarters in Dana Street.[166] Corrections, at least in the longer term are no longer handled locally since the closure of the Ballarat Gaol in 1965. Offenders can be detained in 25 available cells at the police complex though are commonly transferred to nearby Corrections Victoria facilities such as the Hopkins Correctional Centre in Ararat.[167]

Public safety and emergency services are provided by several state funded organisations including local volunteer based organisations. Storms and flooding are handled by the State Emergency Service (SES) Mid West Region Headquarters at Wendouree. Bushfires are handled by the Country Fire Authority District 15 Headquarters and Grampians Region Headquarters at Wendouree[168] and urban structure fires are handled by multiple urban fire brigades operating at fire stations including the Ballarat Fire Brigade at Barkly Street Ballarat East, Ballarat City Fire Brigade at Sturt Street Ballarat Central and suburban stations including Wendouree and Sebastopol. Medical emergency and paramedic services are provided through Ambulance Victoria and include the Rural Ambulance Victoria, St. John Ambulance and Ballarat Base Hospital ambulance services.[169] City of Ballarat is responsible for coordinating the Municipal Emergency Management Planning Committee (MEMPC) which prepares the Municipal Emergency Management Plan which is actioned in conjunction with local police.[170]

Media

Newspapers

Ballarat has two local newspapers, one owned by Australian Community Media and one a private equity. The Courier is a daily and The Ballarat Times News Group is a free weekly. The latter is distributed across most of the city on Thursday and contains news of community events, advertisements for local businesses, and a classifieds section. Ballarat was the hub of Australian Community Media's Victoria production and manufacturing with all printed material for the state coming from the Wendouree print site until it closed in September 2020.

Radio stations

Radio House, Lydiard Street North. Home to 3BA and Power FM

Local radio stations include 3BA, Power FM and several community radio stations. There is also a Ballarat branch of ABC Local Radio's national network.

  • 102.3 FM – 3BA (local "classic hits" commercial radio station)
  • 103.1 FM – Power FM 103.1 FM (local "top-40" commercial radio station)
  • 99.9 FM – Voice FM 99.9 – formerly known as 3BBB (local community radio station)
  • 107.9 FM – ABC Ballarat (government-funded local news, current affairs, light entertainment and talkback)
  • 103.9 FM – Good News Radio 103.9 (Christian community-based radio station)

Television

Television station BTV Channel 6 Ballarat commenced transmission of test patterns on 17 March 1962. Today Ballarat is serviced by numerous "free to air" High Definition and Standard Definition Digital television services. Two television broadcasting stations are located in the city, including WIN, WIN HD, 9Life, 9Go! and 9Gem (sub-licensees of the Nine Network) and Prime7, Prime7 HD, 7Two, 7mate, and 7flix (a sub-licensee of Seven Network). These two stations broadcast relayed services throughout regional Victoria. The city also receives Southern Cross 10, 10HD, 10 Peach, 10 Bold , 10 Shake and Sky News Regional (sub-licensees of Network 10) which is based in Bendigo but operates a local office.

Ballarat television maintains a similar schedule to the national television network but maintains local commercials and regional news programming.

  • WIN previously presented a 30-minute local WIN News bulletin from its studios in the city, where WIN News bulletins for Albury, Bendigo, Gippsland, Shepparton and Mildura were also broadcast. In 2015, the Ballarat studios closed with production of the regional Victorian news bulletins being relocated to Wollongong in New South Wales, where they now originate from.[171] WIN retains reporters and camera crews for its Ballarat bulletin in the city.
  • Southern Cross 10, airs short local news updates like Prime7 throughout the day, broadcast from its Hobart Studios.
  • Prime7 airs short local news and weather updates throughout the day, broadcast from its Canberra studios with an office in the city.

In addition to commercial television services, Ballarat receives Government ABC (ABC1, ABC2, ABC3, ABC News 24) and SBS (SBS One and Two) television services.

On 5 May 2011, analog television transmissions ceased in most areas of regional Victoria and some border regions including Ballarat and surrounding areas. All local free-to-air television services are now broadcasting in digital transmission only. This was done as part of the federal government's plan for digital terrestrial television in Australia, where all analogue transmission systems are gradually turned off and replaced with modern DVB-T transmission systems.

Subscription television services are provided by Neighbourhood Cable, Foxtel and SelecTV.

Education

Federation University Australia's SMB campus is set among heritage buildings, including the former School of Mines and Industry (left).
Ballarat Mechanics' Institute

Ballarat has two universities, Federation University and a campus of the Australian Catholic University.

Formerly the University of Ballarat, Federation University Australia was opened in 2014. It originated as the Ballarat School of Mines, founded in 1870, and was once affiliated with the University of Melbourne. The main campus is located in Mount Helen, approximately 6 kilometres (3.7 miles) southeast of the city. The university also has campuses in the Ballarat CBD, Horsham, Berwick, Brisbane, Churchill, Ararat and Stawell.

The Australian Catholic University's Ballarat campus is located on Mair Street. It was formerly the Aquinas Training College, run by the Ballarat East Sisters of Mercy in 1909. It is ACU's only campus located outside of a capital city.

Ballarat has five State Government-operated secondary schools of which Ballarat High School (established in 1907) is the oldest. Ballarat High School and Mount Clear College are the only state school members of the Ballarat Associated Schools. The three remaining schools are Phoenix College and the two newly formed schools Mount Rowan Secondary College and Woodmans Hill Secondary College which emerged from the old Ballarat Secondary College.[172] Phoenix College was formed in 2012 as an amalgamation of Sebastopol College and Redan Primary School.[173]

The city is well serviced by Catholic schools, with eight primary schools and three secondary colleges which include the all-boys St Patrick's College,[174] the all-girls Loreto College and the co-educational Damascus College, which was formed by the amalgamation of St Martin's in the Pines, St Paul's College and Sacred Heart College in 1995.

Ballarat has three other non-government secondary schools: Ballarat Christian College, Ballarat Clarendon College and Ballarat Grammar School. The later two schools are day and boarding schools who provide education from Preschool to Year 12. Both of these co-educational schools are classified as academically excellent as the only Ballarat schools to be ranked on the tables of the top 100 Victorian schools based on median VCE scores and percentage of scores of 40 and above. In 2015, Clarendon was placed at 9th best VCE results in the State, above Melbourne Grammar, Geelong College, Scotch College, Trinity Grammar School (Victoria), Xavier College, and Haileybury College. Ballarat Grammar was placed at 82nd, above Wesley College, Geelong Grammar and Tintern.[175]

The City of Ballarat has three public libraries, the largest and most extensive of which is the City of Ballarat Library, run by the City of Ballarat and located on Doveton Street North.[176] Another library service is provided by the Ballarat Mechanics' Institute in Sturt Street, which is the oldest library in the city and a significant heritage site; it contains a collection of historic, archival and rare reference material as well as more general books.

