Eagle Point, Victoria

Eagle Point is a small town in Victoria, Australia, in the Shire of East Gippsland, by Lake King. The area encompasses the red limestone cliffs by the Mitchell River and Mitchell River silt jetties. It is a popular tourist destination.

History
The Gunai name for Eagle Point is Nurrung, which translates to moon.

Eagle Point is associated with conflict between the local Gunai Aboriginal people and settlers. In 1840-41, Angus McMillan and his men killed an unknown number of Gunai people in skirmishes during "the defense of Bushy Park". In the mid to late 1840s, Eagle Point was the headquarters for the Border Police under Commissioner Tyers. In conjunction with the Native Police force based at nearby Boisdale, this force conducted regular raids upon Gunai camps across the region.

Demographics
The Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016 Census reported the town had a ratio of 51 males to 49 females. The median age was 56 years of age, 18 years above the Australian average.

Nationalities and Languages
At 79.2%, the majority of people living in Eagle Point were born in Australia. The other most common countries of birth were England, Germany, New Zealand, Netherlands and Scotland. In Eagle Point, 90.1% of people only spoke English at home. The percentage of Italian speakers was 0.8%, 0.7% spoke German, while Afrikaans, Finnish and Malay speakers each were 0.3%.

Religion
The town of Eagle Point is 63.1% religious, with 19.4% identifying as Anglican, 15.8% as Catholic and 4.8% as belonging to the Uniting Church. 36.9% of the population were reported as having no religion.

Relationship Status
59.1% of the population is married in Eagle Point, 19.4% have never married, 11.9% are divorced, 6.0% are widowed and 3.6% are separated.

Employment Status
51.0% of people living in Eagle Point are employed full-time, and 35.3% are working part-time. Eagle Point has an unemployment rate of 4.0%.

Education
Eagle Point is served by a primary school, Eagle Point Primary School, founded in 1894. It is situated on School Road and Eagle Point Rd. In 2010, it completed a redevelopment project which included two new buildings.

Tourism
Eagle Point is known for its tourism. It has two caravan parks: Eagle Point Caravan Park and the Lake King Caravan Park. Eagle Point's main attraction is the reserve. Kangaroos can regularly be seen on silt jetties. The other attraction is Lake King or The Mitchell River; Lake King is sometimes closed off to the public due to algal blooms. Bairnsdale Riviera Triathlon Club hosts an annual event in Eagle Point each summer.

Arts & Culture
Although there are no art galleries in Eagle Point, the town has a small number of professional artists living and working in the area.