Dandenong ( ) is a southeastern suburb of

Melbourne, Victoria Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia, about from the

Melbourne CBD The Melbourne central business district (colloquially known as "the City" or "the CBD", and gazetted simply as Melbourne) is the city centre of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. As of the 2021 census, the CBD had a population of 54,941, and is ...

. It is the

council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The ...

of the

City of Greater Dandenong The City of Greater Dandenong is a local government area in Victoria, Australia in the southeastern suburbs of Melbourne. It has an area of just under 130 square kilometres (50 sq mi) and 166,094 residents in 2018. 29% of its land area forms par ...

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

, with a recorded population of 30,127 at the . Situated mainly on the northwest bank of the lower

Dandenong Creek The Dandenong Creek (Aboriginal Bunwurrung: ''Narra Narrawong'' or ''Dandinnong'') is an urban creek of the Port Phillip catchment, located in the eastern and south-eastern Greater Melbourne region of the Australian east coast state of Vict ...

, it is from the eponymous

Dandenong Ranges The Dandenong Ranges (commonly just the Dandenongs) are a set of low mountain ranges in Victoria, Australia, approximately east of the state capital Melbourne. A minor branch of the Great Dividing Range, the Dandenongs consist mostly of rol ...

to its northeast and completely unrelated in both location and nature of the settlement. A regional

transport hub A transport hub is a place where passengers and cargo are exchanged between vehicles and/or between mode of transport, transport modes. Public transport hubs include train station, railway stations, metro station, rapid transit stations, bus ...

and manufacturing centre of Victoria, Dandenong is located at the junctional region of the

Dandenong Valley Highway Dandenong Valley Highway is an urban highway stretching over 30 kilometres from Bayswater in Melbourne's eastern suburbs to Frankston in the south. This name covers many consecutive streets and is not widely known to most drivers, as the entir ...

Princes Highway Princes Highway is a major road in Australia, extending from Sydney via Melbourne to Adelaide through the states of New South Wales, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and South Australia. It has a length of (along Highway 1) or via the former ...

Monash Freeway The Monash Freeway is a major urban freeway in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, linking Melbourne's CBD to its south-eastern suburbs and beyond to the Gippsland region. It carries up to 180,000 vehicles per day and is one of Australi ...

and

Dingley Freeway The Dingley Arterial Road Project (in the Dingley Freeway reserve) is a partially completed arterial standard road which runs east to west through the southern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. Although the road was designed to be a freeway for ...

, and is the gateway town of the

Gippsland railway line The Gippsland railway line (formerly known as the Orbost railway line) is a railway line serving the Latrobe Valley and Gippsland regions of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. It runs east from the state capital Melbourne through Warr ...

into

West Gippsland West Gippsland is a region of Gippsland in Victoria, Australia. It covers an area of around the eastern shores of the Western Port Bay, extending from San Remo in the west to the Strzelecki Ranges in the east, up to Mount Howitt in the north. ...

. It is directly neighboured from the north and south by two sister suburbs

Dandenong North Dandenong North is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located 27 kilometers southeast of the Melbourne CBD, within the City of Greater Dandenong local government area. With a population of over 22,500 people according to the 2021 cens ...

and

Dandenong South Dandenong South is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 31 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Greater Dandenong local government area. Dandenong South recorded a population of 125 at t ...

, from the east by

Doveton Doveton is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 31 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Casey local government area. Doveton recorded a population of 9,603 at the 2021 census. Doveton ...

, and from the northwest and southwest by Noble Park and

Keysborough Keysborough is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, southeast of the Melbourne central business district, located within the City of Greater Dandenong local government area. Keysborough recorded a population of 30,018 at the . Keysborou ...