Arts and culture

Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, the oldest and largest art gallery in regional Australia

The Ballarat Fine Art Gallery houses one of Australia's oldest and most extensive collections of early Australian works. It is considered to have the best Australian collection outside any capital city in Australia.

Federation University Australia operates the Post Office Gallery in the Wardell designed former Post Office on the corner of Sturt and Lydiard Streets.[177]

Events and festivals

Ballarat is home to many annual festivals and events that attract thousands of visitors. The oldest large annual event is the Ballarat Agricultural Show (since 1859), currently held at the Ballarat Showgrounds and has attracted attendances of up to 30,000 and is an official public holiday for residents of the city.[178][179]

Lake Wendouree is featured in many including the biggest and most prominent is the Begonia Festival (held annually since 1953).[180] SpringFest (held annually since 2001) attracts more than 15,000 people from around Victoria[181][182] and features market stalls and activities around the lake.

Annual Agricultural Society Show at Ballarat Showgrounds, Wendouree

The controversial Ballarat Swap Meet (formerly the Super Southern Swap Meet and held annually since 1989) attracts 30,000 visitors a year.[183] Ballarat Heritage Weekend (held annually since 2006) celebrates the city's heritage with activities such as historic vehicles and displays in and around the CBD and has attracted as many as 14,500 visitors a year from around Victoria.[184][185][186] The Ballarat Beer Festival at the City Oval (since 2012) has attracted more than 4,000 visitors.[187] The Ballarat Airport Open Day (Ballarat's unofficial air show, held annually since 2009) also attracts thousands.[188]

Other minor cultural festivals include the Ballarat Writers Festival, Ballarat International Foto Biennale and the Goldfields Music Festival.

Entertainment

Her Majesty's Theatre, built in 1875

Ballarat has a lively and well established theatrical community with several local ensembles as well as a number of large performing arts venues. Major performing arts venues include the 900 capacity Her Majesty's Theatre, the Wendouree Centre for Performing Arts, Mary's Mount Theatre and the Post Office Box Theatre.

The Ballarat Civic Hall is a large public building constructed in 1958 as a general purpose venue. Its stripped classical design was heavily criticised during its planning, however it has gained some cultural significance to the city with its cavernous spaces holding many significant events over the years. Civic Hall was closed in 2002 and public pressure forced the council to redevelop it in 2018[189] as a modern performing arts and exposition centre. The refurbished building is a modern interpretation of its original 1950s built form and features a 1000 capacity main hall capable of use for concerts, meetings and civic events.

Ballarat has its own symphony orchestra, the Ballarat Symphony Orchestra which was formed in 1987. Some notable theatre organisations in Ballarat include BLOC (Ballarat Light Opera Company) founded in 1959.[190] Ballarat is also the home to Australia's oldest and largest annual performing arts eisteddfod. The Royal South Street Eisteddfod is an all-encompassing performing arts festival and competition event that is conducted over twelve weeks annually.[191]

In the 1970s the Ballarat urban area contained no less than 60 hotels. The introduction of gaming machines in the early 1990s has brought about significant change in the city entertainment precincts. By 2006 at least 20 hotels had closed and some of those that remain have been redeveloped as dining and/or gaming venues. Gaming machines have brought significant revenue to the remaining hotels, sports and social clubs which has enabled many to expand and modernise. The city has several dance clubs as well as a highly active live music and jazz scene. Hotels are popular meeting places for young people. The city has many fine restaurants, wine bars and eateries as well as themed restaurants. A large cinema complex consisting of several theatres is located behind the façade of the old Regent cinemas in the heart of the city. Dance parties are popular within the Ballarat area; BTR is an organisation founded in 2006 that has begun hosting dance events in Ballarat.

Cultural depictions

Ballarat has inspired many visual artists. Eugene von Guerard documented the city's establishment as a gold digging settlement, while Albert Henry Fullwood and Knut Bull depicted the city's boom era streetscapes.[192][193] Ballarat features prominently in literature and fiction, including "The Boscombe Valley Mystery", a short story from Arthur Conan Doyle's The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1891); King Billy of Ballarat and Other Stories (1892) by Morley Roberts; The Fortunes of Richard Mahony (1917) by Henry Handel Richardson; Murder on the Ballarat Train (1993) by Kerry Greenwood; and Illywhacker (1985) by Peter Carey.

Ballarat is also a popular filming location.[194] Australia's second oldest feature film, Eureka Stockade (1907), is the first in a line of films about the historic Ballarat event. The city makes cameos in Dogs in Space (1986), My Brother Jack (2001), Ned Kelly (2003) and The Writer (2005).[195] The television series The Doctor Blake Mysteries (2012–2017) is set in Ballarat and also mostly shot there.[196][197] The series was picked by the Seven Network, which proposes to make several telemovies without the Blake character, picking up the story line after his death, leaving his widow Jean.[198][199]

Two ships of the Royal Australian Navy have been named HMAS Ballarat after the city, the corvette HMAS Ballarat (J184) and the frigate HMAS Ballarat (FFH 155).

Sport and recreation

Ballarat Football Club, 1889. The club was founded in 1860 and is one of the oldest football clubs in the world.

Australian rules football is the most popular spectator and participation sports in Ballarat. It has its own dedicated stadium, Eureka Stadium, which serves as a venue of the Australian Football League (AFL), as well as the home ground of the semi-professional North Ballarat Roosters, which formerly competed in the Victorian Football League (VFL). The Ballarat Football League, established in 1893, features six local teams, including the Ballarat Football Club, which was founded in 1860 and remains one of the world's oldest football clubs. Other Ballarat-based teams compete in the regional Central Highlands Football League.

Cricket is Ballarat's second most-popular sport. It has three international standard cricket ovals, including Eastern Oval, which was one of the host venues of the 1992 Cricket World Cup. The Ballarat Cricket Association is the city's principle cricket competition. Soccer is also popular in Ballarat. Based at Morshead Park Stadium,[200] the semi-professional Ballarat City FC competes in the National Premier League, the third tier competition of Australian soccer. Melbourne's Western United FC plays four A-League matches per year at Eureka Stadium.[201] Basketball is played in Ballarat with the Ballarat Sports Events Centre hosting South East Australian Basketball League matches involving the Ballarat Miners and Ballarat Rush. Netball is similarly popular, with many netball clubs affiliated with local Australian rules clubs.

Athletics is and has historically been very popular with 4 local clubs competing at the BRAC[202] (Ballarat Regional Athletics Centre) located at the Llanberis Athletics Track in Golden Point, 5 minutes from the CBD. The city features a rich and decorated athletics history with Australia's most successful track and field athlete (Jared Tallent - Racewalker), and many other Olympians (Steve Moneghetti, Greg Smith (Paralympian)) having been born in Ballarat.

Lake Wendouree hosted the rowing and canoeing events for the 1956 Summer Olympics.

