Population: 223 (ABS 2006)

Bena is 104kms south-east of Melbourne. The tiny township of Bena was originally known as Cromwell. Town founder, Mr. Fuller, named the town Cromwell in the 1870's. The town was known by that name until the railways and the Post Office came in the 1880's, when it was renamed Bena.

The name Bena is from the Aboriginal word for lyrebird.