Lalbert is a very small farming town in the north-west of Victoria, Australia within the Shire of Gannawarra. Lalbert is situated 50 kilometres (31.1 mi) west of Kerang

Kerang, Victoria

Kerang is a rural town on the Loddon River in northern Victoria in Australia. It is the commercial centre to an irrigation district based on livestock, horticulture, lucerne and grain. It is located north-west of Melbourne on the Murray Valley Highway a few kilometres north of its intersection...

 on the Swan Hill

Swan Hill, Victoria

Swan Hill is a city in the northwest of Victoria, Australia. It is located on the Murray Valley Highway, on the south bank of the Murray River, downstream from the junction of the Loddon River. At the 2006 census, Swan Hill had a population of 9,684.-History:...

-Donald

Donald, Victoria

Donald is a town in Victoria, Australia, located on the Richardson River, at the junction of Sunraysia Highway and Borung Highway, in the Shire of Buloke. The town is named after William Donald, a Scottish pastoralist who was the first settler in the area in 1844...

 Road. At the 2006 census

Census in Australia

The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...

, Lalbert had a population of 197.

History

Named by Major Mitchell during his trek through the area in 1836, the name Lalbert (or L'Albert as it was originally spelt) is thought to derive from the aboriginal word for the creeper that grew on the mallee trees at the time. The first white people to live in the district were the Ham brothers who took out a pastoral lease there in 1846. By 1850 their sheep run had been subdivided into three separate pastoral properties: the Lalbert, Titybong and Towaninnie runs. The 1865 gazetteer recorded that there were only around 40 white people in the district at the time, all of whom were employed on the sheep stations. The district around Lalbert, moreover, was said to be fit for nothing except sheep grazing for which purpose the entire available land is taken up.

Lalbert is in the middle of the Mallee

The Mallee

The Mallee is the most northwesterly district in the state of Victoria, and also encompasses the agricultural district of South Australia. Definitions vary, however all are based on the Victorian distribution of mallee eucalypts...

 wheat growing area, which is renowned for its crops of wheat barley, oats, canola and legumes. It is 3 kilometres north of Tittybong

Tittybong, Victoria

Tittybong is a locality in the northwest of Victoria, Australia, within the Shire of Gannawarra. Tittybong is west of Kerang and east of the Calder Highway. It is south of Swan Hill, the nearest large town...

.
Situated 50 km west of Kerang, Lalbert is a mallee town with a strong sense of community. The town features a general store, hotel, school, hall and recreation reserve, and is a major grain receiving centre.

Lake Lalbert only kilometres from town is a flood filled lake and a significant environmental showpiece.

The nearest large town is Swan Hill

Swan Hill, Victoria

Swan Hill is a city in the northwest of Victoria, Australia. It is located on the Murray Valley Highway, on the south bank of the Murray River, downstream from the junction of the Loddon River. At the 2006 census, Swan Hill had a population of 9,684.-History:...

.

Railway

Lalbert is on the Robinvale railway line. Lalbert was connected when the line was extended to Ultima

Ultima, Victoria

Ultima is a town in northern Victoria, Australia. The town is in the Rural City of Swan Hill Local government area, north west of the state capital, Melbourne and south of Swan Hill. At the 2006 census, Ultima had a population of 161.-References:...

 in 1900, and eventually to Robinvale

Robinvale, Victoria

Robinvale is a town on the south bank of the Murray River in northern Victoria, Australia. It is connected by a bridge to Euston on the other side of the river in New South Wales. At the 2006 census, Robinvale had a population of 2214.-History:...

 in 1924.

The last regular passenger service on the line ran from Bendigo

Bendigo, Victoria

Bendigo is a major regional city in the state of Victoria, Australia, located very close to the geographical centre of the state and approximately north west of the state capital Melbourne. It is the second largest inland city and fourth most populous city in the state. The estimated urban...

 to Robinvale

Robinvale, Victoria

Robinvale is a town on the south bank of the Murray River in northern Victoria, Australia. It is connected by a bridge to Euston on the other side of the river in New South Wales. At the 2006 census, Robinvale had a population of 2214.-History:...

 on 3 June 1978 and was operated by a DERM

Diesel Electric railmotor (VR)

The Diesel Electric Rail Motor was a railmotor operated by the Victorian Railways of Australia.-History:...

. The last Station Master was Damian Cybula. It was replaced by Bendigo - Ultima and Swan Hill - Robinvale buses from June 5, 1978. The line is now used exclusively to haul grain.

Football

The Mallee Football club plays in the Central Murray Football League

Central Murray Football League

The Central Murray Football League is a major country Australian rules football competition based in northern Victoria, Australia and southwest New South Wales, Australia.-History:...

. The team last won the premiership in 1996. The cricket writer and author of the Wisden Guide to Cricket Grounds and the ECB Guide to Cricket Grounds William A. Powell was married here in April 1996 to Carol M. Curthoys.