Rowing and kayaking is centred on Lake Wendouree, which hosts the Victorian Schools Rowing Championships as well as the annual "Head of the Lake" rowing regatta. The city hosted rowing events for the 1956 Summer Olympic Games. Horse racing and greyhound racing are also popular, with dedicated facilities. The Ballarat Turf Club schedules around 28 race meetings a year including the Ballarat Cup meeting in mid-November.[203] Athletics facilities include an international standard athletics track at Golden Point. Swimming and water sport is facilitated at two Olympic-sized pools as well as an indoor 25-metre (82-foot) competition short course pool. The main facility is the Ballarat Aquatic Centre located in Lake Gardens. Baseball was first organised in Australia at Ballarat in 1857,[204] and three local teams compete in the Geelong Baseball Association.

Golf is played at four main venues which include the Ballarat Golf Course in Alfredton, home to the Ballarat Golf Club.[205] The Ballarat Roller Derby League was formed in 2008, and held their first match in 2009. They have two teams who compete in local events, and a combined travelling team, the Rat Pack, who compete in interleague roller derby competitions.[206]

Ballarat, along with other cities in regional Victoria, will host the 2026 Commonwealth Games with Eureka Stadium flagged to host athletics, the Eastern Oval T20 cricket, and Selkirk Stadium to host boxing.

Mars Stadium

Infrastructure

Health

Ballarat Base Hospital's Henry Bolte wing

Ballarat has two major hospitals. The public health services are managed by Ballarat Health Services[207] including the Ballarat Base which services the entire region and the Queen Elizabeth Centre for aged care on Ascot Street Sth. The St John of God Health Care centre also on Drummond Street Nth, established in 1915 is currently the largest private hospital in regional Victoria.[208]

The Ballarat Regional Integrated Cancer Centre (BRICC) on the corner of Drummond and Sturt Street includes a number of facilities focused on cancer treatment.[209]

The Heart Foundation did a study in 2014 that Ballarat had the highest level of physical inactivity (85.3 per cent) in Australia and that 32.9 per cent of residents were deemed obese.[210]

Utilities

Ballarat's residents are serviced by a wide range of public utilities including water, gas and electricity, telephony and data communications supplied, overseen and regulated by state based authorities and private enterprise and local council.

Water supply as well as sewage collection and disposal are provided by Central Highlands Water.[211] Drinking water is sourced from a network reservoirs all located in the highlands to the east, however the majority is sourced from two main reservoirs—Lal Lal and White Swan. The Lal Lal Reservoir (built in 1970[212] with a capacity of 59,500 megalitres (1.57×1010 US gallons)[213]) is Ballarat's largest water catchment accounting for approximately two-thirds of the city's water usage.[214] The White Swan reservoir (built in 1952[212] with a 14,100 Ml (3.7×109 US gal) capacity) supplies most of the remainder.[213] Since May 2008, the White Swan has been topped up by water from Bendigo's Sandhurst Reservoir through the Goldfields Superpipe with water originally sourced from the Goulburn River system.[215] Kirks Reservoir (built between 1860 and 1862 with a capacity of 400 Ml (110,000,000 US gal)) and Gong Gong Reservoir (built in 1877 at Gong Gong, Victoria[216] with a capacity of 1,902 Ml (502,000,000 US gal)[213]) are historic main water supplies now maintained for emergency use.[217] Other reservoirs supplying Ballarat include Moorabool reservoir (located in Bolwarrah, Victoria[218] with a capacity of 6,738 Ml (1.780×109 US gal)), Wilson's Reservoir (located in the Wombat State Forest with a capacity of 1,013 Ml (268,000,000 US gal)), Beales reservoir (built 1863[219] located at Wallace with a capacity of 415 Ml (110,000,000 US gal)) and Pincotts reservoir (built 1867[219] located at Leigh Creek, Victoria[220] with a capacity of 218 Ml (58,000,000 US gal)).[221] Sewage is managed by two plants—the Ballarat North Wastewater Treatment Plant and the Ballarat South Waste Water Treatment Plant.[222]

Residential electricity is supplied by Victorian electricity distributor Powercor, while residential natural gas is supplied by AGL Energy.

Telephone services are provided via the Doveton Street (BRAT) telephone exchange[223] which was originally built by the Australian Telecommunications Commission (now known as Telstra) who remains its owner, though Optus now also operates services from this facility. The city's cellular network currently uses Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). Telstra has provided mobile telecommunications to Ballarat since 2003 (initially as CDMA). Optus provided competition with its entrance to the market in 2003 along with significant service upgrades in 2004[224] followed by Vodafone in mid-2009.[225]

Data communications are provided by several companies. Telstra was the first company to provide dial-up Internet access via the Ballarat exchange, however the first network for broadband Internet access available in the city was a hybrid optical fiber cable and coaxial cable built by Neighbourhood Cable in 2001.[226] Since then, Telstra and Optus have entered the Ballarat market, providing Asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) services for residential Internet access from four main exchanges—Ballarat, Wendouree (Howitt Street), Sebastopol (Skipton Street) and Alfredton (Cuthberts Road). These companies also provide mobile data access Evolved HSPA and since late 2011 3GPP Long Term Evolution (4G). Ballarat's rollout of the National Broadband Network (NBN) is seen as vital for the city's growing IT industry.[227][228] During Ballarat's first stage NBN rollout in 2012, 17,800 homes will be directly connected to the network via optical fibre cable.[229]

Transportation

Arch of Victory over the Avenue of Honour

The motor vehicle is the main form of transport in Ballarat. A network of state highways radiate from Ballarat and the Western Freeway (A8) dual carriageway bypasses the central city to the north of the urban area, providing a direct road connection to Melbourne (approximately 90 minutes), westward to Ararat (approximately 75 minutes) and Horsham. Five freeway interchanges service the urban area, East Ballarat (half diamond) interchange at Victoria Street (C805); Brown Hill interchange (full diamond) at Daylesford-Ballarat Road (C292), Creswick Road interchange (full diamond) at Wendouree (A300); the Mount Rowan interchange (half diamond) at Gillies Road, Wendouree (C307) and the Mitchell Park interchange (full diamond) at Howe Street (C287). The Midland Highway is a dual carriageway which runs north along Creswick Road to the Western Freeway interchange but becomes a single carriageway north of Ballarat to Creswick (approximately 25 minutes) and runs south as the dual carriageway of Skipton Road to Magpie before becoming a single carriageway to Geelong (approximately 87 minutes). The Glenelg Highway connects directly to Mount Gambier and the Sunraysia Highway west of Ballarat which connects directly to Mildura. Sturt Street and Victoria Street, both dual carriageways carry the bulk of the east-west CBD traffic, while Mair Street is planned to become a four lane dual carriageway to relieve pressure on these main streets.[230] Other dual carriageway main roads in the west include Howitt Street and Gillies Street.[231] The busiest roads by far are located in the west and south at Albert Street in Redan, Sturt Street in Newington and Gillies Street in Lake Gardens which carry 22,400, 22,000 and 21,500 vehicles per day respectively and all have 4 traffic lanes.[231]

