View source for Bittern, Victoria

{{Use Australian English|date=August 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox Australian place | type = town
| name     = Bittern
| state    = vic
| image    = Bittern general store, Victoria.jpg
| caption  = Bittern General Store
| lga      = Shire of Mornington Peninsula
| alternative_location_map = Australia VIC metro Melbourne
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in greater metropolitan [[Melbourne]]
| coordinates = {{coord|38.33858260041506|S|145.17630236521327|E|display=inline,title}}
| postcode = 3918
| pop      = 4,276
| pop_year = {{CensusAU|2021}}
| pop_footnotes = <ref name=abs>{{Census 2021 AUS | id = SAL20248 | name = Bittern (Suburbs and Localities) | accessdate = 11 July 2022 | quick = on}}</ref>
| area     = 35.6
| est      = 
| stategov = [[Electoral district of Hastings|Hastings]]
| fedgov   = [[Division of Flinders|Flinders]]
| dist1    = 82
| location1= [[Melbourne]]
| dist2    = 5
| location2= [[Hastings, Victoria|Hastings]]
| near-nw  = [[Tuerong]]
| near-n   = [[Hastings, Victoria|Hastings]]
| near-ne  = ''[[Western Port, Victoria|Western Port]]''
| near-w   = [[Balnarring]]
| near-e   = ''[[Western Port, Victoria|Western Port]]''
| near-sw  = [[Somers, Victoria|Somers]]
| near-s   = [[HMAS Cerberus, Victoria|HMAS Cerberus]]
| near-se  = [[Crib Point]]
| local_map = yes
| zoom      = 12
}}

'''Bittern''' is a town on the [[Mornington Peninsula]] in [[Melbourne]], [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]], [[Australia]], {{convert|61|km|abbr=on}} south-east of Melbourne's [[Melbourne City Centre|Central Business District]], located within the [[Shire of Mornington Peninsula]] [[Local government areas of Victoria|local government area]]. Bittern recorded a population of 4,276 at the [[2021 Australian census|2021 census]].<ref name=abs/>

Bittern is part of an urban enclave on [[Western Port]] comprising Bittern, [[Hastings, Victoria|Hastings]], [[Crib Point]], [[Somerville, Victoria|Somerville]], and [[Tyabb]]. 

Bittern is named after the shy wetland bird, the [[Australasian bittern]], which reflects the town's location amongst significant areas of native bushland and dense coastal vegetation.<ref name = "Bittern">{{Cite web
  | website = Westernport Tourism  | title = Bittern | url = http://www.visitwesternport.com.au/index.php?cmspage=21| accessdate = 17 May 2025 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120317132103/http://www.visitwesternport.com.au/index.php?cmspage=21 | archive-date = 17 March 2012}}</ref>

==History==

The town was part of the Coolart pastoral run of the 1860s. Bittern Post Office opened on 5 January 1891.<ref name = "a">{{Cite web | website = Phoenix Auctions History  | title = Post Office List | url = http://www.phoenixauctions.com.au/cgi-bin/wsPhoenix.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=VIC&filter=*Bittern* | access-date = 20 March 2021 }}</ref> The railway opened for Bittern in 1889 and small scale commercial development began during the early 1900s.<ref>{{Cite web | title = Bittern | website = Victorian Places | url = https://www.victorianplaces.com.au/bittern | accessdate = 17 May 2025 | year = 2015}}</ref>

==Notable buildings==
The town  has a primary school, Bittern Primary School, and a small basketball and netball stadium known as Graham Myers Sports Stadium or Bittern Memorial Stadium, which features an indoor court used for basketball, netball or floorball and four outside courts used for netball.<ref name="Mornington">{{Cite web | publisher = Shire of Mornington Peninsula | title = Leisure Centres | url = http://www.mornpen.vic.gov.au/page/page.asp?Page_Id=290&h=0 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080720225436/http://www.mornpen.vic.gov.au/Page/page.asp?Page_Id=290&h=0 | url-status = dead | archive-date = 20 July 2008 | accessdate = 6 June 2010 }}</ref> There is also a small oval located outside the stadium.

==Transport==
Bittern is served by [[Bittern railway station]] on the [[Stony Point line]] and by the 782 bus route operated by [[Ventura Bus Lines]] between [[Frankston, Victoria|Frankston]] and [[Flinders, Victoria|Flinders]].<ref>{{cite PTV route|782}}</ref> 
==See also==
* [[Shire of Hastings]] – Bittern was previously within this former local government area.

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Shire of Mornington Peninsula suburbs}}
{{Coastal townships and localities of Western Port, Victoria}}

{{commons category|Bittern, Victoria}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Suburbs of Melbourne]]
[[Category:Shire of Mornington Peninsula]]
[[Category:Western Port]]
[[Category:Coastal towns in Victoria (state)]]