The town sits on the Broken River, about 212 kilometres (130 mi) north east of the state capital Melbourne.

A 1906 history recounts that prior to white settlement "as many as 400 blacks would meet together in the vicinity of Benalla to hold a corrobboree".

[4] The area was first sighted by Europeans during an expedition of Hamilton Hume and William Hovell in 1824 and was noted as an agricultural settlement called "Swampy".

Following the massacre, in 1839 a police station was established to provide protection of over-landers, and the name of the settlement became Broken River.

Summers are mostly warm to hot, sunny and dry with a very low relative humidity (a mean 3 pm reading of just 32% in January), while winters are cool and cloudy with modest rainfall.

The city also has a major art gallery which forms a landmark perched over Lake Benalla on the site of the original police station.

Benalla is also home to an artist's hub known as North East Artisans - an entirely self funded, not for profit community art gallery run by volunteers established in 2014.

[citation needed] Now called "The Benalla Festival" it is held over the first two weekends in November with dozens of free and low cost events including the community Street Parade, Music by the Lake and fireworks, and A Day in the Gardens Market held in the Benalla Botanical Gardens.

[citation needed] Many of the club's members travel from Europe each summer to enjoy the warm weather and ideal soaring conditions of the region.

[citation needed] There is a park and walking track that circumnavigates Lake Benalla, featuring a ceramic sculpture mural community that was created as part of an employment project for local artists.

[citation needed] As a service economy for the region, Benalla has many large retailers, including a Coles, Woolworths, Aldi and a Mitre 10 Home & Trade.

Benalla Bus Lines runs a local service every hour on two routes, serving the west and east sides of the city.

Benalla Airport YBLA (BLN) began life as a major RAAF training base during World War II.

The main water supply is Loombah Weir and McCall Say Reservoir in the Ryan's Creek Catchment approximately 13 kilometres south of the city with a total 1800 megalitre capacity.

[24][25][26] More than a hundred complaints were received by EPA Victoria from 2019 for the dust and particulates coming from Monsbent Pty Ltd, also known as D&R Henderson, situated in Yarrawonga road.

[27] In September 2022, EPA laid 39 new charges for breaching their licence conditions by emitting an excess in dust, odours and other nuisible substances.