Traditional Owners

Wellington Shire and .id are proud to acknowledge the Gunaikurnai people as the traditional owners of the land which is now Wellington Shire.

Land use

Wellington Shire is the third-largest municipality in Victoria by land area, and encompasses a diverse range of land uses and land forms. The northern parts of Wellington Shire, including Briagolong, Dargo and Licola, are remote and rugged, rising from the Latrobe Valley into the mountains of the Victorian Alps, some of the highest peaks in Australia. The main population centres of Sale, Stratford, Maffra, Heyfield, Rosedale and Longford lie in the fertile floodplain of the Latrobe and Avon rivers, which flow into Lake Wellington. This land is mainly used for grazing and agriculture, some of which is irrigated. Sale is the largest centre in Wellington Shire and the only significant urban area. Lake Wellington – one of the major Gippsland lakes, is a major feature of the Shire, along with the downstream lakes in East Gippsland Shire. To the south of Sale, the major South Gippsland centre of Yarram is also part of Wellington, acting as a service centre for the surrounding region, which includes part of the rugged Strzelecki Ranges, and coastal settlements including historic Port Albert - one of Victoria’s oldest seaports, Port Albert was established in 1841. Tourism and fishing remain important industries. The southern part of Wellington Shire is dominated by the famous 90 Mile Beach, a continuous largely undeveloped coastal strip. Small settlements in this coastal area are low-lying with small populations but large numbers of dwellings, mainly used for tourism, and the population swells over the summer months. These settlements include Woodside Beach, Seaspray, Golden Beach, Paradise Beach, and Loch Sport – the easternmost extremity of Wellington Shire, tucked on a peninsula between Lake Reeve and Lake Victoria in the Gippsland Lakes, near the northern end of Ninety Mile Beach.

Transport

East Gippsland Shire is served by the Princes Highway, which is the main arterial road through Gippsland, connecting Sale with Melbourne, and Bairnsdale, the South Gippsland Highway through Yarram and Longford, and numerous secondary roads. The Gippsland rail line to Bairnsdale passes through Sale, Rosedale and Stratford.

Major features

• The primary urban centre of Wellington Shire is Sale,
• with approximately 14,
• 000 people in 2019,
• and the greater Sale area includes approximately 19,
• 000. The East Sale RAAF base is a major feature of the area,
• The headquarters for the Roulette’s acrobatic flying team,
• and a major training centre for the Air Force. Resultant defence industries and health care are major employers. Major agricultural centres of Maffra (second largest town in Wellington,
• with about 6,
• 000 people),
• Stratford,
• Heyfield and Rosedale are situated in the Central Gippsland plains,
• along the Avon and Latrobe Rivers,
• and are mainly service centres for the surrounding rich farmland. In the south of Wellington Shire,
• The major centre is Yarram,
• servicing the South Gippsland district as well,
• and the smaller towns of Port Albert and Tarraville. The Ninety Mile Beach stretches from here to Lakes Entrance (in East Gippsland Shire),
• and the towns along this stretch are smaller and characterised by a high rate of holiday homes which are generally unoccupied on Census night but fill up over summer. These towns include Loch Sport,
• Golden Beach and Seaspray. Loch Sport is situated on Lake Victoria,
• in the middle of the Gippsland Lakes.