Rail

Ballarat railway station
A V/Line train arriving at Ballarat station

Ballarat is a major rail transport hub in Victoria. Situated at the junction of the Ballarat line, Ararat line and Mildura lines, it currently has several connections for both passenger rail services and freight rail. The city has two passenger railway stations, the hub of Ballarat railway station and suburban Wendouree railway station.[232] From Ballarat station, V/Line operates VLocity trains to Melbourne, west to Ararat and north to Maryborough. Since the controversial removal of "flagship" express services in 2011, successive timetable changes have slowed peak hour services to Southern Cross, with the current journey taking a minimum of 73 minutes.[233][234] Patronage however has continued to grow.[235][236] The Regional Rail Link project was built in 2015 to separate Ballarat trains from Melbourne's suburban rail network.[237] Interurban services (Ballarat-Melbourne) now run half-hourly during weekday peak and hourly during weekday non-peak and on weekends from Ballarat station. A twice daily (thrice daily on weekdays) (57 minute) service connects Ballarat to Ararat (stopping at Beaufort) while there is a (53 minute) service to and from Maryborough (stopping at Creswick, Clunes, and Talbot) once a day (twice a day on weekdays) each way.[238] Victoria's electronic ticketing system, Myki, was implemented on rail services between Wendouree and Melbourne on 24 July 2013.[239] Ballarat is connected to Geelong by rail via the Geelong-Ballarat railway line, which currently operates only for freight.

Bus

CDC Ballarat operates the bus network covering the city centre, Ballarat and Wendouree stations, and most surrounding suburbs, contracted by Public Transport Victoria.[240]

Tram

A tourist tram on Wendouree Parade

The once extensive Ballarat tramway network operated between 1887 and 1971 with a small section of remaining track being utilised as a tourist and museum tramway.[241] There have been proposals to extend the network, particularly as a major tourist facility but also to connect it to the railways and return it as a viable component of the Ballarat public transport system, including a strong lobby in 2001–2002,[242][243][244][245] 2010–11 and 2014,[246] however Ballarat City Council and federal member of parliament have dismissed recent proposals.[247][248][249]

Airport

Ballarat Airport located 8 km (5 mi) north-west of the CBD consists of two sealed runways (each approximately 1,400 m (4,600 ft) long and 30 m (98 ft) wide) as well as extensive sealed aprons, night lighting and NDB navaid. Master Plans for the Airport were completed in 2005 and subsequently 2013.[250] The report made a series of recommendations and forecasts that included lengthening, widening and strengthening of the existing main runway, consideration for expansion of the passenger terminal, recommendations for future use of aprons, and development of future structures supporting larger aircraft that would result from the forecast increased frequent usage. In 2020, initial Federal funding was provided to enable the re-building and re-instatement of the main north–south runway to 1900m (6233 feet).

Cycling and walking

Ballarat has a long history of cycling as a form of transport and recreation. The current cycling network continues to grow and consists of several marked on-road routes and 50 kilometres (31 miles) of segregated bicycle facilities including several main routes: the Ballarat–Skipton Rail Trail and the Yarrowee River Trail with connections to the Gong Gong Reservoir.[216] Buningyong Trail, Sebastopol Trail, and the Lake Wendouree shared path.[251] The Ballarat Bicycle Users Group provides advocacy for the growing number of cyclists in the city.[252] The popularity of cycling in Ballarat is also demonstrated by the large number of spectators and participants drawn to cycling sporting events held in the city.[253]

Crime

In 2014, the city was one of a number of Australian regional centres examined by an ABC Four Corners report on the use of methamphetamine, along with Devonport, Burnie, Castlemaine and St Arnaud.[254][255]

