Casino, New South Wales, Australia

🇦🇺 Casino is a town in the Northern Rivers area of New South Wales, Australia It lies on the banks of the Richmond River and is situated at the junction of the Bruxner Highway and the Summerland Way.

It is located 726 km (451 mi) north of Sydney and 228 km (142 mi) south of Brisbane.

Overview Casino is the seat of the Richmond Valley Council, a local government area.

Settlement of the area began in 1840 when pastoral squatters George Robert Stapleton and his business partner, Mr. Clay, set up a cattle station which they initially called Cassino after Cassino (near Monte Cassino) in Italy.

Casino is among Australia's largest beef centres. It is the regional hub of a very large cattle industry and positions itself as the "Beef Capital" of Australia, although the city of Rockhampton also claims this title. In addition it is the service centre for a rich agricultural area.

Each year the town celebrates Casino Beef Week. It was not held in 2007 but since that year, has continued to be held and celebrated with the 2019 one being held from 18 to 28 May. The Richmond River runs through the town separating South Casino from the rest of the town.

Population According to the 2021 census of Population, there were 9,968 people in Casino. • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 11.5% of the population. • 84.2% of people were born in Australia. The next most common country of birth was England at 1.5%. • 87.5% of people spoke only English at home. • The most common responses for religion were No Religion 32.6%, Catholic 20.9% and Anglican 17.8%.

Transport Casino railway station is situated on the main North Coast railway line between Sydney and Brisbane, north of Grafton. A branch line ran via Lismore to Murwillumbah; that line has since been closed, although lobbying is taking place to re-open it. Casino railway station is the terminus of the daily Casino XPT from Sydney and there is a daily service to and from Brisbane via the Brisbane XPT.

In the 1920s, a never completed railway branch line to Bonalbo was started. A line was also proposed from Casino via Tabulam and even a line all the way to Tenterfield,

A Miniature Railway is situated next to the Casino Golf Club. The railway operates on Sundays between 10am and 4pm on a 2.5km stretch of track, with a museum at the end. A round trip is usually 25 minutes however on busier days it can vary.

Casino is serviced by Lismore Airport with several daily flights to Sydney.

Northern Rivers Buslines operates rural services to Lismore (670) and Kyogle (675) each weekday, with one return service to Tenterfield available on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Casino Bus Service operates local town loops, including a loop service to Gays Hill.

Among its many schools are the main ones: Casino High School, Casino Public School, Casino West Public School, St. Mary's Primary School, St. Mary's Catholic College School and Casino Christian Community School.

Heritage listings Casino has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: • 102 Barker Street: Casino Post Office • Casino-Murwillumbah railway: Old Casino railway station • North Coast railway: Casino railway station.