The city occupies much of the northern and eastern coastlines ofPort Phillip Bay. As of 2024, the population of the city was 5.35 million, or 19% of thepopulation of Australia;[7] inhabitants are known as "Melburnians".
Aboriginal Australians have lived in the Melbourne area for at least 40,000 years.[25] WhenBritish colonists arrived in the 19th century, up to 20,000Kulin people from three distinct language groups – theWurundjeri,Bunurong andWathaurong – resided in the area.[26][27] It was an important meeting place for the clans of theKulin nation alliance and a vital source of food and water.[28][11] In June 2021, the boundaries between the land of two of thetraditional owner groups, the Wurundjeri and Bunurong, were agreed after being drawn up by theVictorian Aboriginal Heritage Council. The borderline runs across the city from west to east, withthe CBD,Richmond andHawthorn included in Wurundjeri land, andAlbert Park,St Kilda andCaulfield on Bunurong land.[29] However, this change in boundaries is still disputed by people on both sides of the dispute including N'arweetCarolyn Briggs.[30] The nameNarrm is commonly used by the broader Aboriginal community to refer to the city, stemming from the traditional name recorded for the area on which the Melbourne city centre is built.[31][21] The word is closely related toNarm-narm, being the Boonwurrung word forPort Phillip Bay.[32] Narrm means scrub in Eastern Kulin languages which reflects the Creation Story of how the Bay was filled by the creation of the Birrarung (Yarra River). Before this, the dry Melbourne region extended out into the Bay and the Bay was filled with teatree scrub where boorrimul (emu) and marram (kangaroo) were hunted.[33][34]
In May and June 1835,John Batman, a leading member of thePort Phillip Association in Van Diemen's Land, explored the Melbourne area, and later claimed to havenegotiated a purchase of 2,400 km2 (600,000 acres) with eight Wurundjeri elders. However, the nature of the treaty has been heavily disputed, as none of the parties spoke the same language, and the elders likely perceived it as part of the gift exchanges which had taken place over the previous few days amounting to atanderrum ceremony which allows temporary access to and use of the land.[36][37] Batman selected a site on the northern bank of theYarra River, declaring that "this will be the place for a village" before returning to Van Diemen's Land.[38] In August 1835, another group of Vandemonian settlers arrived in the area and established a settlement at the site of the currentMelbourne Immigration Museum. Batman and his group arrived the following month and the two groups ultimately agreed to share the settlement, initially known by the native name of Dootigala.[39][40]
Between 1836 and 1842, Victorian Aboriginal groups were largely dispossessed of their land by British colonists.[46] In 1840, the Superintendent of thePort Phillip District,Charles La Trobe issued a directive to banish Aboriginals from the immediate vicinity of Melbourne.[47] This was enforced later that same year by the mass-arrest and imprisonment of hundreds of Indigenous people during theLettsom raid.[48] However, Aboriginal people still managed to continue living near the settlement and by January 1844 there were said to be 675 residing in squalid camps around Melbourne.[49] The British Colonial Office had appointed fiveAboriginal Protectors for the Aboriginal people of Victoria, in 1839, but their work was nullified by a land policy that favouredsquatters who took possession of Aboriginal lands.[50] By 1845, fewer than 240 wealthy Europeans held all the pastoral licences then issued in Victoria and became a powerful political and economic force in Victoria for generations to come.[51]Letters patent ofQueen Victoria, issued on 25 June 1847, declared Melbourne a city.[12] On 1 July 1851, the Port Phillip District separated fromNew South Wales to become the Colony of Victoria, with Melbourne as its capital.[52]
South Melbourne's "Canvas Town" provided temporary accommodation for the thousands of migrants who arrived each week during the 1850s gold rush.A large crowd outside the Victorian Supreme Court, celebrating the release of theEureka rebels in 1855.