See also

  • List of people from Ballarat

References

  1. "2021 Ballarat, Census All persons QuickStats | Australian Bureau of Statistics". www.abs.gov.au. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  2. "2016 Census Community Profiles: Ballarat". ABS Census. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  3. "Ballarat History – Origin of some Ballarat Names". Ballarat.com. Archived from the original on 9 October 1999.
  4. "2021 Ballarat, Census All persons QuickStats | Australian Bureau of Statistics". www.abs.gov.au. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  5. "3218.0 – Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2020–21: Population Estimates by Significant Urban Area, 2008 to 2018". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 27 March 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2019. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018.
  6. Profile of the Electoral Division of Ballarat (Vic) – Australian Electoral Commission. Aec.gov.au (7 October 2010). Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  7. "Ballarat's Indigenous Heritage" (PDF). Sovereign Hill Education. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 19 August 2010.
  8. "City of Ballarat: community profile". Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  9. Griffiths Peter M, "Three Times Blest A History of Buninyong 1737–1901", Ballarat Historical Society pp13
  10. "Victoria". The Courier. 5 November 1851. p. 2.
  11. Ballarat Diggings: From the Correspondent of the Geelong Advertiser. pg 2. The Argus. 13 September 1851.
  12. "Victoria – Mount Alexander". The Sydney Morning Herald. 11 December 1852. p. 2. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
  13. Phoenix Auctions History. "Post Office List". Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  14. "OOLAC – #Ballarat". oolac.com. Archived from the original on 23 October 2016. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  15. James, Ken. "The surveying career of William Swan Urquhart, 1845–1864". Public Record Office Victoria. Government of Victoria. Archived from the original on 27 October 2009. Retrieved 19 August 2010.
  16. Jacobs, Wendy; Nigel, Lewis; Elizabeth, Vines; Richard, Aitken (1981). Ballarat: A Guide to Buildings and Areas 1851–1940. Jacobs Lewis Vines Architects and Conservation Planners. p. 11. ISBN 0-9593970-0-0.
  17. "Heritage Impact Statement – Civic Hall". City of Ballarat. City of Ballarat. October 2011. Archived from the original on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  18. Cornfield, Jason; Wickham, Dorothy; Gervasoni, Clare (2004). The Eureka Encyclopedia. Ballarat Heritage Services. p. 391. ISBN 1-876478-61-6.
  19. K. T-. Livingston, Richard Jordan, Gay Sweely (2001) Becoming Australians: the movement towards federation in Ballarat and the nation p.34. Wakefield Press
  20. Perkin, Corrie Golden city of Ballarat comes into the picture The Australian 1 September 2009.
  21. "Gold Rush Population Peak 1858-9-23". The Star. 23 September 1858. p. 2. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
  22. "Colonial News". The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser. New South Wales, Australia. 3 November 1855. p. 3 (Supplement to the Maitland Mercury). Retrieved 3 June 2020 via Trove.
  23. "Summary for Europe – Introduction". The Argus. 20 August 1860. p. 5.
  24. Butrims, Robert; Macartney, David (2013). The Phoenix Foundry: Locomotive Builders of Ballarat. Australian Railway History Society. ISBN 978-0-646-90402-3.
  25. "Rail Geelong – Geelong Line Guide". railgeelong.com. Retrieved 23 April 2008.
  26. Clarke, Jan (1992). Speak Out Boldly: The first 125 years of the Ballarat Courier. Ballarat: The Courier. p. 12. ISBN 978-0-646-09971-2.
  27. "Craig's Royal Hotel – History". craigsroyal.com.au. Archived from the original on 25 May 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  28. Sid Brown (March 1990). "Tracks Across the State". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division): 71–76.
  29. THE ATHENS OF AUSTRALIA, Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 11988, 3 November 1909, p. 7 Papers Past – Poverty Bay Herald – 3 November 1909 – "THE ATHENS OF AUSTRALIA."
  30. Douglas Pike, Geoffrey Serle : Australian dictionary of biography, Vol. 9, Melbourne University Press, 1983
  31. Frederic C. (Frederic Chambers) Spurr : Five years under the Southern Cross; experiences and impressions Read the ebook Five years under the Southern Cross; experiences and impressions by Frederic C. (Frederic Chambers) Spurr
  32. The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848–1954), Saturday 23 October 1909. Trove.nla.gov.au (23 October 1909). Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  33. Balderstone, Julia (20 February 1993). "SEC offers historic lake property for sale". The Courier.
  34. "Terrible railway disaster". The Age. Melbourne: David Syme & Co. 21 August 1908.
  35. "The Ballarat Tornado" p6. The Mercury. 25 August 1909.
  36. "Furious Storm at Ballarat – several houses demolished, woman crushed to death, several persons injured" p5. The West Australian. 23 August 1909.
  37. Progressive Geelong – Industrial Expansion. Development of the Harbour. The Argus, Melbourne 14 October 1921 p 8
  38. Lee, Robert; Rosemary Annable; Donald Stuart Garden (1 August 2007). The Railways of Victoria 1854–2004. Melbourne University Publishing Ltd. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-522-85134-2.
  39. Geelong Ousts Ballarat. Population Surprises. The Argus (Melbourne), 28 April 1936, p. 10.
  40. Australia. Royal Australian Air Force. Historical Section (1995), Logistics units, AGPS Press, ISBN 978-0-644-42798-2
  41. "Wendouree West Profile and History". Wendouree West Community Renewal. Archived from the original on 9 July 2010. Retrieved 19 August 2010.
  42. Ballarat 'B' Power Station. Ballarat Historical Society – private collection
  43. City of Ballarat Mayors Report 1974 – 1975
  44. Whelan, Melanie (12 November 2019). "Ted Lovett, Karen Heap hope for 'path finders' in fight for equality". The Courier. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  45. "Ballarat West Local Structure Plan" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  46. "Ballarat West Local Structure Plan". Business Ballarat. Archived from the original on 18 August 2010. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
  47. Commonwealth of Australia (December 2017). "Final Report: Volume 16, Religious institutions Book 2" (PDF). Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. p. 106. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2022.
  48. "Cardinal George Pell's Hometown Breaks Its Silence About Grim Past of Sexual Abuse". The New York Times. April 2018. p. 106. Archived from the original on 1 January 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
  49. City of Ballarat (Maps, Population & Location – http://www.ballarat.vic.gov.au/Global/Maps/index.aspx)
  50. "Ballarat Planning Scheme – Land Use" (PDF). City of Ballarat. City of Ballarat. 18 March 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 April 2012. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  51. "BALLARAT BOTANIC GARDENS". National Trust of Australia (Victoria)Nattrust.com.au. Archived from the original on 23 March 2012.
  52. "Balarat Public Gardens". Archived from the original on 25 March 2012.
  53. Her Maj: A History of Her Majesty's Theatre, Ballarat by Peter Freund with Val Sarah ISBN 978-0-9757483-1-2.
  54. Ballaarat Astronomical Society. Observatory.ballarat.net. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  55. Monuments and Memorials within Australia associated with World War One. Monumentaustralia.org.au. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  56. "Ballarat Panel Report" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 March 2017. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  57. "Ballarat". Australian Terrace Houses. Archived from the original on 29 May 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  58. "About the profile areas – Ballarat North – Invermay Park – profile.id". id.com.au.
  59. "Map of Invermay, VIC 3352 – Whereis®". whereis.com.
  60. "STOCKLAND WENDOUREE SHOPPING CENTRE REDEVELOPMENT" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 July 2011.
  61. "Establish an urban growth boundary to set clear limits to metropolitan Melbourne's outward development". Archived from the original on 5 February 2004.
  62. Henderson, Fiona Ballarat west suburb to be named Lucas The Courier 10 February 2011.
  63. League of Historical Cities Conference 2008 Archived 15 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Leaguehistoricalcities-ballarat.com. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  64. Brown, Jenny (May 2010). "The Tower". Royal Auto. RACV Public Affairs. p. 7.
  65. Heritage Victoria – Ballarat Synagogue Archived 18 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine. (PDF). Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  66. "Heritage Restoration Loan". Ballarat.vic.gov.au. 1 June 2010. Archived from the original on 22 October 2010. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