, respectively. The easternmost and westernmost neighbourhoods of suburb are also unofficially named Dandenong East and Dandenong West, separated from the main portions of the suburb by Stud Road and Princes Highway, and Cheltenham Road and Gladstone Road/Jones Road/Bennet Street, respectively. Dandenong began as a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

in 1852 and at the start of the 20th century was an important regional city with its own suburbs. During the mid-20th century it became a major manufacturing and commercial area, and eventually an incorporated

satellite city A satellite city or satellite town is a smaller municipality or settlement that is part of (or on the edge of) a larger metropolitan area and serves as a regional population and employment center. It differs from mere suburbs, Subdivision (la ...

of the expanding

Greater Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung/ or ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second most-populous city in Australia, after Sydney. The city's name generally refers to a metropolitan area also known ...

conurbation. A business district, the former

town centre A town centre is the commerce, commercial or geographical centre or core area of a town. Town centres are traditionally associated with shopping or retail. They are also the centre of communications with major public transport hubs such as train ...

, covers much of its area and is one of the largest in

. It is currently undergoing major transit-oriented

urban renewal Urban renewal (sometimes called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address real or perceived urban decay. Urban renewal involves the clearing ...

, which was first planned in the

Melbourne 2030 Melbourne 2030 is a Victoria State Government strategic planning policy framework for the metropolitan area of Melbourne, Australia intended to cover the period 2001–2030. During this period the population of the metropolitan area is expected t ...

strategy.

History

Early history

Prior to the

European settlement of Australia European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other We ...

, the flat to undulating land was densely forested with red gum and was inhabited by the

Woiwurrung The Woiwurrung, also spelt Woi-wurrung, Woi Wurrung, Woiwurrong, Woiworung, and Wuywurung, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin alliance. The Woiwurrung people's territory in Central Victoria ex ...

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

tribe. The name is generally thought to be derived from the Woiwurrung word "Tanjenong" meaning "lofty mountains" possibly referring to the nearby Dandenong ranges. Another popular theory is that the name comes from 'bad flour', or 'no good damper'. A local tale revolves around local aboriginals obtaining a bag of lime and mistakenly using it to make damper. An old local hotel was the 'No Good Damper Inn'. A third version has the name Dandenong coming from 'a burning' and 'the past' reflecting bushfires on the Dandenongs.

European settlement

Joseph Hawdon Joseph Hawdon (14 November 1813 – 12 April 1871) was a pioneer settler and overlander of Australia, and pioneer and politician of New Zealand. Early life Hawdon was born at Wackerfield, Durham, England, the son of John Hawdon. At the sugges ...

established a

pastoral The pastoral genre of literature, art, or music depicts an idealised form of the shepherd's lifestyle – herding livestock around open areas of land according to the seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. The target au ...

run on Narra Narrawong in 1837, bringing cattle from Sydney by land. Soon a few timber cutters and a police camp were also located there. Dandenong Post Office opened on 1 July 1848. By 1850, the whole area had been taken up for grazing. Dandenong Creek was first bridged in 1840. A road was made from Melbourne, making Dandenong, by the late 1850s, an important staging post for travellers into

Gippsland Gippsland () is a rural region in the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains south of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It covers an elongated area of east of th ...

. It became known as the 'gateway to Gippsland'. A township was surveyed in 1852. Milling of the red gum timber became an important industry, and charcoal burning, tanning, quarrying and brick making also flourished. A livestock market was established in 1866. The Western Port Aboriginal Protectorate Station was located north-east of Dandenong from 1840 to 1844. This area had been an important meeting and ceremonial site for Aboriginal tribes. The

Native Police Corps Australian native police were specialised mounted military units consisting of detachments of Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal troopers under the command of European officers appointed by British colonial governments. The units existed in va ...

established its headquarters there until its disbandment in 1852. The Police Paddocks were then used for breeding and resting police horses. By 1861, there were 40 houses in the township housing 193 people. In 1866,

Dandenong Market Dandenong Market is a major-regional market located in Dandenong, Victoria in the South East of Melbourne, at the corner of Clow and Cleeland Streets. Dandenong Market is one of Melbourne's oldest markets, established in 1866, and is one of Aust ...

