The City of Glen Eira is a local government area in Victoria, Australia. It is located in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It has an area of and has an estimated population of 153,858 (51.6% female and 48.4% male).
The local government area was formed in 1994 from the merger of the City of Caulfield and parts of the City of Moorabbin, and takes its name from two local landmarks—Glen Eira Road and Glen Eira Mansion. The local government area was originally planned to be named "City of Gardiner" from the merger of City of Caulfield and parts of the City of Malvern.
History This area was originally occupied by the Boonwurrung/Bunurong and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples, Indigenous Australians of the Eastern Kulin nation, who spoke variations of the Boonwurrung and Woiwurrung language groups respectively.
Settlement East St Kilda commenced to be settled in the 1850s. The area of Glen Eira was once swamps.
Caulfield became a Shire in 1871 and a City in 1913; Moorabbin became a Shire in 1874 and a City in 1934.
The first railway link to the area was at Caulfield and Carnegie railway stations, which opened in 1879, to be followed in 1881 by Glen Huntly and Ormond railway stations.
1857 Caulfield Road District 1862 Moorabbin Road District 1863 Shire of Caulfield 1874 Shire of Moorabbin 1913 City of Caulfield 1934 City of Moorabbin 1994 City of Glen Eira, by merging of Caulfield and north Moorabbin
Train network
Caulfield railway station originally opened on 7 May 1879.
Glen Huntly railway station opened on 19 December 1881 as Glen Huntly Road. It was later renamed to Glen Huntly in 1882 before being renamed Glenhuntly in 1937 and then back to Glen Huntly in 2023.
Ormond railway station opened on 19 December 1881 as North Road. It was later renamed to Ormond in 1897.
Carnegie railway station opened on 14 May 1879 as Rosstown. It was later renamed to Carnegie in 1909.
Monash University, Caulfield Campus Monash University, Caulfield campus was founded as the Caulfield Technical School in 1922. A Junior Technical High School was added in the 1950s, with the Technical School becoming a Senior Technical High School. They separated in 1958 with the junior school absorbed by other technical schools in the area and the senior school became Caulfield Technical College. In the 1970s it became the Caulfield Institute of Technology. In 1982 the Caulfield Institute of Technology amalgamated with the State College of Victoria at Frankston to form the Chisholm Institute of Technology. This Institution merged with Monash University in 1990 and became Monash University, Caulfield campus.
Sacking of Council, 2004
In September 2004, the then Minister for Local Government, Candy Broad, was asked to appoint an inspector by the Glen Eira City Council to investigate and report on matters arising out of an internal audit of councillors' expenses. In July 2005, the Inspector of Municipal Administration, Merv Whelan, forwarded a report to the Minister. (134 pages) - Also available at State Library, Victoria. The key findings portrayed a complete breakdown of communication and behavioural standards within the elected council, although Whelan found the council was well-managed and in a sound financial position because of its CEO and administration. A report in The Age newspaper alleged that several councillors had used their phone entitlements for non-council purposes.
On 11 August 2005, the then Minister sacked the council, and appointed John Lester, the former Chief Commissioner of Darebin City Council and former chair of the Victorian Grants Commission, as Administrator. An election for a new council was held on 26 November 2005 with redrawn ward boundaries. Only one councillor from the previous council, Margaret Esakoff, was re-elected. Three other sacked councillors (Noel Erlich, Veronika Martens and Bob Bury) did run again but failed to get elected into council.
Carbon neutral Controversially, in 2009 the City of Glen Eira was one of the few regions in the Melbourne metropolitan area to make the decision not to become carbon neutral, despite most LGA's in Melbourne converting to a cleaner energy contract.
In 2020, Glen passed a motion to declare a climate emergency, and committed to net zero Council carbon emissions by 2025. Townships and localities The city had a population of 148,908 at the 2021 census, up from 140,875 at the 2016 census.
Population Locality 2016 2021 16,153 17,921 27,635 30,159 ^ 15,998 16,757 17,388 17,909 5,595 5,748 1,584 1,293 15,269 16,903 11,854 12,328 10,349 10,887 1,006 1,019 5,040 4,905 6,064 6,878 9,926 9,996 8,417 8,328 ^ 13,101 12,571
^ - Territory divided with another LGA
Demographics
Ages The median age for Glen Eira residents is 37 years. Children 0–14 years make up 18.0% of the population, 15 to 19 years 5.4%, 20 to 64 61.9% and those 65 years and over 14.7%.
Registered marital status Of people in Glen Eira aged 15 years and over, 49.6% are married, 35.1% have never married and 9.1% are divorced or separated.