  67. Ballarat City Council Plan to Preserve Heritage by Marcus Power for The Courier. 26 April 2010.
  68. "Heritage Protection". Ballarat.vic.gov.au. 1 June 2010. Archived from the original on 24 March 2010. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
  69. The Economics of Heritage – The value of heritage to the City of Ballarat Archived 17 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine from environment.gov.au
  70. "Ballaarat Mechanics Institute to get $1.5 Million Restoration" (Press release). Legislation.vic.gov.au. 4 November 2005. Archived from the original on 11 January 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
  71. Restoration work to start at Unicorn Hotel after permits approved by Marcus Power for The Courier. 27 March 2009.
  72. "Ballarat Heritage Watch". Ballaratheritagewatch.wordpress.com. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
  73. Peel, M. C.; Finlayson, B. L.; McMahon, T. A. (2007). "Updated world map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification". Hydrology and Earth System Sciences. 11 (5): 1633–1644. Bibcode:2007HESS...11.1633P. doi:10.5194/hess-11-1633-2007.
  74. Linacre, Edward; Geerts, Bart (1997). Climates and Weather Explained. London: Routledge. p. 379. ISBN 978-0-415-12519-2.
  75. "Monthly Climate Statistics: Ballarat Aerodrome". Australian Bureau of Meteorology. 23 January 2013. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
  76. Gliddon, Greg (31 December 2018). "2018 was a year of weather extremes across Ballarat". The Courier. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  77. "You know you're from Ballarat when... you're annoyed at others complaining about the weather". The Courier. 5 November 2014. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  78. "Fires rage and snow's falling". The Sydney Morning Herald. 15 November 2006.
  79. Burgess, Matthew (8 July 2008). "Snow falls as cold snap hits state". The Age. Melbourne, Australia.
  80. "Ballarat snowfall – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". ABC News. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
  81. "Snow falls in Ballarat – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 8 July 2008. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
  82. Watt, Jarrod (11 August 2008). "Sunday snow in Ballarat – ABC Ballarat". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
  83. "Snow falls in Ballarat City Centre – The Courier newspaper". The Courier Ballarat. 1 August 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  84. "Ballarat snow is a hazy shade of winter – The Courier newspaper". The Courier Ballarat. 24 June 2016. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
  85. Gliddon, Greg (29 May 2019). "Autumn snow falls in Ballarat as part of 'one in 20-year event'". The Courier. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  86. "'Massive flakes of snow' fall in Victoria as temperatures drop to record-breaking levels". www.abc.net.au. 25 September 2020. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  87. The Great Flood of Ballarat. pg 6. The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser. 23 October 1869.
  88. "Ballarat, Victoria January 2011 Daily Weather Observations". Commonwealth of Australia 2011, Bureau of Meteorology. Archived from the original on 22 March 2011.
  89. Millar, Paul and Sexton, Reid Victoria and Tasmania struggle with heavy rain The Courier 14 January 2011.
  90. Ballarat region floods as record rains fall The Courier 14 January 2011.
  91. Williams, Erin Ballarat region floods as record rains fall The Courier 15 January 2011.
  92. Rayner, Meg Wettest January ever in Ballarat The Courier 20 January 2011.
  93. "Climate statistics for Australian locations". www.bom.gov.au. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  94. "Ballarat's freezing morning: 'feels like' temperature drops to -6.5". The Courier. 9 June 2020. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  95. Australian Government, Bureau of Meteorology (February 2009). "The exceptional January–February 2009 heatwave in southeastern Australia" (PDF). Archived from the original on 13 September 2016. Retrieved 23 September 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  96. The Courier, 2015
  97. "Climate statistics for Australian locations (normals: 1991–2020)". Australian Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  98. "Climate statistics for Australian locations: Ballarat Aerodrome (all data)". Australian Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  99. Design, UBC Web. "Creswick, Bush Walking, Scenery, History, Landcare". creswick.net.
  100. Victoria), Wicks, A. (Landscape and Architectural Services Section, Department of Conservation, Forests and Lands. "Ballarat West Town Common : Landscape plan and future management". www.ccmaknowledgebase.vic.gov.au.
  101. "Victoria Government Gazette" (PDF). Victoria Government Gazette. 2 July 1952. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  102. Williams, Erin. (3 August 2010) VCAT knocks back Mt Helen subdivision – Local News – News – General. The Courier. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  103. Implementing the Ballarat Koala Plan of Management through the Ballarat Planning Scheme Archived 21 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine. (PDF). Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  104. "Airborne particle monitoring at Ballarat, 2 Feb to Sept 03" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 March 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
  105. Ballarat's Air Quality good despite drought dust Archived 17 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine 21 January 2004.
  106. "Air monitoring at Ballarat August 2005 to August 2006". Epanote2.epa.vic.gov.au. Archived from the original on 27 February 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
  107. Quinlan, Kim (11 April 2002). "Yarrowee: Don't call it a creek. – Local News – News – News Features". The Courier. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
  108. "Offline". BEN. Archived from the original on 1 July 2010. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
  109. "Welcome to BREAZE". Breaze.org.au. Archived from the original on 8 August 2010. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
  110. "Ballarat Sustainability Strategy" (PDF). City of Ballarat. 1 September 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 November 2013. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
  111. "Biodiversity, Australia State of the Environment Report 2001 (Theme Report): Biodiversity issues and challenges (part 2)". Environment Victoria. 13 December 2010. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
  112. "Rabbit numbers on the rise across Ballarat region". The Courier. Fairfax. 5 January 2012. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
  113. McGrath, Gav (19 June 2013). "Foxes in plague numbers across Ballarat district". The Courier. Fairfax. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
  114. Harris Scarfe Ballarat store opens. The Courier. 15 June 2011.
  115. "Multimedia Victoria – IBM expansion brings 300 jobs to Ballarat". Mmv.vic.gov.au. 4 December 2009. Archived from the original on 6 April 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
  116. "Ballarat West Employment Zone". 7 November 2019.
  117. City of Ballarat Visitor Services Archived 16 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine. (PDF). Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  118. "Ballarat Tourist Association". Ballarat Tourist Association. Archived from the original on 1 April 2010. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
  119. "Ballarat Regional Tourism comes of age". Archived from the original on 19 March 2012.
  120. Business Ballarat – Sovereign Hill Archived 25 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  121. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 February 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  122. "sovereignhill – Ballarat Attraction, Museum". sovereignhill.com.au.
  123. "Why there is more to the rockabilly festival than dancing, dress and rock beats". 9 February 2019.
  124. Ballarat City Council representatives to meet with Federal Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research , 18 February 2010
  125. Sobey, Emily Mars celebrates 30 years in Ballarat The Courier. 24 November 2009.
  126. Nothing pleases like Maltesers made in Ballarat Archived 24 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine. 28 February 2013 From the Victorian Premier, and Minister for Manufacturing, Exports and Trade
  127. Company History Archived 10 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine from mccain.com.au
  128. X'trapolis Train Manufacturing Under Way in Ballarat. Tandlnews.com.au. Retrieved 18 August 2011. Archived 21 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  129. "The Beer Lovers Guide to Victoria's microbreweries 4th edition" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 October 2009.