commenced trading, selling livestock, fruit, dairy products and other farm produce. Dandenong Shire was proclaimed in 1873. The Australian Handbook records the progress of the town by 1875. The railway line from Melbourne to Dandenong was constructed in the mid-1870s. Dandenong station opened 8 October 1877. The Dandenong Town Hall, Lonsdale Street, was built in Free Classical style in 1890 as the combined Shire Hall, Courthouse and Mechanics Institute, at a cost of about 12,000 pounds. The architects were Beswicke and Hutchins and the contractor McCullogh and McAlpine. The two-storey, stucco rendered brick building, on a bluestone base course, features a lofty, Mansard-roofed, corner clock tower and projecting end wings with serlian motif windows and capped by pedimented niches. File:Dandenong post office.jpg, A view of the Dandenong Post Office at the start of the 20th century (now demolished). The back of the town hall on the right File:Lonsdale street dandenong 1938.jpg, Lonsdale Street from Dandenong Town Hall tower in 1938 File:Albanian Mosque (Dandenong) 6.jpg, Dandenong's first mosque, built by the Albanian community File:Laurel Lodge Dandenong.jpg, alt= , Laurel Lodge, 1869. Dandenong

Postwar era

The post-war industrial boom brought an influx of European migrants, particularly from Italy and Greece. This caused the creation of several suburbs of Dandenong including the public housing estate of

. In the 1950s, Melbourne rapidly expanded south east along the

and

to Dandenong and beyond and it became a major metropolitan manufacturing and commercial area as industry extended into the outer suburbs. By the late 1960s, it was officially a suburban area of Melbourne and central Dandenong was transformed by modern buildings, with the redevelopment of the post office to a two-storey modern building in 1960 followed by a three-storey office development for

AMP Amp or AMP may refer to: * Ampere, a unit of electric current, often shortened to amp * Amplifier, a device that increases the amplitude of a signal Arts and entertainment Music * After Midnight Project, Los Angeles alternative rock band * A ...

in 1966 and

Dandenong railway station Dandenong railway station is a commuter, regional railway station and the junction point of the Pakenham and Cranbourne lines, which are both part of the Melbourne railway network. It serves the south-eastern suburb of Dandenong, in Melbou ...

in 1975. In 1956,

Holden Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, was an Australian subsidiary company of General Motors. Founded in Adelaide, it was an automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter that sold cars under its own marque in Australia. It was ...

opened a plant. From the early 1960s onward,

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

immigrants settled in Dandenong and built its first mosque in 1985.

Urban renewal

Development in Dandenong had stagnated since the opening of the Armada Dandenong Plaza shopping centre which resulted in the closure of many shops in the central business district. Under the

policy, Dandenong was classified as a major

activity centre Activity centre is a term used in urban planning and design for a mixed-use urban area where there is a concentration of commercial and other land uses. For example, the central business districts of cities (CBD) are also known as “Central Activ ...

due to its central location with regard to its access to transport. These projects can be considered to be

transit-oriented development In urban planning, transit-oriented development (TOD) is a type of Real estate development, urban development that maximizes the amount of Residential area, residential, business and leisure space within Pedestrian, walking distance of public t ...

, where population density is intended to be higher compared to other areas with poorer access to transport. In 2006, the Victorian Government committed $290 million towards the ''Revitalising Central Dandenong'' initiative, to transform central Dandenong into a vibrant and thriving economic and service hub. The State Government funding was spent on land acquisition and consolidation, delivery of infrastructure upgrades (Londsdale Street, Stockman's Bridge, Station precinct upgrades and public amenity) and facilitation of key catalyst projects such as the Australian Taxation Office, brand new Council Civic Centre and the State Government Services Hub. Dandenong's redevelopment is undertaken by Development Victoria, a

Victorian Government The Victoria State Government, also referred to as the Victorian Government, is the executive government of the Australian state of Victoria. As a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, the State Government was first formed in 1851 when Vic ...

agency responsible for urban renewal, in collaboration with the Greater Dandenong City Council. The project is a long-term project, expected to continue for 15 to 20 years. ''Metro 3175'', named after Dandenong's postcode is a major redevelopment of the former Dandenong Livestock Market (established 1866 and closed in 1998) begun in November 2005 consisting of a

mixed-use development Mixed use is a type of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning classification that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions ...

