Tallong/Debate Guide

Is Tallong actually in the Southern Highlands?

Whether or not Tallong is actually located in the Southern Highlands, as opposed to the Southern Tablelands, has been a subject of debate for almost a century. According to articles by local author Robin Woods in the now defunct ‘’’Highland Way Magazine’’’ and highlway.com.au (circa 2003), the editors looked up the record and found that Tallong is, indeed in the Southern Highlands; the residents made a decision to switch shires feeling that the Goulburn council did nothing for them (popular sentiment is that this is still the case).

The forced council amalgamations of 2004 placed the village in a newly-created Goulburn-Mulwaree Council and have exacerbated the problem. Goulburn is solidly in the Southern Tablelands. Further complicating matters is the fact that the Southern Highlands is not an official designation. Marketing and tourism personnel in Wingecaribee Shire tend to restrict the term ‘’Southern Highlands to mean only the towns and villages of that shire. Real estate agents place Tallong in the Southern Highlands, perhaps because of the cachet of the area, and Highlife Magazine, a lifestyle magazine showcasing upscale properties, has recently marketed Tallong as “one of the last true villages” in the Southern Highlands.

Tallong physically lies along the Southern Highland Way, Route 16, which runs from Moss Vale to Marualan. Perhaps because of that reason, Tallong is generally identified as the second, (or second to last, depending on whether you’re travelling from Sydney or from Canberra) village in the Southern Highlands.