Welcome to the Bonegilla Migrant Experience website

The Bonegilla Migrant Experience invites you to come and reminisce or learn about the rich history of the former Bonegilla Migrant Reception and Training Centre.

Over the course of 24 years from 1947-1971, Bonegilla became Australia’s first, largest, and longest operating migrant reception centre and the first Australian home for some 320,000 post-war migrants from over 30 countries.

Today, the centre touches the lives of millions of Australians and stands as strong testimony to the bravery of post-war immigrants who came to and settled here.

The former Migrant Reception and Training Centre is deemed a cultural heritage site of great national significance and is a focus point, for all post-war migrants and families who wish to remember and, in most cases, celebrate their roots.

Redevelopment of this site generously supported by Victorian Multicultural Commission and Bonfire Media