The discovery of gold in Victoria in mid-1851 sparkeda gold rush, and Melbourne, the colony's major port, experienced rapid growth. Within months, the city's population had nearly doubled from 25,000 to 40,000 inhabitants.[53] Exponential growth ensued, and by 1865 Melbourne had overtakenSydney as Australia's most populous city.[54]
An influx of intercolonial and international migrants, particularly from Europe and China, saw the establishment of slums, includingChinatown and a temporary "tent city" on the southern banks of the Yarra. In the aftermath of the 1854Eureka Rebellion, mass public support for the plight of the miners resulted in major political changes to the colony, including improvements in working conditions across mining, agriculture, manufacturing and other local industries. At least twenty nationalities took part in the rebellion, giving some indication of immigration flows at the time.[55]
The layout of the inner suburbs on a largely one-mile grid pattern, cut through by wide radial boulevards and parklands surrounding the central city, was largely established in the 1850s and 1860s. These areas rapidly filled with the ubiquitous terrace houses, as well as with detached houses and grand mansions, while some of the major roads developed as shopping streets. Melbourne quickly became a major finance centre, home to several banks, theRoyal Mint, and (in 1861) Australia's firststock exchange.[56] In 1855, theMelbourne Cricket Club secured possession of its now famous ground, theMCG. Members of theMelbourne Football Club codifiedAustralian football in 1859,[57] and in 1861, the firstMelbourne Cup race was held. Melbourne acquired its first public monument, theBurke and Wills statue, in 1864.[58]
With the gold rush largely over by 1860, Melbourne continued to grow on the back of continuing gold-mining, as the major port for exporting the agricultural products of Victoria (especially wool) and with a developing manufacturing sector protected by high tariffs. An extensive radial railway network spread into the countryside from the late 1850s. Construction started on further major public buildings in the 1860s and 1870s, such as theSupreme Court,Government House, and theQueen Victoria Market. The central city filled up with shops and offices, workshops, and warehouses. Large banks and hotels faced the main streets, with fine townhouses in the east end of Collins Street, contrasting with tiny cottages down laneways within the blocks. The Aboriginal population continued to decline, with an estimated 80% total decrease by 1863,[citation needed] due primarily to introduced diseases (particularlysmallpox[26]), frontier violence and dispossession of their lands.[59]
Elizabeth Street lined with buildings from the "Marvellous Melbourne" era.
The 1880s saw extraordinary growth: consumer confidence, easy access to credit, and steep increases in land prices led to an enormous amount of construction. During this "land boom", Melbourne reputedly became the richest city in the world,[13] and the second-largest (after London) in theBritish Empire.[60]
The decade began with the Melbourne International Exhibition in 1880, held in the large purpose-builtExhibition Building. A telephone exchange was established that year, and the foundations ofSt Paul's were laid. In 1881, electric light was installed in theEastern Market, and a generating station capable of supplying 2,000 incandescent lamps was in operation by 1882.[61] TheMelbourne cable tramway system opened in 1885 and became one of the world's most extensive systems by 1890.[62]
In 1885, visiting English journalistGeorge Augustus Henry Sala coined the phrase "Marvellous Melbourne", which stuck long into the twentieth century and has come to refer to the opulence and energy of the 1880s,[63] during which time large commercial buildings, grand hotels, banks,coffee palaces,terrace housing and palatial mansions proliferated in the city.[64] The establishment of the Melbourne Hydraulic Power Company in 1886 led to the availability of high-pressure piped water, allowing for the installation of hydraulically poweredelevators, which led to the construction of the first high-rise buildings in the city.[65][66] The period also saw the huge expansion of a significant radial rail-based transport network throughout the city and suburbs.[67]
Melbourne's land-boom peaked in 1888,[64] the year it hosted the Centennial Exhibition. The brashboosterism that had typified Melbourne during that time ended in the early 1890s. The bubble supporting the local finance and property industries burst, resulting in a severe economic depression.[64][68] Sixteen smallland banks and building societies collapsed, and 133 limited companies went into liquidation. The Melbourne financial crisis was a contributing factor to theAustralian economic depression of the 1890s and theAustralian banking crisis of 1893. The effects of the depression on the city were profound, with virtually no significant construction until the late 1890s.[69][70]
In the immediate years afterWorld War II, Melbourne expanded rapidly, its growth boosted bypost-war immigration to Australia, primarily from SouthernEurope and theMediterranean.[73] While the "Paris End" of Collins Street began Melbourne's boutique shopping and open aircafe cultures,[74] the city centre was seen by many as stale—the dreary domain of office workers—something expressed byJohn Brack in his famous paintingCollins St., 5 pm (1955).[75] Up until the 21st century, Melbourne was considered Australia's "industrial heartland".[76]
Orica House (formerly ICI House), a symbol of modernity in post-war Melbourne.
Height limits in the CBD were lifted in 1958, after the construction ofICI House, transforming the city's skyline with the introduction of skyscrapers. Suburban expansion then intensified, served by new indoor malls beginning withChadstone Shopping Centre.[77] The post-war period also saw a major renewal of the CBD andSt Kilda Road which significantly modernised the city.[78] New fire regulations and redevelopment saw most of the taller pre-war CBD buildings either demolished or partially retained through a policy offacadism. Many of the larger suburban mansions from the boom era were also either demolished or subdivided.
