Kergunyah and Kergunyah South

Kergunyah and Kergunyah South are rural localities on the Kiewa Valley Highway, about 30 km south-east of Wodonga in north-east Victoria.

In 1838 the Kergunyah pastoral run was taken up by three partners, occupying about 45 sq km west of the Kiewa River. Kergunyah and Kergunyah South lie within the eastern boundary of the former pastoral run. The name is thought to be derived from an Aboriginal word describing a camping ground. (The word gunyah is thought to describe a hut or shelter).

Following the farm selections at Kergunyah in the early 1870s a school was opened in 1873. The main farming activity was grazing and, later, dairying. Kergunyah was described in the 1903 Australian handbook:

Apart from the school, a Presbyterian church (1889) and a memorial hall (c1926), the main feature of the area was the several dairy holdings which increased after the opening of a dairy processing factory at Kiewa. The number of holdings declined as they were consolidated during and after the 1970s.

Kergunyah’s school was closed in 1953 when Kiewa Consolidated was opened. Kergunyah has a store, a memorial hall and a Uniting church.

Census populations have been:

At the 2011 census, farming in Kergunyah and environs accounted for 21.3% of employment, about half of it dairy farming.