consisting of 1100 residences as well as

cafes A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargile ...

and restaurants. Because the site is isolated from the rest of the central Dandenong area, George Street was widened and extended with a bridge across the railway lines to improve access between the precincts. The bridge provides access for cars, pedestrians and cyclists and improves connections to bus services in the area. Additionally, Cheltenham Road, a major east–west arterial has been realigned to remove traffic from nearby streets and encourage pedestrian use. Redevelopment of the Dandenong Town Hall (built in 1880) into a performing arts centre began in 2004 known as Drum Theatre to a designed by Williams Ross Architects. The centre was redeveloped with a 525-seat

proscenium A proscenium (, ) is the virtual vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor itself, which serves as the frame ...

theatre. At the cost of $13 million, the centre was opened by Victorian Premier

Steve Bracks Stephen Phillip Bracks (born 15 October 1954) is a former Australian politician and was the 44th Premier of Victoria. He first won the electoral district of Williamstown in 1994 for the Labor Party and was party leader and premier from 1999 t ...

on 11 February 2006. The redevelopment involved renovating the existing town hall building and the construction of a modern drum-shaped building.

Geography

Dandenong is bounded in the north by Heatherton Road (State Route 14), in the east by the Dandenong Creek and Claredon Road, in the south by the

Dandenong Bypass The Dandenong Bypass is a highway in the state of Victoria, Australia that runs along the Dingley Freeway reservation from Springvale Road in Keysborough to the South Gippsland Highway in Dandenong South. History The Dandenong Bypass was co ...

(State Route 49) and the

Pakenham railway line The Pakenham line is a Commuter rail, commuter railway line on the Railways in Melbourne, Melbourne metropolitan railway network serving the city of Melbourne in Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Operated by Metro Trains Melbourne, the l ...

, and in the west by the Yarraman/Mile Creek just east of EastLink (M3). The suburb is situated northeast of the confluence of the Mile Creek into the lower section of the

, a major

urban stream An urban stream is a formerly natural River, waterway that flows through a Urban area, heavily populated area. Often times, urban streams are low-lying points in the landscape that characterize catchment urbanization. Urban streams are often Water ...

that flows west from the foothill of the

Olinda Olinda () is a historic city in Pernambuco, Brazil, in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region. It is located on the country's northeastern Atlantic Ocean coast, in the Recife metropolitan area, Metropolitan Region of Recife, the state ca ...

before turning at the junction of Ringwood,

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

and

Wantirna Wantirna is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 24 km east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Knox local government area. Wantirna recorded a population of 14,237 at the 2021 census. Its name is ...

to course southwards

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the Channel (geography), channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erosion, erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank (cut bank, cut bank or river cl ...

ingly and form the

Patterson River The Patterson River is a partly man-made, tidal river urban river of the Port Phillip catchment in the Australian east coast state of Victoria, located in the outer southeastern suburbs of the Greater Melbourne region. Under the name "Patters ...

at Bangholme. The creek marks most of Dandenong's eastern boundary with the neighbouring

, and crosses westwards through the southern edge of the

town center A town centre is the commercial or geographical centre or core area of a town. Town centres are traditionally associated with shopping or retail. They are also the centre of communications with major public transport hubs such as train or bus st ...

, forming a

green belt A green belt or greenbelt is a policy, and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wilderness, wild, or agricultural landscape, land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts ...

with several riverside

linear park A linear park is a type of park that is significantly longer than it is wide. These linear parks are strips of public land running along canals, rivers, streams, defensive walls, electrical lines, or highways and Esplanade, shorelines. Examples o ...

s and

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

s including the Dandenong Park.

Politics

Federal

At federal level, Dandenong is divided between the electoral divisions of

Bruce The English language name Bruce arrived in Scotland with the Normans, from the place name Brix, Manche in Normandy, France, meaning "the willowlands". Initially promulgated via the descendants of king Robert the Bruce (1274−1329), it has been ...

in the north, currently held by

Julian Hill Julian Hill may refer to: * Julian Hill (fl. 1900), American landowner, namesake of Julian, West Virginia * Julian W. Hill (1904–1996), American chemist * Julian Hill (politician) Julian Christopher Hill (born 1973) is an Australian politic ...

since 2016; and Isaacs in the south, held by

Mark Dreyfus Mark Alfred Dreyfus (born 3 October 1956) is an Australian politician and lawyer. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), and has been the MP for Isaacs since the 2007 election. Dreyfus served as the attorney-general of Austral ...

since 2007, both incumbent

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

representatives.