  130. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  131. Ballarat Rural Land Use Strategy pg.31 http://www.ballarat.vic.gov.au/media/470869/rlus%20strategy_pb%20final.pdf Archived 23 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  132. Dobbin, Marika (20 February 2010). "Miners still search for a cart of gold". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  133. Lihir Gold to buy Ballarat for $350m by Jamie Freed for The Age. 18 October 2006.
  134. 200 jobs lost as Lihir Gold quits Ballarat by Mathew Murphy for The Age. 22 July 2009.
  135. "Lihir Gold sells Ballarat mine to Castlemaine | TopNews". Topnews.in. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
  136. "Boral opens new state-of-the-art asphalt plant in Ballarat, Victoria". boral.com.au. Archived from the original on 24 June 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  137. as at 2006 from http://www.ballarat.vic.gov.au/media/470869/rlus%20strategy_pb%20final.pdf Archived 23 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  138. McGrath, Gavin (4 February 2014). "McCain Foods, potato growers fixing 'strained relationship'". The Courier. Ballarat: Fairfax Media. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  139. "Ballarat cattle market improves in tough conditions – State News – Livestock – Cattle – Stock & Land". Sl.farmonline.com.au. 2 March 2009. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
  140. "About Us". Ballarat Agricultural Society. ballaratshow.org.au. Archived from the original on 9 October 2010. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  141. According to the Agricultural Society's website, the showgrounds site has been relocated since its inaugural year, it was relocated to Lake Wendouree in 1861 before the current site at Creswick Road was used from 1934
  142. as at 2002 http://www.ballarat.vic.gov.au/media/470869/rlus%20strategy_pb%20final.pdf Archived 23 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  143. "Ballarat Planning Scheme Amendment C95 Explanatory Report" (PDF). City of Ballarat. ballarat.vic.gov.au. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 February 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  144. Williams, Erin (14 July 2010). "Ballarat region named a geothermal hotspot". The Courier. Fairfax. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  145. Burin, Margaret (20 October 2010). "Biomass not sexy, but more viable than wind farms: bioenergy expert". ABC. abc.net.au. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  146. "Central Highlands Bioenergy Scoping Study and Biomass Audit". Central Highlands Agribusiness Forum. chaf.org.au. Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  147. "Ballarat's Energy Use and Emissions – Stats & Facts". Breaze.org.au. Archived from the original on 2 March 2011.
  148. "Mount Mercer Wind Farm – About the Project". Mount Mercer Wind Farm Website. mtmercerwindfarm.com.au. Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  149. Houston, Cameron (13 April 2007). "Victorian community goes it alone on wind farm". The Age. Fairfax. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  150. "Victorian community goes it alone on wind farm". ABC News. abc.net.au. 25 July 2008. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  151. "Mini Hydro – Goldfields Superpipe Ballarat Link". Central Highlands Water. Archived from the original on 5 March 2011. Retrieved 25 April 2012.
  152. Stephens, Kim (27 November 2009). "Solar park goes public". The Courier. Fairfax. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  153. "2016 Census QuickStats: Ballarat". quickstats.censusdata.abs.gov.au. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  154. "Population, households and dwellings | City of Ballarat | Population forecast". forecast.id.com.au. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  155. "National Regional Profile: Ballarat (C) (Local Government Area)". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Australian Government. 31 October 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  156. "Ballarat enjoys younger blood". The Courier. Fairfax. 2 May 2007. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  157. Nolan, Pat (14 September 2010). "Higher income in central Ballarat". The Courier. Fairfax. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  158. "Higher income in central Ballarat". The Courier. Fairfax. 3 May 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  159. Neville, Ivan. "Overview of the Ballarat Area" (PDF). deewr.gov.au. Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 April 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  160. "2016 Census QuickStats: Ballarat (C) (Local Government Area)". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  161. [Victorian Electoral Commission profile for Ballarat ]
  162. "Business Case for Council Office Accommodation on Civic Hall Site" (PDF). City of Ballarat. 3 November 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 April 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  163. "State Election 2006 Results: Electorate swings". Victorian Electoral Commission website. Archived from the original on 30 November 2007. Retrieved 16 December 2007.
  164. "Seats won in the 2007 Federal Election". Australian Electoral Commission website. Retrieved 16 December 2007.
  165. McIlroy, Tom (3 May 2011). "State budget: New police stations for Ballarat". The Courier. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  166. "Access to Justice". Access to Justice. 29 September 2011. Archived from the original on 18 April 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  167. Nolan, Pat (20 April 2012). "Overcrowding sees prisoners relocated to Ballarat". The Courier. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  168. "Locations: CFA has a State Headquarters and 9 Area Headquarters across Victoria". Archived from the original on 30 March 2009.
  169. Greive, Jennifer (10 February 2012). "Ambulance concerns after Ballarat hospital limits reached". The Courier. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  170. "Emergency Management". Ballarat.vic.gov.au. 10 December 2012. Archived from the original on 11 December 2010. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  171. Knox, David (27 October 2015) WIN TV cuts jobs in Ballarat, relocating news to Wollongong, TV Tonight. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  172. "The Ballarat school name that won't exist next year". 14 June 2018.
  173. Greive, Jennifer (2 December 2011). "Phoenix College a new name change for Sebastopol". thecourier.com.au.
  174. Agency, The ADWEB. "Error – Scotch College". scotch.vic.edu.au.
  175. Family, Wang. "VCE School Ranking – 2015". bettereducation.com.au.
  176. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  177. UB Site Listing Archived 25 November 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  178. Oliver, Jordan Crowds flock to Ballarat Show The Courier. 13 November 2011.
  179. "Ballarat Agricultural & Pastoral". 8 January 2007. Archived from the original on 8 January 2007. Retrieved 16 May 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  180. Begonia Festival Enters New Era With Bracks Government Support Archived 3 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine Minister for Tourism, 15 October 2003.
  181. "Springfest-An initiative of the Rotary Club of Ballarat". Archived from the original on 18 July 2008.
  182. Nolon, Patrick SpringFest will go on whatever the weather The Courier, 28 October 2010.
  183. Mcilroy, Tom Ballarat Rotary saves the Swap Meet The Courier. 26 October 2011.
  184. pg 12. My Ballarat. August 2012. City of Ballarat
  185. City of Ballarat Ordinary Council Meeting 10 August 2011 Archived 20 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  186. Brown, Emma Heritage Weekend crowds up on last year The Courier. 10 May 2010.
  187. O'Neill, David Crowds flock to Ballarat Beer Festival Archived 27 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine Weekly Times Now. 23 January 2012.
  188. Pilven, Jack Ballarat Airport open day draws thousands The Courier. 3 April 2011.
  189. Marcus Power (7 December 2009). "Civic Hall plan to go before Ballarat City Council – Local News – News – General". The Courier. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
  190. "About Us". BLOC Music Theatre. Archived from the original on 11 August 2010. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
  191. Royal South Street Society Archived 18 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Southstreet.ballarat.net.au. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  192. "BALGAL – My WordPress Blog". Archived from the original on 24 October 2010. Retrieved 10 June 2010.
  193. "Gold rushes 1851: Gold rushes in New South Wales and Victoria begin". Defining Moments in Australian History, National Museum of Australia. Archived from the original on 31 August 2018. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  194. "Filmed Here". Film Ballarat Hepburn & Beyond. Archived from the original on 24 July 2007. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