To counter the trend towards low-density suburban residential growth, the government began a series of controversial public housing projects in the inner city by theHousing Commission of Victoria, which resulted in the demolition of many neighbourhoods and a proliferation of high-rise towers.[79] In later years, with the rapid rise of motor vehicle ownership, the investment in freeway and highway developments greatly accelerated the outward suburban sprawl and declining inner-city population. TheBolte government sought to rapidly accelerate the modernisation of Melbourne. Major road projects including the remodelling ofSt Kilda Junction, the widening ofHoddle Street and then the extensive1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan changed the face of the city into a car-dominated environment.[80]
Australia's financial and mining booms during 1969 and 1970 resulted in establishment of the headquarters of many major companies (BHP andRio Tinto, among others) in the city.Nauru's then booming economy resulted in several ambitious investments in Melbourne, such asNauru House.[81] Melbourne remained Australia's main business and financial centre until the late 1970s, when it began to lose this primacy to Sydney.[82]
Melbourne experienced an economic downturn between 1989 and 1992, following the collapse of several local financial institutions. In 1992, the newly electedKennett government began a campaign to revive the economy with an aggressive development campaign of public works coupled with the promotion of the city as a tourist destination with a focus on major events and sports tourism.[83] During this period theAustralian Grand Prix moved to Melbourne fromAdelaide. Major projects included the construction of a new facility for theMelbourne Museum,Federation Square, theMelbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre,Crown Casino and theCityLinktollway. Other strategies included the privatisation of some of Melbourne's services, including power and public transport, and a reduction in funding to public services such as health, education and public transport infrastructure.[84]
Since the mid-1990s, Melbourne has maintained significant population and employment growth. There has been substantial international investment in the city's industries and property market. Major inner-city urban renewal has occurred in areas such asSouthbank,Port Melbourne,Melbourne Docklands andSouth Wharf. Melbourne sustained the highest population increase and economic growth rate of any Australian capital city from 2001 to 2004.[85]
From 2006, the growth of the city extended into "green wedges" and beyond the city'surban growth boundary. Predictions of the city's population reaching 5 million people pushed the state government to review the growth boundary in 2008 as part of its Melbourne @ Five Million strategy.[86] In 2009, Melbourne was less affected by theGreat Recession in comparison to other Australian cities. At this time, more new jobs were created in Melbourne than any other Australian city—almost as many as the next two fastest growing cities, Brisbane and Perth, combined,[87] and Melbourne's property market remained highly priced,[88] resulting in historically high property prices and widespread rent increases.[89]
Beginning in the 2010s the State Government of Victoria initiated a number of major infrastructure projects designed to reduce congestion in Melbourne and encourage economic growth, including theMetro Tunnel, theWest Gate Tunnel, theLevel Crossing Removal Project and theSuburban Rail Loop.[90][91] New urban renewal zones were initiated in inner-city areas likeFisherman's Bend andArden, while suburban growth continued on the urban periphery in Melbourne's outer west and east in suburbs likeWyndham Vale andCranbourne.[92] Middle suburbs likeBox Hill became denser as a greater proportion of Melburnians began living in apartments.[93] A construction boom resulted in 34 newskyscrapers being built in the central business district between 2010 and 2020.[94] In 2020, Melbourne was classified as an Alpha city by theGlobalization and World Cities Research Network.[95]
Out of all major Australian cities, Melbourne was the worst affected by theCOVID-19 pandemic and spent a long time under lockdown restrictions,[96] with Melbourne experiencing six lockdowns totalling 262 days.[97] While this contributed to a net outflow of migration causing a slight reduction in Melbourne's population over the course of 2020 to 2022, Melbourne's population is projected to reach 6.4 million people by 2033–34.[98][99]
A panoramic view of the Docklands and city skyline from Waterfront City, looking acrossVictoria Harbour
Storm passing over the CBD in August. Melbourne is said to have "four seasons in one day" due to its changeable weather.
Melbourne has a temperateoceanic climate (Köppen climate classificationCfb), with warm summers and cool winters.[111][112] Melbourne is well known for itschangeable weather conditions, mainly due to it being located on the boundary of hot inland areas and the cool southern ocean. This temperature differential is most pronounced in the spring and summer months and can cause strongcold fronts to form. These cold fronts can be responsible for varied forms of severe weather fromgales tothunderstorms andhail, large temperature drops and heavy rain. Winters, while exceptionally dry by southern Victorian standards, are nonetheless drizzly and overcast. The lack of winter rainfall is because of Melbourne'srain shadowed location between theOtway andMacedon Ranges, which block much of the rainfall arriving from the north and west.[113]
Port Phillip is often warmer than the surrounding oceans or the land mass, particularly in spring and autumn; this can set up a "bay effect rain", where showers are intensified leeward of the bay. Relatively narrow streams of heavy showers can often affect the same places (usually the eastern suburbs) for an extended period, while the rest of Melbourne and surrounds stays dry. Overall, the area around Melbourne is, owing to its rain shadow, nonetheless significantly drier than average for southern Victoria.[114] Within the city and surrounds, rainfall varies widely, from around 425 mm (17 in) atLittle River to 1,250 mm (49 in) on the eastern fringe atGembrook. Melbourne receives 48.6 clear days annually. Dewpoint temperatures in the summer range from 9.5 to 11.7 °C (49.1 to 53.1 °F).[115]
Melbourne is also prone to isolated convective showers forming when acold pool crosses the state, especially if there is considerable daytime heating. These showers are often heavy and can include hail, squalls, and significant drops in temperature, but they often pass through very quickly with a rapid clearing trend to sunny and relatively calm weather and the temperature rising back to what it was before the shower. This can occur in the space of minutes and can be repeated many times a day, giving Melbourne a reputation for having "four seasons in one day",[115] a phrase that is part of localpopular culture.[116] The lowest temperature on record is −2.8 °C (27.0 °F), on 21 July 1869.[117] The highest temperature recorded in Melbourne city was 46.4 °C (115.5 °F), on7 February 2009.[117] Whilesnow is occasionally seen at higher elevations in the outskirts of the city, and dustings were observed in 2020, it has not been recorded in the central business district since 1986.[118]
The sea temperature in Melbourne is warmer than the surrounding ocean during the summer months, and colder during the winter months. This is predominantly due to Port Phillip Bay being an enclosed and shallow bay that is largely protected from the ocean,[119] resulting in greater temperature variation across seasons.
