Augathella is located in the Murweh Shire in outback western Queensland, Australia. The town lies on the banks of the Warrego River and has a population of approximately 500. Augathella lies on the Matilda Highway about 750 km west of the Queensland capital Brisbane, 85 km north of Charleville, and 270 km northwest of Roma. Murweh Shire, which also includes the towns of Charleville, Morven and Cooladdi, has a total population of approximately 5000.
Augathella was originally a resting place for bullock teams, lying at the convergence of three bullock tracks from Charleville, Tambo and Morven. First settled around 1864, it was initially known as Burenda, then renamed Ellangowan (still the name of the local hotel) and then when the town was gazetted in 1883 it was renamed Augathella after a major pastoral holding in the area. Augathella became a service centre for the grazing industry which developed in the area. Today, grazing is still the predominant industry in the Augathella area.
Traditionally, Augathella was a wool production centre with much local employment related to wool production and processing. In more recent times, sheep grazing has largely been replaced by cattle grazing. Today, most employment in the Augathella area is found in service industries including trades, shopkeeping, hospitality and transport, in addition to beef production, macropod (Kangaroo) harvesting and saw milling. Augathella's thriving cypress pine timber industry exports to the US and Japan.
When the new Matilda Highway was built during the 1980s, Augathella's service centre was bypassed, but new businesses have slowly appeared back on the highway frontage. Augathella has a growing arts centre, and outdoor activities are popular including a public swimming pool, a bowls club, polocrosse and an annual rodeo.
Throughout the 1890s, Augathella was the base from which Kenniff brothers operated as bush rangers for some 13 years, and is the closest town to Lethbridges Pocket (near Carnarvon Station) where they murdered a station manager and policeman attempting to execute a warrant for their arrest in 1902.