Meet Banjo, Matilda and Clancy - the first large Australian dinosaurs to be discovered in almost three decades.

Three new species of Australian dinosaur have been discovered by scientists and volunteers in a prehistoric billabong in western Queensland.

Premier Anna Bligh announced the discovery in the central western town of Winton on Friday as she opened the first stage of the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History.

The dinosaurs have been nicknamed after characters created by poet Banjo Paterson, who is said to have written Waltzing Matilda in Winton in 1885.