Climate data for Melbourne Airport (1991–2020 averages, 1970–2024 extremes)
Melbourne population density by mesh blocks (MB), according to the 2016 census.The CBD as viewed from aboveKings Domain.Spring at theMelbourne Botanic Gardens. Melbourne is often referred to as Australia's garden city.
Melbourne'surban area is approximately 2,704 km2, the largest in Australia and the 33rd largest in the world.[125] TheHoddle Grid, a grid of streets measuring approximately 1 by1⁄2 mi (1.61 by 0.80 km), forms the nucleus of Melbourne'scentral business district (CBD). The grid's southern edge fronts onto theYarra River. More recent office, commercial and public developments in the adjoining districts ofSouthbank andDocklands have made these areas into extensions of the CBD in all but name. A byproduct of the CBD's layout is its network of lanes andarcades, such asBlock Arcade andRoyal Arcade.[126][127]
Melbourne's CBD has become Australia's most densely populated area, with approximately 19,500 residents per square kilometre,[128] and is home tomore skyscrapers than any other Australian city, the tallest beingAustralia 108, situated in Southbank.[129] Melbourne's newest planned skyscraper,Southbank By Beulah[130] (also known as "Green Spine"), has recently been approved for construction and will likely be the tallest building in Australia when completed.
Although the area is described as thecentre, it is not actually the demographic centre of Melbourne at all, due to an urban sprawl to the southeast, the demographic centre being located atCamberwell.[133]
Melbourne is typical of Australian capital cities in that after the turn of the 20th century, it expanded with the underlying notion of a 'quarter acre home and garden' for every family, often referred to locally as theAustralian Dream.[134][135] This, coupled with the popularity of the private automobile after 1945, led to the auto-centric urban structure now present today in the middle and outer suburbs. Much ofmetropolitan Melbourne is accordingly characterised by low-density sprawl, whilst its inner-city areas feature predominantly medium-density, transit-oriented urban forms. The city centre, Docklands, St. Kilda Road and Southbank areas feature high-density forms.
Melbourne is often referred to as Australia's garden city, and the state of Victoria is known asthe garden state.[136][137] There is an abundance ofparks and gardens in Melbourne,[138] many close tothe CBD with a variety of common and rare plant species amid landscaped vistas, pedestrian pathways and tree-lined avenues. Melbourne's parks are often considered the best public parks in all of Australia's major cities.[139] There are also many parks in the surrounding suburbs of Melbourne, such as in the municipalities ofStonnington,Boroondara andPort Phillip, southeast of the central business district. Severalnational parks have been designated around the urban area of Melbourne, including theMornington Peninsula National Park,Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park andPoint Nepean National Park in the southeast,Organ Pipes National Park to the north andDandenong Ranges National Park to the east. There are also a number of significant state parks just outside Melbourne.[140][141] The extensive area covered by urban Melbourne is formally divided into hundreds of suburbs (for addressing and postal purposes), and administered as local government areas,[142] 31 of which are located within the metropolitan area.[143]
19th-century terrace houses are common in the inner suburbs.
Melbourne has minimal public housing and high demand for rental housing, which is becoming unaffordable for many.[144][145][146] Public housing is managed and provided by theVictorian Government'sDepartment of Families, Fairness and Housing, and operates within the framework of the Commonwealth-State Housing Agreement, by which both federal and state governments provide funding for housing.