State

Dandenong belongs to its own electoral district of

Dandenong Dandenong ( ) is a southeastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, about from the Melbourne CBD. It is the council seat of the City of Greater Dandenong local government area, with a recorded population of 30,127 at the . Situated m ...

, held currently by

representative

Gabrielle Williams Gabrielle Leigh Williams (born 27 October 1982) is an Australian politician. She has been a Australian Labor Party (Victorian Branch), Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly since November 2014, representing the electorate of ...

since 2014.

Demographics

In the 2021 census, the most common ancestries were Hazara 9.7%, English 9.7%, Australian 9.1%, Indian 7.1%, Afghan 7.4%. 30.9% of people born in Australia with other common countries of birth being Afghanistan 11.5%, India 9.5%, Sri Lanka 5.4%, Pakistan 4% and North Macedonia 2.7%. Most common languages, other than English spoken at home are

Hazaraghi Hazaragi (; ) is an eastern dialect and variety of the Persian language that is spoken by the Hazara people. Classification Hazaragi is a member of the Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. It is an eastern variety of Persian a ...

10.1%,

5%,

Dari Dari (; endonym: ), Dari Persian (, , or , ), or Eastern Persian is the variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Dari is the Afghan government's official term for the Persian language;Lazard, G.Darī – The New Persian ...

4.4%,

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabis, Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a ...

4.4% and

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

3.5%. Islam is the most common religion with 34.1%, followed by Catholicism 12.3%, Hinduism 7.4% with 13.7% recording no religious affiliation.

Transport

Dandenong is primarily a

private transport Private transport (as opposed to public transport) is the personal or individual use of transportation which are not available for use by the general public, where in theory the user can decide freely on the time and route of transit ('choice ...

-dependent community due to the relatively poorer

public transit Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of wh ...

compared to other suburbs closer to the CBD. It is served by the

(M1) which passes near its northeast, as well as several other major

arterial road An arterial road or arterial thoroughfare is a high-capacity urban road that sits below highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights o ...

s such as the

(National Route 1), Stud Road/ Dandenong-Frankston Road (State Route 9), Cheltenham Road (Route 10), Heatherton Road (Route 14) and

(Route 49). The EastLink (M3) also passes near the western edge of the suburb, and the

South Gippsland Highway South Gippsland Highway is a partially divided highway connecting the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne through the South Gippsland region of in Victoria, Australia to the town of Sale. The highway serves as a gateway from Melbourne to man ...

(Route 12) branches off the Princes Highway at the southeastern corner of the suburb. The

is situated at the southern edge of the suburb CBD and is an

interchange station An interchange station or a transfer station is a train station for more than one railway route in a public transport system that allows passengers to change from one route to another, often without having to leave a station or pay an additional ...

for the Pakenham and

Cranbourne line The Cranbourne line is a commuter railway line in the city of Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Operated by Metro Trains Melbourne, it is the city's second longest metropolitan railway line at . The line runs from Flinders Stre ...

s, as well as

V/Line V/Line is a statutory authority that operates Regional rail, regional passenger rail and Intercity bus service, coach services in the Australian state of Victoria (state), Victoria. It provides passenger train services on five Commuter rail, ...

regional train Regional rail is a public rail transport service that operates between towns and cities. These trains operate with more stops than inter-city rail, and unlike commuter rail, operate beyond the limits of urban areas, connecting smaller cities a ...

s on the

. It is approximately 50 minutes from Flinders Street station in Melbourne CBD by stopping-all-station train, but shorter if via

limited express A limited express is a type of express train or express bus service that stops at fewer locations compared to other express services on the same or similar routes. Japan The term "limited express" is a common translation of the Japanese ...

services. The

Victorian state government The Victoria State Government, also referred to as the Victorian Government, is the executive government of the Australian state of Victoria. As a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, the State Government was first formed in 1851 when Vic ...

has proposed triplication of the railway line to support a higher volume of trains for the growing population in and around Dandenong as well as other suburbs and towns along the line. The station also serves as a

for the local

bus network A bus network is a network topology in which Node (networking), nodes are directly connected to a common half-duplex link called a bus (computing), bus. A Host (network), host on a bus network is called a ''station''. In a bus network, every ...

