GEOGRAPHIC EXTREMES SOCIETY
AUSTRALIAN RECORDS
Australian Rivers
The longest river in Australia goes by the name of the Murray-Darling-Culgoa-Balonne-Condamine, the MDCBC, or just the Murray Darling for short.
If you trace the most extended section of the MDCBC, you will eventually find yourself on the summit of Mount Superbus in south-east Queensland where the Condamine River begins its 3,672 kilometres journey to the mouth of the Murray and the Southern Ocean.
The Condamine River rises from rainforested gullies on the side of Mount Superbus, very close to the border of New South Wales. The Condamine then runs away, in north-westerly towards central Queensland, before settling on a westerly course for roughly 600 kilometres across the fertile Darling Downs.
In all, the 680 km path of the Condamine River has an elevation drop of 1,100 metres from its peak at Mount Superbus, while over the remaining 3,000 km to the Southern Ocean, the river drops a mere 270 metres. At Surat, it merges with Dogwood Creek which comes from the north-west near Miles, where the major channel undergoes its first name change into the Balonne River.
There nothing particularly noteworthy about the longest river channel as it becomes the Balonne River, other than it passes through the large Beardmore Dam just before the township of St George. The river starts to branch and split here, and twelve kilometres before Dirranbandi it becomes the Culgoa River on its western tributary. The Culgoa River continues across the Queensland, New South Wales border before meeting with the Barwon River to form Australia’s second-longest river with a single name, the Darling River.
Sections and lengths of the Murray Darling Culgoa Balonne Condamine Rivers
Murray – 828 km
Darling – 1,545 km
Culgoa and Balonne – 538 km (the longest river channel differs from individual river length)
Condamine – 657 km
The Darling River meanders for 1,545 kilometres, through the towns of Bourke and Wilcannia, passing through the Menindee Lakes before merging with the Murray River at Wentworth in New South Wales. A further 828 kilometres along, the Murray brings you to the permanently dredged Murray Mouth, which flows off into the Southern Ocean.
Murray Darling Culgoa Balonne Condamine. The longest river in Australia. Image BoM
The Longest Australian River with a single name
The Murray River is the major contributor to the flow of this waterway and at 2,508 kilometres, is Australia’s longest river with a single name. Floods sometimes lengthen or shorten rivers, when they choose different channels as a result of erosion, moving sand bars, and siltation. For example, the length of the Murray River can vary as flooding changes the meanderings of the system. These flooding events explains conflicting figures of river lengths in different texts.
Murray River. Longest River with a single name in Australia. Image: Discover Murray River
Australian River Records.
GES Record: Longest River in Australia. – Murray-Darling-Culgoa-Balonne-Condamine Rivers. 3,672km (Source: Geoscience Australia)
GES Record: Longest river with a single name – Murray River. 2,508 km (Source: Geoscience Australia)
GES Record: Furthest Extent of Murray Darling system. Summit of Mount Superbus (Source: RJ Andrews)
Australian State / Territory Records (source: Geoscience Australia unless noted)
Australian Capital Territory – Murrumbidgee River 59 km
New South Wales – Murray River. 1,808 km
Northern Territory – Victoria River 510 km.
Queensland – Flinders River. 1,004 km
South Australia – Murray River 700 km (Could be surpassed by Cooper/Strzelecki Ck system?)
Tasmania – South Esk River. 245 km
Victoria – Goulburn River 654 km
Western Australia – Gascoyne River 834 km
The Geographic Extremes Society welcomes any input as to the veracity of these records and we encourage everyone to contribute to these extreme records by contacting us to initiate the discussion