Melbourne is experiencing high population growth, generating high demand for housing. This housing boom has increased house prices and rents, as well as the availability of all types of housing.Subdivision regularly occurs in the outer areas of Melbourne, with numerous developers offering house and land packages. However, since the release ofMelbourne 2030 in 2002, planning policies have encouragedmedium-density andhigh-density development in existing areas with good access topublic transport and other services. As a result of this, Melbourne's middle and outer-ring suburbs have seen significantbrownfields redevelopment.[147]
In line with the city's expansion during the early 20th century, suburbs such asHawthorn andCamberwell are defined largely byFederation andEdwardian architectural styles. TheCity Baths, built in 1903, are a prominent example of the latter style in the CBD. The 1926Nicholas Building is the city's grandest example of theChicago School style, while the influence ofArt Deco is apparent in theManchester Unity Building, completed in 1932. The city also features theShrine of Remembrance, which was built as a memorial to the men and women of Victoria who served inWorld War I and is now a memorial to all Australians who have served in war.
Residential architecture is not defined by a single architectural style, but rather an eclectic mix of largeMcMansion-style houses (particularly in areas of urban sprawl), apartment buildings, condominiums, and townhouses which generally characterise the medium-density inner-city neighbourhoods. Freestanding dwellings with relatively large gardens are perhaps the most common type of housing outside inner city Melbourne. Victorian terrace housing, townhouses and historicItalianate,Tudor Revival andNeo-Georgian mansions are all common in inner-city neighbourhoods such as Carlton, Fitzroy and further into suburban enclaves likeToorak.[153]
Melbourne has been called "the live music capital of the world";[166] one study found it has more music venues per capita than any other world city sampled, with 17.5 million patron visits to 553 venues in 2016.[166][167] Australia's first global music star, opera singerNellie Melba, took her stage name from her hometown. ComposerPercy Grainger followed her in becoming the most famous Melburnian of the Edwardian era. TheSidney Myer Music Bowl inKings Domain hosted the largest crowd ever for a music concert in Australia when an estimated 200,000 attendees saw Melbourne bandThe Seekers in 1967.[168] Airing between 1974 and 1987, Melbourne'sCountdown helped launch the careers of local acts as diverse asAC/DC[169] andKylie Minogue. Several distinctpost-punk scenes flourished in Melbourne during the late 1970s and early 1980s, including theLittle Band scene andSt Kilda'sCrystal Ballroom scene, which gave rise toDead Can Dance andNick Cave and the Bad Seeds.[170] More recent independent acts from Melbourne to achieve global recognition includeThe Avalanches,Gotye andKing Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. Melbourne is also regarded as a centre ofEDM, and lends its name to theMelbourne Bounce genre and theMelbourne Shuffle dance style, both of which emerged from the city's undergroundrave scene.[171]
Statue at the MCG ofAustralian rules football founderTom Wills umpiring an 1858 football match. The first games of Australian rules were played in adjacent parklands.Melbourne hosts theAustralian Open, the first of four annualGrand Slam tennis tournaments.
Melbourne has long been regarded as Australia's sporting capital due to the role it has played in the development ofAustralian sport, the range and quality of its sporting events and venues, and its high rates of spectatorship and participation.[186] It is also sometimes dubbed the sporting capital of the world.[187] The city is also home to27 professional sports teams competing at the national level, the most of any Australian city. Melbourne's sporting reputation was recognised in 2016 when, after being ranked as the world's top sports city three times biennially, the Ultimate Sports City Awards inSwitzerland named it 'Sports City of the Decade'.[188]
The city has hosted a number of major international sporting events, most notably the1956 Summer Olympics, the first Olympic Games held outside Europe and the United States.[189] Melbourne also hosted the2006 Commonwealth Games, and is home to several major annual international events, including theAustralian Open, the first of the fourGrand Slam tennis tournaments. First held in 1861 and declared a public holiday for all Melburnians in 1873, theMelbourne Cup is the world's richest handicap horse race, and is known as "the race that stops a nation".[190] TheFormula OneAustralian Grand Prix has been held at theAlbert Park Circuit since 1996.[191]
Melbourne is also an important financial centre. In the 2024Global Financial Centres Index, Melbourne was ranked as having the 28th most competitive financial centre in the world.[16] Two of thebig four banks, the ANZ and National Australia Bank, are headquartered in Melbourne. The city has carved out a niche as Australia's leading centre forsuperannuation (pension) funds, with 40% of the total, and 65% ofindustry super-funds including the AU$109 billion-dollar Federal GovernmentFuture Fund. The city was rated 41st within the top 50 financial cities as surveyed by the MasterCard Worldwide Centers of Commerce Index (2008),[201] second only to Sydney (12th) in Australia. Melbourne is Australia's second-largest industrial centre.[202]
It is the Australian base for a number of significant manufacturers includingBoeing Australia, truck-makersKenworth andIveco,Cadbury as well asAlstom andJayco, among others. It is also home to a wide variety of other manufacturers, ranging from petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals to fashion garments, paper manufacturing and food processing.[204] The south-eastern suburb ofScoresby is home toNintendo's Australian headquarters. The city also has a research and development hub forFord Australia, as well as a global design studio and technical centre forGeneral Motors andToyota Australia respectively.