, with almost all bus routes in the area passing through Dandenong station and an interchange on Langhorne Street in the CBD. Most buses in the area are operated by

Ventura Bus Lines Ventura Bus Lines is a large bus and coach operator in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, operating a fleet of more than 950 buses on 141 bus routes. History Early history Ventura was founded in December 1924 by Henry Cornwall. The name and co ...

, whose

depot Depot may refer to: Places * Depot, Poland, a village * Depot Glacier (disambiguation) * Depot Island (disambiguation) * Depot Nunatak * Depot Peak Brands and enterprises * Maxwell Street Depot, a restaurant in Chicago, United States * Of ...

is located near the railway station.

Cycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

is facilitated via the

Dandenong Creek Trail The Dandenong Creek Trail is a shared use path for cycling, cyclists and pedestrians, which follows Dandenong Creek through the outer eastern and south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Route The t ...

, part of the off-road cycling network which connects the city trails to nearby

Jells Park Jells Park is a public park in Wheelers Hill, a southeastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The park opened on 30 April 1976 and is named after Joseph Jell, a cattle grazier who worked in the area in the mid-late 1800s. The park attr ...

. In a council planning policy document,

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

is suggested as a future transport mode for the central Dandenong area.

Education

Three state high schools – Lyndale Secondary College and two campuses of Dandenong High School (Dandenong and Cleeland) – and one Catholic high school (

St John's Regional College St John's Regional College is a Catholic co-educational secondary school located in Dandenong region in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. College history St John's Regional College began when the parish priests of ...

), as well as numerous state and two Catholic primary schools, are located within the suburb's boundaries. Dandenong also contains Emerson School, a specialist school for those with mild intellectual disabilities from a catchment area.

Sport

The suburb has several

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

clubs including the Dandenong West Football Club, competing in the

Southern Football Netball League The Southern Football Netball League (SFNL) is an Australian rules football league, based in the south and south eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, for both seniors and juniors. History The South East Suburban Football League was formed in ...

at the Dandenong Showgrounds. Other teams in the Dandenong area include the

Dandenong Stingrays The Dandenong Southern Stingrays are an Australian rules football team in the Talent League, the Victorian statewide under-18s competition. 1992 saw the birth of the Southern Stingrays, developed under the leadership of Steve Kennedy (Regiona ...

(

Talent League The Talent League (also known as the Coates Talent League under naming rights and previously as the NAB League and TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition based in Melbourne and run by the Australian Foot ...

) at

Shepley Oval Shepley Oval is a football and cricket field located in Dandenong in south-eastern Melbourne. It presently serves as the home ground of the Dandenong Cricket Club in the Victorian Premier Cricket competition, and of the Dandenong Stingrays in ...

, St John's Old Collegians (

VAFA The Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) is the largest senior community Australian rules football competition in Victoria. Founded in 1892, it consists of six senior divisions, ranging from Premier to Division 3 in the men's competit ...

) at Carroll Reserve, and the Dandenong Saints (DDJFL – juniors) at Carroll Reserve. Numerous clubs have folded in recent years. Dandenong hosts numerous

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

clubs.

