The Bollards form a narrative of the people and events associated through history with Geelong, Victoria. The painted figures represent a whole spectrum of local characters from native inhabitants and explorers to opera singers and lifesavers, as well as preserving and highlighting historic events. The inspiration for the Bollards came from the artist, Jan Mitchell. Work on the Bollards began in 1995 including nearly a year of extensive research with the last of the figures completed in 1999.

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Geelong est la deuxième plus grande ville de l’État du Victoria après Melbourne et une de ses principales villes portuaires. Geelong est situé sur Corio Bay, à 75 kilomètres au sud-ouest de Melbourne. Elle compte 179 042 habitants.
Malgré la proximité de la capitale victorienne et les connexions routières de la Princess Highway (2x3 voies), Geelong reste physiquement et psychologiquement séparé de Melbourne par un espace peu développé de terres arables.
La ville est une porte d’entrée vers de nombreuses attractions touristiques renommées comme la Great Ocean Road, la Shipwreck Coast et la péninsule Bellarine. Geelong est aussi le lieu de la deuxième plus ancienne équipe de football australien, le Geelong Football Club, surnommés les Cats.
La région de Geelong était originellement occupée par des tribus aborigènes, notamment des Wautharong. Le Lieutenant John Murray fut le premier européen à visiter ces terres en 1802.
Geelong est géré par la municipalité du Greater Geelong, qui englobe plusieurs petites villes agglomérées à Geelong, comme Lara ou Grovedale.

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The Geelong metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of Victoria. Located 75 kilometres (47 mi) south-west of the state capital, Melbourne, the port city is situated around Corio Bay and the Barwon River. The metropolitan area runs from the plains of Lara in the north to the rolling hills of Waurn Ponds to the south, with the bay to the east and hills to the west, an area with an estimated population of 160,891 people. It is the administrative centre for the City of Greater Geelong municipality which covers the urban and surrounding areas and is home to over 181,000 people. An inhabitant of Geelong has been known as a Geelongite, or a Pivotonian, in the past.
Geelong was named in 1827, with the name derived from the local Wathaurong Aboriginal name for the region, Jillong, thought to mean "land" or "cliffs".[6] The area was first surveyed in 1838, three weeks after Melbourne. The Post Office was open by June 1840 (the second to open in the Port Phillip District). The first woolstore was erected in this period and it became the port for the wool industry of the Western District. During the gold rush Geelong experienced a brief boom as the main port to the rich goldfields of the Ballarat district. The city then diversified into manufacturing and during the 1860s it became one of the largest manufacturing centres in Australia with its wool mills, ropeworks, and paper mills.
It was proclaimed a city in 1910, with industrial growth from this time until the 1960s establishing the city as a manufacturing centre for the state, and the population grew to over 4 by the mid-1960s. Population increases over the last decade were due to growth in service industries, as the manufacturing sector has declined. Redevelopment of the inner city has occurred since the 1990s, as well as gentrification of inner suburbs and currently has a population growth rate higher than the national average.
It is known for being home to car manufacturer Ford Australia and also the Geelong Football Club, known as The Cats.