Bindoon, Western Australia

Bindoon
Western Australia
Bindoon
Population: 740 (2006 Census) [1]
Established: 1953
Postcode: 6502
Elevation: 135 m (443 ft)
Location:
LGA: Shire of Chittering
State District: Moore
Federal Division: Pearce

Bindoon is a town located 84 kilometres (52 mi) from Perth city[2] on the Great Northern Highway within the Shire of Chittering.

Bindoon is where the majority of training and selection takes place for the Australian Special Air Service Regiment. Some of the facilities include live-firing ranges and the Brigade Special Training Facilities (MOUT).

The Catholic Agricultural College in Bindoon was previously called Keaney College[3][4], however the name was changed after accusations of institutionalized cruelty to migrant and native children.[5]

In 1994, the WA parliament was presented a petition with 30,000 signatures which demanded an inquiry into the sexual and physical assault that took place in Bindoon. Other institutions run by the Congregation of Christian Brothers in Castledare, Clontarf  and Tardun were also named in the petition.[6] [7] The child abuse that took place at Bindoon is recounted in the film Oranges and Sunshine.

Bindoon annually hosts the 'Bindoon and Districts Agricultural Show'. The districts covered are Bindoon, Chittering, Gingin, Bullsbrook among others. The show features cattle, poultry, fruit and vegetable exhibition and competition, horses in action, floriculture, cookery, art, general crafts, needlecrafts, photography, amateur wine making and home brewing, home produce, children's exhibition and pet parades.

Bindoon also held an annual Rock Festival in the 1980s and 1990s, known as the 'Bindoon Rock Festival' [8]

The name Bindoon is thought to be Aboriginal in origin and is thought to mean "place where the yams grow". The name has been in use in the area since 1843 when an early settler, William Brockman, named the property he had surveyed as Bindoon. The townsite was gazetted in 1953.[9]

References

  1. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Bindoon (State Suburb)". 2006 Census QuickStats. http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/ABSNavigation/prenav/LocationSearch?collection=Census&period=2006&areacode=SSC53201&producttype=QuickStats&breadcrumb=PL&action=401. Retrieved 2008-09-28. 
  2. ^ "Main Roads WA Distance from Perth". 2008. http://www.mainroads.wa.gov.au/UsingRoads/TouringWAMaps/Pages/distance_perth.aspx. Retrieved 2008-09-29. 
  3. ^ F. D. Shortill. "Keaney, Paul Francis (1888–1954)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Australian National University. http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A090538b.htm. Retrieved 2011-07-04. 
  4. ^ "College History". Catholic Agricultural College Bindoon. http://www.cacbindoon.wa.edu.au/history.html. Retrieved 2011-07-04. 
  5. ^ Welsh, L. P. (1990) The Bindoon fileedited by Bruce Blyth. Perth, W.A : P & B Press. ISBN 0959660666 (pbk.)
  6. ^ "ABC Lateline Transcript - Sins Of The Brothers". 1998. http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/stories/s17579.htm. Retrieved 2008-09-29. 
  7. ^ "Senator Andrew Murray speaks at the 1st International Congress on Child Migration". Australian Democrats. 2002. http://www.democrats.org.au/speeches/index.htm?speech_id=1035&display=1. Retrieved 2011-07-04. 
  8. ^ Full account of 1995 rock festival Gingin news, Mar 1995, p. 13.
  9. ^ Western Australian Land Information Authority. "History of country town names". http://www.landgate.wa.gov.au/corporate.nsf/web/History+of+country+town+names. Retrieved 2008-09-29.