Dandenong Thunder Dandenong Thunder FC is a soccer club from Dandenong, a suburb in the South-East region of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. They are an Albanian Australian-backed club. Thunder compete in the National Premier Leagues Victoria. In 2012, Danden ...

plays in the

Victorian Premier League The Victorian Premier League (VPL) is an Australian soccer league based in Victoria that was founded in 2023 and administered by Football Victoria. It consists of two divisions that were named after the VPL's breakaway of the National Premier L ...

which is the second tier behind the

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

and enjoys much support from the local community. The side plays their home fixtures at George Andrews Reserve and has been both premiers and champions of Victoria multiple times. The other teams are

Dandenong City SC Dandenong City Soccer Club, commonly as Dandenong City Hajduk and formerly known as Chelsea Hajduk, is an Australian soccer club based in the South-East region of Melbourne, Victoria. The club's home is at Frank Holohan Soccer Complex in the s ...

, White Star Dandenong FC and Dandenong Wolves Football Club. Dandenong-based teams have hosted many international players in its time, including

Ljubo Miličević Ljubo Milicevic (; born 13 February 1981) is an Australian former professional soccer player who played as a centre back or defensive midfielder. Club career Early career and overseas Milicevic attended secondary school at St James College ...

Eugene Galeković Eugen Josip Galekovic ( ; , ; born 12 June 1981) is an Australian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is the current goalkeeper and assistant coach for Adelaide United. Having played over 250 games in the A-League, 238 ...

Ante Milicic Ante Milicic ( ; ; (born 4 April 1974) is an Australian soccer manager and former professional player who currently is the head coach of the China women's national football team. Personal life The son of Croatian immigrants, Milicic grew up i ...

, Cengiz Benlisoy, Semih Yildiz, Cenk Ali and Ilker Berberoglu. Dandenong also has numerous cricket clubs in the area.

Dandenong Cricket Club The Dandenong Cricket Club is an Australian cricket club based in Dandenong, Victoria, an outer-city suburb of Melbourne. They play in Victorian Premier Cricket, the highest competition in the state. History In 1989, Hawthorn/East Melbourne reloc ...

plays in the Victorian Premier League and has produced a number of state players to date. The most important of these have been

Peter Siddle Peter Matthew Siddle (born 25 November 1984) is an Australian former cricketer. He was a specialist right-arm fast bowling, fast-medium bowler who played mostly for Victoria cricket team, Victoria in first-class cricket, first-class and List A ...

(Australia),

Darren Pattinson Darren John Pattinson (born 2 August 1979) is an English former cricketer who played for Victoria and Nottinghamshire. Pattinson received considerable press coverage when he was surprisingly selected for the England cricket team in July 2008 fo ...

(England) and

Cameron White Cameron Leon White (born 18 August 1983) is an Australian former Australia national cricket team, international cricketer who captained the national side in Twenty20 Internationals. A powerful middle order batsman and right-arm leg-spin Bowler ...

(Australia) who have all gone on to play test cricket. Other prominent players from the club include

Ian Harvey Ian Joseph Harvey (born 10 April 1972) is a former Australian cricketer. He was an all-rounder who played 73 One Day Internationals for Australia and was named as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year for 2004 for his performances i ...

James Pattinson James Lee Pattinson (born 3 May 1990) is an Australian cricketer. Pattinson is considered an aggressive fast bowler. After making his Test cricket debut in late 2011, he played Test and limited overs cricket for the Australia national cricket t ...

, Brett Forsyth, Ercan Ileri, Jackson Coleman and Kumar Sana. The area also consists of a women's team, the Dandenong Women's Cricket Club who compete in the Victorian Women's Cricket Association. Several other clubs in the area play in the Dandenong and District Cricket Association (DDCA). These include Buckley Ridges, Dandenong North, Dandenong West, and the St Mary's Cricket Clubs. Other clubs within the

include Coomoora, Keysborough, Lyndale, Parkfield, Silverton, Southern Pirates, Springvale and Springvale South Cricket Clubs. Noble Park Cricket Club is also located within the

, and plays in the

Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association The Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association (VSDCA) is a turf cricket competition based in Melbourne, Australia. There are 32 clubs each fielding four teams (one per grade) plus an under 15 (formerly under 14) team in the annual J.G Craig (fo ...

