Bindoon, Western Australia

Infobox Australian Place | type = town
name = Bindoon
state = wa


caption =
lga = Shire of Chittering
postcode = 6502
est = 1953
pop = 740 (2006 Census) [Census 2006 AUS|id=SSC53201|name=Bindoon (State Suburb)|quick=on|accessdate=2008-09-28]
elevation= 135
maxtemp =
mintemp =
rainfall =
stategov = Moore
fedgov = Pearce
dist1 = 84
dir1 = NNE
location1= Perth
dist2 = 19
dir2 = E
location2= Gingin
dist3 = 48
dir3 = ENE
location3= Yanchepcoord|-31.38|116.097|type:city(740)_region:AU-WA_scale:50000|format=dms|display=title

Bindoon is a town located convert|84|km|mi|0 from Perth city [cite web|url=http://www.mainroads.wa.gov.au/UsingRoads/TouringWAMaps/Pages/distance_perth.aspx|title=Main Roads WA Distance from Perth|year=2008|accessdate=2008-09-29] 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, the Brigade Special Training Facilities (MOUT) and full scale Boeing 747 mockup to simulate the storming of an airliner.

The Catholic Agricultural College in Bindoon was previously called Keaney College, however the name was changed after accusations of institutionalized cruelty to migrant and native children. [ Welsh, L. P. (1990) "The Bindoon file"edited by Bruce Blyth.Perth, W.A : P & B Press. ISBN 0959660666 (pbk.) ]

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 Christian Brothers in Castledare, Clontarf and Tardun were also named in the petition. [cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/stories/s17579.htm|title=ABC Lateline Transcript - Sins Of The Brothers|year=1998|accessdate=2008-09-29] [cite web|url=http://www.andrewmurray.org.au/Media/Speech_Display.htm?speech_id=1035&display=1|title=Senator Andrew Murray speaks at the 1st International Congress on Child Migration|year=2002|accessdate=2008-09-29]

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' [ "Full account of 1995 rock festival" Gingin news, Mar 1995, p. 13. ]

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. [LandInfo WA|c|B|2008-09-29]

References