  195. "Movies Shot in Ballarat". Invest in Ballarat, City of Ballarat. 9 July 2009. Archived from the original on 17 June 2010. Retrieved 10 June 2010.
  196. Oliver, Jordan (2 April 2012). "Filming for ABC series to start in Ballarat". The Courier. Fairfax. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  197. Bentley, Prue; Allan, Tony (20 April 2017). "Ballarat keeps Doctor Blake alive as ABC kills off crime series". ABC News. Ballarat. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  198. Brain, Anna (3 November 2017). "Good news for Anna McGahan means bowing out of The Doctor Blake Mysteries ... for now". Herald Sun. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  199. Carmody, Broede (20 April 2018). "Doctor Blake Mysteries to return without Craig McLachlan". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  200. "City of Ballarat – Community Events Calendar". ballarat.vic.gov.au.
  201. "Western United brings A-League soccer to Mars Stadium". 8 August 2019.
  202. www.nemenvisual.com, Ben Foster-. "Ballarat Regional Athletic Centre". Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  203. Country Racing Victoria. "Ballarat Race Club". Archived from the original on 19 July 2008. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  204. Harris, John O. (2009). Queensland Baseball 1905–1990. p. 14.
  205. Golf Select. "Ballarat". Retrieved 11 May 2009.
  206. "Who is BRDL". Ballarat Roller Derby League. Archived from the original on 3 April 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  207. "Home -Ballarat Health Services". Archived from the original on 3 June 2017. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  208. "City of Ballarat – Health and Community Services". www.ballarat.vic.gov.au. Archived from the original on 9 March 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
  209. "Ballarat Regional Integrated Cancer Centre – home". Reachnewheights.com.au. Archived from the original on 15 April 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  210. CUNNINGHAM, MELISSA (16 February 2015). "Eat in, not out: experts". thecourier.com.au.
  211. "Essential Services". Film Ballarat. Archived from the original on 21 August 2011. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
  212. "Streams, Lakes and Storages". Department of Primary Industries. 11 May 2010. Archived from the original on 20 May 2013. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  213. "Water Storages". water.vic.gov.au. 12 October 2011. Archived from the original on 13 April 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  214. Burin, Margaret (5 August 2011). "Lal Lal catchment full and flowing for first time in 15 years". ABC Ballarat. ABC. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  215. Brown, Emma (21 January 2010). "Ballarat water storages: White Swan gets healthy new look". The Courier. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
  216. "Gong Gong reservoir park – Central Highlands Water". chw.net.au.
  217. Quinlan, Kim (13 May 2009). "Ballarat population growth: water supply critical". The Courier. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
  218. Victoria, Department of Environment and Primary Industries (10 May 2017). "Moorabool – Angling Waters". agriculture.vic.gov.au.
  219. Margaret Cochran (1974). Sovereign City: A Ballarat Tapestry. Ballarat and Queens Grammar School Parents and Friends' Association. p. 37. ISBN 978-0-9598167-0-9. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  220. Vidoni, Daniel. "Suburb: Leigh Creek, 3352 VIC (Near Ballarat) – www.findmap.com.au". Archived from the original on 25 October 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  221. King, P.N. (1 May 1979). "A Report on the Ballarat Water Supply Catchments" (PDF). Soil Conservation Authority. Department of Primary Industries. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 May 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  222. "Welcome to Central Highlands Water | Central Highlands Water". Chw.net.au. 27 October 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  223. Delahunty, Erin (2 November 2000). "Ballarat jobs to go as part of Telstra cutback". The Courier. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
  224. Germaine, Graham (18 April 2004). "Optus improves mobile coverage in Ballarat". Optus. optus.com.au. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
  225. Suzanne, Tindall (24 March 2009). "May date for Vodafone 3G bush launch". CNET. cnet.com.au. Archived from the original on 4 April 2009. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  226. Borgo, Matt (18 April 2001). "NBN doubles rollout of fibre to Ballarat". Whirlpool. whirlpool.net.au. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
  227. Power, Marcus (13 May 2009). "Broadband revolution coming to Ballarat". The Courier. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
  228. "National Broadband Network Issues to be canvassed with Minister Steven Conroy" (PDF). Ballarat ICT. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
  229. "NBN doubles rollout of fibre to Ballarat". ABC Ballarat. abc.net.au. 12 February 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
  230. "Ballarat CBD Strategy" (PDF). 26 May 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 April 2012. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  231. "Ballarat Road Transport Strategy" (PDF). March 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 April 2012. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  232. Victorian Transport Plan – Ballarat:Wendouree Station http://www4.transport.vic.gov.au/vtp/projects/wendouree.html Archived 25 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  233. Mcilroy, Tom. Ballarat commuter anger: V/Line drops express The Courier. 25 April 2011.
  234. Nolan, Pat. [New V/Line timetable sends some commuters' days off track] The Courier. 20 November 2012.
  235. Mcilroy, Tom Ballarat train line records most growth for V/Line The Courier 15 September 2011.
  236. Regional rail travel booming, despite delays from The Age
  237. Regional rail link seen as Ballarat work boost from the Australian Broadcasting Commission. 6 April 2011.
  238. Timetable list, V/Line. 29 January 2017.
  239. "Myki to start on VLine Commuter Services". VLine Pty Ltd. Archived from the original on 27 August 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
  240. "Ballarat". CDC Ballarat. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  241. Ballarat Tramway Museum. Btm.org.au. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  242. Tram plans on track by Mariza Fiamengo for The Courier. 1 May 2001.
  243. Chamber of Commerce backs tram plan. The Courier. 2 May 2001.
  244. Ballarat's hotels support push to bring back trams. The Courier. 25 July 2002.
  245. Support for Tram Plan. The Courier. 30 July 2002.
  246. Cunningham, Melissa (8 August 2014). "Call to bring trams back". The Courier.
  247. No trams for at least a decade. The Courier. 31 July 2002.
  248. pg. 147. Ballarat CBD Strategy 2012 – Appendix A – Other Ideas Considered.
  249. Cowie, Tom (2013), Ballarat tram return could cost $90 million, retrieved 15 September 2013
  250. Ballarat Airport Master Plan 2013–2033 (PDF), 2013, archived from the original (PDF) on 18 March 2015, retrieved 28 November 2013
  251. Microsoft Word – 0002-1-Ballarat Bicycle Strategy.doc Archived 22 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine. (PDF). Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  252. Ballarat Bicycle Users Group Archived 6 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Balbug.net. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  253. Cycling boon for Ballarat region David Brehaut for The Courier. 10 May 2010.
  254. Meldrum-Hanna, Caro; Russell, Ali (20 October 2014). "Ice Rush". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 23 October 2014.
  255. "Four Corners: Australian country towns in ice epidemic". News.com.au. News Corp Australia. 20 October 2014. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016.

Bibliography

History books

  • Bate, Weston. Lucky City: The First Generation of Ballarat 1851–1901 (1978)
  • Bate, Weston. Life After Gold: Twentieth-Century Ballarat Melbourne University Press (1993)
  • Carboni, Raffaello. The Eureka Stockade (1980) first published (1855)
  • Goodman, David. Gold Seeking: Victorian and California in the 1850s (1994)
  • Jacobs, Wendy. Ballarat: A Guide to Buildings and Areas 1851–1940 Jacob Lewis Vines Conservation Architects and Planners (1981)
  • Lynch, John. The Story of the Eureka Stockade: Epic Days in the early fifties at Ballarat, (1947?)
  • Flett, James. The History of Gold Discovery in Victoria
  • Molony, John. Eureka, (1984)
  • Molony, John. By Wendouree, (2010)
  • Serle, Geoffrey. The Golden Age: A History of the Colony of Victoria, 1851–1860, (1963)
  • Freund, Peter, with Val Sarah. Her Maj: A History of Her Majesty's Theatre, Ballarat (2007)
  • Ballarat City Council
  • Victorian Heritage Register, Heritage Victoria
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.