Bonegilla: A Place of Remembrance and Camp History

Bonegilla connects the history of a postwar migrant reception centre with a public place of remembrance. Commemoration, insights into camp life and the story of a single building offer different ways to explore the site’s past. If you would like to include cultural history in your trip, you can discover Bonegilla from several specific perspectives.

Block 19, The Arc and camp life

Block 19 is a public place of remembrance and a rare example of a postwar migrant reception centre. This gives Bonegilla a distinct cultural and historical focus, expressed both at a specific site and in a memorial. The Arc, a commemorative sculpture on the grounds, remembers individuals and families who arrived at the centre between 1947 and 1971. The years 1947 to 1971 anchor the sculpture’s commemoration to a specific period of arrivals. The Suitcase Trail offers a personal and immediate insight into life at Bonegilla Camp. It complements the commemorative perspective with a way to explore camp life: The Arc focuses on remembering those who arrived, while the trail focuses on life in the camp.

The history of Building 91

The Chapel, also known as Building 91, adds the history of a single building’s uses to this perspective. During its military period, it first served as the regiment’s Regimental Aid Post, then as a medical clinic, and also as a chapel for religious, charitable and cultural events. Its history therefore extends beyond its function as a chapel: military and medical duties are among its documented uses. This range offers another way to understand the Bonegilla Migrant Reception and Training Centre—not only as a place of remembrance, but also through the functions of its buildings. The perspectives have different chronological emphases: The Arc refers to arrivals from 1947 to 1971, while Building 91 can be understood through the sequence of its uses. A defined period of commemoration thus sits alongside a building history spanning military and medical duties through to use as a chapel.

Location and practical information

The Bonegilla Migrant Experience is located at 132 Bonegilla Rd in Bonegilla; its grounds border Lake Hume. The full address gives you a specific reference point for planning your trip, while the lake helps place the site in its surroundings.

Visitors without a smart device can ask at the Welcome Centre to borrow a site-specific tablet; a paper version is also available. This provides a way to access the site information without your own device. You can take this practical information into account when planning your visit.

Including Bonegilla in your travel plans

More destinations

Discover more destinations: Burwood, Mallacoota, Apsley, Dumbalk, Vermont South, Echuca, Moe, Mornington.

For the broader travel overview: Victoria.