CSL, one of the world's top five biotech companies, andSigma Pharmaceuticals have their headquarters in Melbourne. The two are the largest listed Australian pharmaceutical companies.[205] Melbourne has an importantICT industry, home to more than half of Australia's top 20 technology companies, and employs over 91,000 people (one third of Australia's ICT workforce), with a turnover of AU$34 billion and export revenues of AU$2.5 billion in 2018.[206] In addition, tourism also plays an important role in Melbourne's economy, with 10.8 million domestic overnight tourists and 2.9 million international overnight tourists in 2018.[207] Melbourne has been attracting an increasing share of domestic and international conference markets. Construction began in February 2006 of an AU$1 billion 5000-seat international convention centre,Hilton Hotel and commercial precinct adjacent to theMelbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre to link development along theYarra River with theSouthbank precinct and multibillion-dollarDocklands redevelopment.[208]
Melbourne has a renowned culinary scene that attracts international tourists.[218][219][220]Lygon Street, which runs through the inner-northern suburbs of Melbourne, is a popular dining destination with an abundance of Italian and Greek restaurants that date back to earlier European immigration of the city. Food festivals are of particular popularity in Melbourne, many of which are held during early autumn, earning this period the nickname "mad March".[221] The most well-known of these events, theMelbourne Food and Wine Festival, takes place over the course of ten days and began in 1993.[222][223]
Established during the gold rush,Chinatown is the longest continuous Chinese settlement outside Asia.
Melbourne is projected to overtake Sydney as Australia's most populous city sometime between 2032 and 2046.[225]
After a trend of declining population density since World War II, the city has seen increased density in the inner andwestern suburbs, aided in part by Victorian Government planning, such asPostcode 3000 andMelbourne 2030, which have aimed to curtail urban sprawl.[226][227] As of 2018[update], the CBD is the most densely populated area in Australia with more than 19,000 residents per square kilometre, and the inner city suburbs ofCarlton,South Yarra,Fitzroy andCollingwood make up Victoria's top five.[228][229]
At the time of the 2021 census, 61.1% of Melburnians speak only English at home.Mandarin (4.3%),Vietnamese (2.3%),Greek (2.1%),Punjabi (2%), andArabic (1.8%) were the most common foreign languages spoken at home by residents of Melbourne.
Melbourne has a wide range of religious faiths, the most widely held of which isChristianity. This is signified by the city's two large cathedrals—St Patrick's (Roman Catholic), andSt Paul's (Anglican). Both were built in theVictorian era and are of considerable heritage significance as major landmarks of the city.[232] In recent years, Greater Melbourne's irreligious community has grown to be one of the largest in Australia.[233]
According to the 2021 Census, persons stating that they hadno religion constituted 36.9% of the population.[230]Christianity was the most popular religious affiliation at 40.1%.[230] The largest Christian denominations wereCatholicism (20.8%) andAnglicanism (5.5%).[230] The most popular non-Christian religious affiliations wereIslam (5.3%),Hinduism (4.1%),Buddhism (3.9%),Sikhism (1.7%) andJudaism (0.9%).[230]
Over 258,000 Muslims live in Melbourne.[234] Muslim religious life in Melbourne is centred on about 25 mosques and a number of prayer rooms at university campuses, workplaces and other venues.[235] As of 2000[update], Melbourne had the largest population ofPolish Jews and Holocaust survivors in Australia, and the largest number of Jewish institutions.[236]
Melbourne universities have campuses all over Australia and some internationally. Swinburne University and Monash University have campuses inMalaysia, RMIT inVietnam, with Monash also having a campus inIndonesia and research centres inPrato, Italy, and a joint partnership research academy withIIT Bombay inMumbai, India. The University of Melbourne, the second oldest university in Australia,[239] is the highest ranked university in Australia across the three major global rankings as of July 2025 – QS (19th),[240]THES (39th)[241] and the Academic Ranking of World Universities (37nd),[242] with Monash University also ranking within the top 50 – QS (36th).[240] Both are members of theGroup of Eight, a coalition of leading Australian tertiary institutions offering comprehensive and leading education.[243]
As of 2025RMIT University is ranked 21st in the world in Architecture.[244] TheSwinburne University of Technology, based in the inner-city Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn, was as of 2014 ranked 76th–100th in the world for physics by the Academic Ranking of World Universities.[245]Deakin University maintains two major campuses in Melbourne and Geelong, and is the third largest university in Victoria. In recent years, the number ofinternational students at Melbourne's universities has risen rapidly, a result of an increasing number of places being made available for them.[246] Education in Melbourne is overseen by the VictorianDepartment of Education (DET), whose role is to 'provide policy and planning advice for the delivery of education'.[247]
Three daily newspapers serve Melbourne: theHerald Sun (tabloid),The Age (compact) andThe Australian (national broadsheet). There are six primary free-to-airdigital television stations operating in Greater Melbourne and Geelong:ABC Victoria, (ABV),SBS Victoria (SBS),Seven Melbourne (HSV),Nine Melbourne (GTV),Ten Melbourne (ATV),C31 Melbourne (MGV) – community television.[248] Each station (excluding C31) broadcasts a primary channel and several multichannels.[249] Some digital media companies such asBroadsheet are based in and primarily serve Melbourne.
