Grafton (Bundjalung: Gumbin Gir)[2] is a city[3] in the Northern Rivers region of the Australian state of New South Wales.

It is located on the Clarence River, on a floodplain, approximately 620 kilometres (385 mi) by road north-northeast of the state capital Sydney.

[1] The city is the largest settlement and, with Maclean, the shared administrative centre of the Clarence Valley Council local government area, which is home to over 50,000 people in all.

Before European settlement, the Clarence River marked the border between the Bundjalung[4] and Gumbaynggirr peoples, and so descendants of the speakers of both language-groups can now be found in the Grafton region.

[5] With the wealth of "red gold" cedar just waiting for exploitation, he was given a pardon and one hundred pounds to bring a party of cedar-getters on the cutter Prince George to the region.

It completed the standard-gauge rail connection between Sydney and Brisbane, also forming a vital link for the Pacific Highway.

[1] According to the Census: Grafton has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cfa, Trewartha: Cfal) with significantly more rainfall in summer than in winter.

[19] A half-day public holiday is also observed for the Grafton Cup horse race, held each year on the second Thursday in July.

It is the high point of the city's annual Racing Carnival—Australia's largest and richest non-metropolitan Carnival—which takes place over a fortnight in that month.

Christ Church Cathedral, designed by John Horbury Hunt, was consecrated in 1884 and is the seat of the Anglican Diocese of Grafton.

Pending the opening of the combined road and rail bascule bridge in 1932, Grafton had a train ferry to connect the two railways.

A large number of small (mostly one-teacher) public schools existed in the Grafton and Clarence Valley areas in the past.

These schools have included: During World War II, Grafton was the location of RAAF No.6 Inland Aircraft Fuel Depot (IAFD), completed in 1942 and closed on 29 August 1944.