Morwell is a town in the Latrobe Valley area of Gippsland, in South-Eastern Victoria, Australia approximately 152 km (94 mi) east of Melbourne.

[citation needed] Morwell's centenary rose garden located in the central business district, won an award in 2009 for being a 'garden of excellence'.

[6] From 1914, various newspaper editorials had stated that the name of Morwell comes from the Aboriginal words more willie meaning woolly possum.

The run was thought to be named after Mary, daughter of the Bennetts who established the Hazelwood station with Albert Brodribb to the south of Maryvale.

[16] The earliest inhabitants of the Morwell district were the Braiakaulung people, one of the five Indigenous Australian clans of the Gunai/Kurnai nation.

The Braiakaulung people manufactured stone tools, as long as 5,000 years ago, from silcrete quarries in the Haunted Hills, west of Morwell [9] and the Gunai/Kurnai had lived in the region for more than 20,000 years, according to evidence found at the New Guinea II cave near Buchan, Victoria.

In 1873, the government approved the construction of a railway line from Melbourne to Sale and it was this decision which gave rise to the development of the township of Morwell.

Funded by the Japanese Government at a cost of over one billion dollars this project established a 50 tonne per day pilot plant which ran until 1991.

[citation needed] Thriving on the success of the power industry, Morwell developed into a city offering substantial housing and financial opportunities for its many residents.

With the general growth of the Latrobe Valley, Morwell's success appeared destined to continue.

[citation needed] Further, restructuring and privatisation of the State Electricity Commission in the 1990s led to massive job losses in the region, which accelerated the decline of Morwell's central business district.

[citation needed] Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in March 2011 show the average wage of Morwell residents to be the lowest of the three major Latrobe Valley towns.

It contains a major regional art gallery with an excellent local collection and is noted for its extensive rose gardens.

Born in Morwell, Savige founded Legacy Australia following World War 1 to assist widows and families of servicemen.

In the Government of Victoria it is represented in the Victorian Legislative Assembly by the Electoral district of Morwell.

University-level qualifications are available nearby at Federation University Australia, Gippsland campus which is located in the adjacent town of Churchill.

Other education and training provider are located in the wider Latrobe Valley urban area.

The highway connects Morwell with other Latrobe Valley cities including Moe to the west and Traralgon to the east.

This is also the home of the local club Gippsland Gladiators which has been based there since 2010, competing in Division 2, of the Gridiron Victoria league.