The local governments are responsible for providing the functions set out in theLocal Government Act 1989[252] such asurban planning andwaste management. Most other government services are provided or regulated by theVictorian state government, which governs fromParliament House inSpring Street. These include services associated with local government in other countries and include public transport, main roads, traffic control, policing, education above preschool level, health and planning of major infrastructure projects.
Like many Australian cities, Melbourne has a highdependency on the automobile for transport,[253] particularly in the outer suburban areas where the largest number of cars are bought.[254] There a total of 3.6 million private vehicles using 22,320 km (13,870 mi) of road in Melbourne, which has one of the highest lengths of road per capita in the world.[253] The early 20th century saw an increase in popularity of automobiles, resulting in large-scale suburban expansion and a tendency towards the development ofurban sprawl—like all Australian cities, inhabitants would live in the suburbs and commute to the city for work.[255] By the mid-1950s, there were just under 200 passenger vehicles per 1000 people, and by 2013, there were 600 passenger vehicles per 1000 people.[256]
Theroad network in Victoria is managed by theDepartment of Transport and Planning (DTP) who oversee planning and integration. Maintenance of roads is undertaken by different bodies, depending on the road. Local roads are maintained by local governments, while secondary and main roads are the responsibility of DTP. Major national freeways and roads integral to national trade are overseen by the Federal Government.[257]
Today, Melbourne has an extensive network of freeways and arterial roadways. These are used by private vehicles, including road freight vehicles, as well as road-based public transport modes like buses and taxis. Major highways feeding into the city include theEastern Freeway,Monash Freeway andWest Gate Freeway (which spans the largeWest Gate Bridge). Other freeways include theCalder Freeway,Tullamarine Freeway, which is the main airport link, and theHume Freeway, which connects Melbourne to Canberra and Sydney. Melbourne's middle suburbs are connected via an orbital freeway, theM80 Ring Road, which will be connected to the Eastern Freeway when theNorth East Link opens.[258]
Out of Melbourne's twenty declared freeways open or under construction, six are electronic toll roads. This includes theM1 and M2 CityLink (which includes the largeBolte Bridge),Eastlink, North East Link, and theWest Gate Tunnel. Apart fromEastlink which is owned and operated byConnectEast, the toll roads in Melbourne are run by the private companyTransurban. In Melbourne, tollways have blue and yellow signage compared to the green signs used for untolled roads.
Melbourne has an integrated public transport system based around extensive train, tram, bus and taxi systems.Flinders Street station was the world's busiest passenger station in 1927 and Melbourne's tram network overtook Sydney's to become the world's largest in the 1940s. From the 1940s, public transport use in Melbourne declined due to a rapid expansion of the road and freeway network, with the largest declines in tram and bus usage.[259] This decline quickened in the early 1990s due to large public transport service cuts.[259] The operations of Melbourne's public transport system was privatised in 1999 through a franchising model, with operational responsibilities for the train, tram and bus networks licensed to private companies.[260] After 1996 there was a rapid increase in public transport patronage due to growth in employment in central Melbourne, with the mode share for commuters increasing to 14.8% and 8.4% of all trips.[261][259] A target of 20% public transport mode share for Melbourne by 2020 was set by the state government in 2006.[262] Since 2006 public transport patronage has grown by over 20% and a number of projects have commenced aimed at expanding public transport usage.[262]
Situated on the City Loop,Southern Cross station is Victoria's main hub for regional and interstate trains.
TheMelbourne metropolitan rail network dates back to the 1850sgold rush era, and today consists of222 suburban stations on sixteen lines which radiate from theCity Loop, a mostly-underground subway system around the CBD.Flinders Street station, one of Australia's busiestrail hubs, serves the entire network, and remains a prominent Melbourne landmark and meeting place.[263] The city has rail connections with regional Victorian cities run byV/Line, as well as direct interstate rail services which depart from Melbourne's other major rail terminus,Southern Cross station, in Docklands.The Overland toAdelaide departs twice a week, while theXPT to Sydney departs twice daily. In the 2017–2018 financial year, the Melbourne metropolitan rail network recorded 240.9 million passenger trips, the highest ridership in its history.[264] Many rail lines, along with dedicated lines andrail yards, are also used for freight.
