Bittern, Victoria

Bittern Melbourne, Victoria
Bittern General Store
Bittern
Coordinates	38°20′20″S 145°10′30″E / 38.339°S 145.175°E / -38.339; 145.175Coordinates: 38°20′20″S 145°10′30″E / 38.339°S 145.175°E / -38.339; 145.175
Population	3,378 (2011)
• Density	94.89/km2 (245.8/sq mi)
Postcode(s)	3918
Area	35.6 km2 (13.7 sq mi)
Location	65 km (40 mi) from Melbourne 5 km (3 mi) from Hastings
LGA(s)	Shire of Mornington Peninsula
State electorate(s)	Hastings
Federal Division(s)	Flinders
Suburbs around Bittern: Tuerong Hastings Western Port Balnarring Bittern Western Port Somers HMAS Cerberus Crib Point

Bittern is a coastal rural town in Victoria, Australia, 49 km southeast from Melbourne's central business district, as a part of the urban enclave on Western Port comprising Bittern, Hastings, Crib Point, Somerville, and Tyabb. Its local government area is the Shire of Mornington Peninsula. It is served by Bittern railway station on the Stony Point greater-metropolitan line and by the 782 bus route operated by Peninsula Bus Lines between Frankston and Flinders. Bittern is named after the shy wetland bird, the Australasian bittern, which reflects the suburb's location amongst significant areas of native bushland and dense coastal vegetation.

The town was part of the Coolart pastoral run of the 1860s. Bittern Post Office opened on 5 January 1891. The railway opened for Bittern in 1889 and small scale commercial development began during the early 1900s. The town also 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. There is also a small oval located outside the stadium.