. The South Eastern Titans Rugby League club fields both junior & senior teams in the

NRL Victoria NRL Victoria (abbreviated as NRLVic, and formerly the Victorian Rugby League) is responsible for administering the game of rugby league in Victoria, Australia. Victoria is an Affiliated State of the overall Australian governing body the National ...

competition. Their home ground is located at Greaves Reserve. Golfers play at the course of the Forest Hills Golf Club on Wedge Street, Dandenong.

Dandenong Stadium

The Dandenong Stadium is the home of the

Dandenong Rangers The Southside Flyers are an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. The Flyers compete in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) and play their home games at the State Basketball Centre. For sponsorship pur ...

(an Australian Women's Basketball League team) and Victoria's state volleyball competition, and from 7 to 12 July played host to the 2008 Australian Junior Volleyball Championships.

Notable residents

(1813-1871), Pioneer settler of Dandenong (1837) *

Oscar Asche John Stange(r) Heiss Oscar Asche (24 January 1871 – 23 March 1936) was an Australian actor, director, and writer, best known for having written, directed, and acted in the record-breaking musical '' Chu Chin Chow'', both on stage and fil ...

(1871-1936), Australian actor, director and writer *

Bert Cremean Herbert Michael "Bert" Cremean (8 May 1900 – 24 May 1945) was an Australian politician. He was a Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly for the districts of Dandenong (1929–1932) and Clifton Hill (1934–1945). He was ...

(1900–45), politician, held district of Dandenong 1929–32 *

Winnie Quagliotti Winnifred Evelyn Quagliotti (née Terrick; traditional name Narrandjeri, known as Auntie Winnie; 1931 – 4 August 1988) was a Wurundjeri community leader. She was the great-great-niece of the Australian Aboriginal leader William Barak. Early l ...

(1931–1988),

Wurundjeri The Wurundjeri people are an Aboriginal peoples, Aboriginal people of the Woiwurrung language, Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin nation. They are the traditional owners of the Yarra River Valley, covering much of the present location of ...

community leader *

Vince Grella Vincenzo Grella (born 5 October 1979) is an Australian former footballer who played as a midfielder. Born in Dandenong to Italian immigrants, Antonio and Maria, Grella began his senior career in Australia before moving to Italy, where he spent ov ...

(1979–), Former soccer player for Socceroos and

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

Adam Treloar Adam Treloar (born 9 March 1993) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Greater Western Sydney Giants from 2012 to 2015 and the Collin ...

(1993–),

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL) player for

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Originally named the Footscray F ...

Andrew Bogut Andrew Michael Bogut (born 28 November 1984) is an Australian professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach with the Sydney Kings of the National Basketball League (NBL). Bogut spent the majority of his career in t ...

(1984–), Former

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

for

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...

Ajdin Hrustic Ajdin Hrustic (; born 5 July 1996) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as an attacking midfielder for club Salernitana and the Australia national team. Early life Born in Dandenong, Victoria, Hrustic played youth football wi ...

(1996–), Footballer for

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

Scott McDonald Scott Douglas McDonald (born 21 August 1983) is an Australian former professional footballer and is the current head coach for National Premier Leagues club Gold Coast Knights. Originally a striker, McDonald could also play as an attacking mi ...

(1983–), Former footballer for the Socceroos,

Motherwell F.C. Motherwell Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, which plays in the . Motherwell have not dropped out of the top flight of Scottish football since 1985, and have lifted one trophy in that ...

and

Western Sydney Wanderers FC Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, Wanderers, or simply as WSW) is an Australian professional association football, association football club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South W ...

* Adam Collins (1984–), Sports journalist and broadcaster

Sister cities

Xuzhou Xuzhou ( zh, s=徐州), also known as Pengcheng () in ancient times, is a major city in northwestern Jiangsu province, China. The city, with a recorded population of 9,083,790 at the 2020 Chinese census, 2020 census (3,135,660 of which lived in ...

, Jiangsu, China 199
City of Greater Dandenong – Sister City Relationship

References

External links

History of DandenongRevitalising Central Dandenong

City of Greater Dandenong – Major Developments
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dandenong, Victoria Suburbs of Melbourne Suburbs of the City of Greater Dandenong Populated places established in 1852 1852 establishments in Australia