An assortment of new railways are under construction in Melbourne. A new heavy rail corridor through the inner city, theMetro Tunnel, is set to open by 2025, and will reduce congestion on the City Loop. The ongoingLevel Crossing Removal Project is grade separating much of the network, and rebuilding many older stations. In June 2022, early works commenced on theSuburban Rail Loop, a 90-kilometre underground automatedorbital line through Melbourne's middle suburbs around 12–18 km (7.5–11.2 mi) from theCBD.[265]An airport rail connection has commenced with early works in Keilor East.[266]
Melbourne's tram network dates from the 1880s land boom and, as of 2021, consists of 250 km (155.3 mi) of double track, 475 trams,25 routes, and 1,763tram stops, making it the largest in the world.[267][20][268] In 2017–2018, 206.3 million passenger trips were made by tram.[264] Around 75 per cent of Melbourne's tram network shares road space with other vehicles, while the rest of the network is separated or arelight rail routes.[267] Melbourne's trams are recognised as iconic cultural assets and a tourist attraction.Heritage trams operate on the freeCity Circle route around the CBD.[269] Trams are free within the central city Free Tram Zone and run 24-hours on weekends.[270]
Melbourne's bus network consists of more than400 routes which mainly service the outer suburbs and fill the gaps in the network between rail and tram services.[271][269][272] 114.9 million passenger trips were recorded on Melbourne's buses in 2023–2024, an increase of 15.2 percent on the previousfinancial year.[273]
Melbourne has four airports.Melbourne Airport, atTullamarine, is the city's main international and domestic gateway and second busiest in Australia, with a traffic of over 37 million passengers in 2018–19.[274] The airport, which comprises four terminals,[275] is the home base for passenger airlineJetstar and cargo airlinesAustralian airExpress andTeam Global Express, and is a major hub forQantas andVirgin Australia.Avalon Airport, located between Melbourne andGeelong, is a secondary hub of Jetstar. It is also used as a freight and maintenance facility. Buses and taxis are the only forms of public transport to and from the city's main airports. Arail link to Tullamarine is planned to open in the 2030s.[276] Air Ambulance facilities are available for domestic and international transportation of patients.[277] Melbourne also has a significantgeneral aviation airport,Moorabbin Airport in the city's southeast that also handles a small number of passenger flights.Essendon Airport, which was once the city's main airport, also handles passenger flights, general aviation and some cargo flights.[278]
Ship transport is an important component of Melbourne's transport system. ThePort of Melbourne is Australia's largest container and general cargo port and also its busiest. The port handled two million shipping containers in a 12-month period during 2007, making it one of the top five ports in the Southern Hemisphere.[279]Station Pier on Port Phillip Bay is the main passenger ship terminal withcruise ships docking there. Ferries and water taxis run fromberths along the Yarra River as far upstream as South Yarra and across Port Phillip Bay.
Among Australian capital cities, Melbourne ties with Canberra in first place for the highest male life expectancy (80.0 years) and ranks second behind Perth in female life expectancy (84.1 years).[280] The Victorian Government'sDepartment of Health oversees about 30 public hospitals in the Melbourne metropolitan region and 13 health services organisations.[281]
Sugarloaf Reservoir atChristmas Hills in the metropolitan area is one of Melbourne's closest water supplies.
Water storage and supply for Melbourne is managed byMelbourne Water, which is owned by the Victorian Government. The organisation is also responsible for management of sewerage and the major water catchments in the region as well as theWonthaggi desalination plant andNorth–South Pipeline. Water is stored in a series of reservoirs located within and outside the Greater Melbourne area. The largest dam, theThomson River Dam, located in the Victorian Alps, is capable of holding around 60% of Melbourne's water capacity,[285] while smaller dams such as theUpper Yarra Dam,Yan Yean Reservoir, and theCardinia Reservoir carry secondary supplies.
Gas is provided by three distribution companies:
AusNet Services, which provides gas from Melbourne's inner western suburbs to southwestern Victoria.[286]
Multinet Gas, which provides gas from Melbourne's inner eastern suburbs to eastern Victoria(owned by SP AusNet after acquisition, but continuing to trade under the brand name Multinet Gas).[287]
Australian Gas Networks, which provides gas from Melbourne's inner northern suburbs to northern Victoria, as well as the majority of southeastern Victoria.[287][288]
Electricity is provided by five distribution companies:
Citipower, which provides power to Melbourne's CBD, and some inner suburbs.[289]
Powercor, which provides power to the outer western suburbs, as well as all of westernVictoria(Citipower and Powercor are owned by the same entity).[289]
Jemena, which provides power to the northern and inner western suburbs.[290]
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