About Us

Lions Clubs are part of community life, in the cities and in the country. Clubs are easily identified by their distinctive Logo, the trademark of our International Association, and the 'We Serve'; motto.

Lions Australia is part of an international association, filled with people who are joined by the common desire to make their communities better, by using their creativity, enthusiasm and energy.

To Join a Lions Club, is by Invitation, but applications are encouraged from all members of the community.

Membership is open to men and women over the age of 18 years and of good moral character and reputation.

This website is where you can find out about our Lions Club of Korumburra.

Office Bearers 2022-23

President: Roger Powell

Secretary: Janet Powell

Treasure: Marc Gribble

An update for the community:

The Lions Club of Korumburra has roared back to life after 3 very difficult years

Careful planning has been undertaken to get the club back on track supporting the township of Korumburra. We are still actively seeking more members to join us in developing programs that serve the community of Korumburra. If you are interested in coming along and having a chat, we would love to see you. Please contact either the Club Secretary or President - details on the Contact Us page.

We meet on the 2nd Monday of the month for discussions around our programs and progress and the 4th Monday of the month for dinner and good fellowship. Come along and join us.

Brief History of Korumburra.

Korumburra, a rural town in west Gippsland’s Strzelecki Ranges, is 105 km south-east of Melbourne and 33 km south of Warragul. According to Bunce's Language of the Aborigines of the Colony of Victoria (1859), Korumburra is an Aboriginal word meaning maggot, relating to the giant earthworms found in the district. The name was given to the survey parish before the town.

The Korumburra district was part of the vast Wild Cattle pastoral run (1846) stretching inland from Venus Bay to Poowong. In 1878 coal was discovered at Coal Creek near the future town of Korumburra. Tracks had been cut through the thickly forested hill country: chief among them was Whitelaw’s track (1874) from Foster, north-west to Coal Creek and then north-east toward Morwell. His track joined McDonald’s track (1862) which went from Lang Lang to Poowong.

In 1878 farm selections began in the Coal Creek area. They were at the eastern limit of settlement, as towns and villages were established at Jeetho, Nyora and Loch. The proposed Great Southern railway, however, was an ambitious project intended to cross the Koo Wee Rup Swamp and reach into the heart of the Strzelecki Ranges. A prime objective was to reach the coal deposit. Construction began in 1888 from Dandenong and the final section from Loch to Korumburra opened in 1891. The project was sufficient incentive for the Korumburra township to be surveyed in 1887.

In 1891, when the railway reached Korumburra, the new shire was proclaimed, a mechanics’ institute and a school opened in Korumburra and a Wesleyan church opened for worship. The shire was headquartered at Jeetho, but ultimately would have its offices in Korumburra.

The agricultural and pastoral society held its first show in the mechanics’ institute in 1893. The emphasis was on dairy produce, poultry, home produce and homecrafts. Later shows featured decorations and arches built from coal.

In the early years of the dairy industry there were factories at Bena, Poowong and Kongwak. In 1901 a factory was opened at Korumburra and it had a life of 70 years. The dairy factory outlasted the Coal Creek mines which faced decline as mines at Jumbunna, Outtrim and Wonthaggi came into peak production. A few were worked spasmodically until the 1950s.

The country around Korumburra was cleared and saw-milled, but a severe bushfire in 1898 significantly impacted the forested areas surrounding Korumburra. As well as dairy produce there was livestock, mainly beef cattle, sold through the Korumburra shire saleyards (1901).

The town progressed steadily. A bush nursing hospital was set up in the early 1930s. Higher elementary school classes were commenced in 1920 and a high school instituted in 1954. Housing shortages after World War II were remedied by the gradual construction of over 100 houses by the Housing Commission.

The butter factory expanded, continually modernizing operations and becoming a major employer in the town. During the 1960s and 1970s, several mergers put the operations under the control of Murray Goulburn, and production at Korumburra was reduced from1973 and in 1975 the Korumburra factory was closed. Operations were transferred to nearby Leongatha. A cordial factory, established in the 1890s, produced Joe’s soft drinks from 1948. Joe’s was well known through South Gippsland until its closure in 1986.

Throughout the postwar years Korumburra was eager to have new industries in the town, but the Latrobe Valley claimed much of the development and the near neighbour, Leongatha, had better luck and prosperity with the South Gippsland Shire offices being located in this city.

Korumburra has State and Catholic primary schools, a secondary college, a hospital, a showground, golf, bowls and swimming venues and a shopping centre along the Commercial Street boulevard and is a important as a market and service centre for the surrounding prosperous farming area. The South Gippsland Highway passes through Korumburra but the railway line closed in 1993. The railway station, a fine Queen Anne style building constructed in 1907, is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register. In 1974 Coal Creek Historical Park, a coal mining town of the turn of the century, was recreated in the area between two rail lines, just to the east of the town.

In 1990 Burra Foods was established and is the major employer in the township focusing on the supply of cheese, whole and powdered milk and related food ingredients. It has one of the largest spray driers in Victoria and services both local and export markets.

In the last 2 years Korumburra has seen significant and rapid growth in the township as people move from Melbourne to the regional areas. This has seen development in the schools, kindergartens, sporting facilities, new Community centre and a plan to revamp the streetscape. Several new housing estates have opened, and the shopping prescient is full of new stores and restaurants. The Great South Gippsland Tail trail is due to open in late 2021 connecting Nyora to Port Welshpool which is expected to bring a tourism boom.

Our Thanks to Victorian Places for providing this copy covering the history of Korumburra.