Menindee (derived from Minandichi, the original Indigenous name for Lake Menindee,[3] and frequently but erroneously spelled "Menindie"[4]) is a small town in the far west of New South Wales, Australia, in Central Darling Shire, on the banks of the Darling River, with a sign-posted population of 980 and a 2021 census population of 537.

[9] Aboriginal people became increasingly concentrated along the Darling River as the nearby Willandra Lakes system began to dry out after the last ice age 20,000 years ago.

The area around present-day Menindee was a particularly productive region for Aboriginal occupation with its overflow lakes and channels in combination with the riverine environment.

[11] Mitchell named the ephemeral lakes in the area 'Laidley's Chain of Ponds' after James Laidley, the Deputy Commissary-General of New South Wales.

[9] An expedition led by Charles Sturt arrived at Laidley’s Ponds in October 1844, the initial stage of a series of explorations in Central Australia searching for the north-south watershed of the continent and an inland sea.

The party established a base camp at Lake Cawndilla (south-west of present-day Menindee) and over two months made several scouting expeditions into and beyond the Barrier Range.

In December 1844 Sturt’s party moved further north to the Grey Range, after which they undertook a number of exploratory trips into the dry interior, before returning to Adelaide in January 1846.

[4] In about 1852 Thomas Pain, with his wife Bridget and children, settled at the site of Menindee and built a shanty hotel to provide services to travellers along the Darling River.

[18] The Burke and Wills expedition camped at Menindee on their journey to cross Australia from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Robert O'Hara Burke split the party, heading north to Cooper Creek with half the men, stores and animals.

[6] In October 1861 Menindee was described as a settlement consisting of the following buildings: "a public-house, a store, and a hut in the occupation of the police".

[19] The location of Menindee was surveyed in preparation for land sales in 1861 and the name "Perry" ("with but little regard for euphony") chosen by the colonial government.

[19] In June 1862 it was notified that "the approved Plan" for "a Town to be called Perry" had been deposited for public inspection in Sydney and with "the Land Agent at Wentworth".

[28] In November 1878 Menindee was described as "yet only a small place", consisting of "four public-houses, two good stores, a Post and Telegraph Office, Court-house, a Police-station, with its necessary adjuncts, and, as near as I could judge, about twenty cottages scattered about".

The "dozen or so houses that constitute Menindie" seemed to be set out without a town-plan; "of streets or roads, there are none, the only few yards of made surface being the approach to the punt".

The iron bridge was of the bascule type, with a centre span hinging at one end to permit river steamers to pass.

It is a grey-green downy forb with spines scattered along the stems, bearing purple flowers (typically solanum-type) in spring.

Richard Kingsford, Director of the Centre for Ecosystem Science at the University of NSW said the Menindee Lakes had been drained more often than in the past.

In early 2019, up to one million native fish were found dead along a 40-kilometre stretch of the river in Menindee, including the large and critically endangered Murray cod.

Menindee is served by NSW TrainLink's Outback Xplorer service between Sydney and Broken Hill with one train in each direction per week.