Country of birth The country of birth for City of Glen Eira residents includes Australia 60.3%, India 3.8%, China 3.2%, England 2.8%, South Africa 2.3% and Greece 1.7%.
Religion The City of Glen Eira includes a large Jewish community in Elsternwick, St Kilda East and Caulfield. At the 2011 Census 54.9% of all Victorians who gave Judaism as their religion were living in Glen Eira. The major responses were No Religion 22.9%, Catholicism 20.1%, Judaism 18.9%, Anglican 8.4% and Eastern Orthodox 6.6%. Council Glen Eira City Council is the third tier of government and deals with services such as waste collection, building permits and approvals, roads, drainage, health services, food safety, parks and gardens, library services, pets, street parking permits and the collection of rates and charges. The Council meets at the Glen Eira Town Hall. Since 2024, the Council area is divided into nine wards, each electing a single councillor. The most recent election took place on 26 October 2024 and saw the following councillors elected:
WardPartyCouncillorNotes Bambra Independent Margaret Esakoff Booran Independent Labor Jane Karslake Caulfield Park Independent Sam Parasol Jasper Independent Arabella Daniel Mallanbool Independent Kimberley Young Moorleigh Independent Kay Rimbaldo Murrumbeena Independent Labor Luca Ragni Orrong Independent Simone Zmood Mayor Wattle Grove Independent Labor Li Zhang Deputy Mayor
Mayors
Election results 2024
2020
Past councillors 1997–2005 (three wards; preferential voting) Jasper Ward +YearCouncillor PartyCouncillor PartyCouncillor Party 1997 Barry NeveIndependent Russell Longmuir Independent2 councillors (1997−2000) 2000 David BloomIndependent Rachelle SapirIndependent Eamonn WalshIndependent 2003 Jamie HyamsIndependent Bob BuryIndependent Margaret Esakoff Independent
Mackie Ward +YearCouncillor PartyCouncillor PartyCouncillor Party 1997 Veronika MartensIndependent Norman KennedyIndependent2 councillors (1997−2000) 2000 Rachelle SapirIndependent 2003 Dorothy MarwickIndependent
Orrong Ward +YearCouncillor PartyCouncillor PartyCouncillor Party 1997 Alan GrossbardIndependent Noel ErlichIndependent2 councillors (1997−2000) 2000 Dorothy MarwickIndependent 2003
2005–2024 (three wards; proportional representation) Camden Ward +YearCouncillor PartyCouncillor PartyCouncillor Party 2005 Michael LipshutzIndependent Liberal Helen WhitesideLiberal Jacquie RobilliardIndependent 2008 Frank PenhalluriackIndependent 2010 Cheryl ForgeIndependent 2012 Mary Delahunty Labor Thomas SounnessGreens 2016 Joel SilverLiberal Dan SztrajtIndependent 2020 Sam ParasolIndependent Simone ZmoodIndependent David ZyngierGreens 2024 Jane KarslakeLabor
Rosstown Ward +YearCouncillor PartyCouncillor PartyCouncillor Party 2005 Margaret EsakoffIndependent Steven TangIndependent Rob SpauldingIndependent 2008 Neil PilingIndependent 2012 Karina OkotelLiberal 2016 Kelvin HoLiberal 2016 Tony AthanasopoulosIndependent Labor Clare DaveyGreens 2020 Neil PilingIndependent 2022 Sue PennicuikGreens
Tucker Ward +YearCouncillor PartyCouncillor PartyCouncillor Party 2005 David FeldmanIndependent Nick StaikosLabor Kate AshmorIndependent 2008 Henry BuchIndependent 2008 Jamie HyamsLiberal Jim MageeLabor 2009 Oscar LoboLabor 2012 2016 Nina TaylorLabor 2018 Anne-Marie CadeIndependent 2020 Li ZhangLabor
Government
The Goldstein, Higgins, Hotham and Macnamara divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, and the Bentleigh, Caulfield and Oakleigh state electoral districts of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, are partly in the City of Glen Eira. The council area is within the Southern Metropolitan Region for the Victorian Legislative Council.
Public transport
Glen Eira is well-served by an efficient network of public transport in a mix of trams, trains and buses.
Train lines and stations
Glen Eira is served by 3 train lines. These are the: Frankston Line Pakenham/Cranbourne Lines Sandringham Line
The Frankston line is served by: Caulfield (Zone 1), Glenhuntly (Zone 1), Ormond (Zone 1 & 2), McKinnon (Zone 1 & 2), Bentleigh (Zone 1 & 2) and then by Patterson (Zone 2).
The Pakenham/Cranbourne lines are both served by:Caulfield (Zone 1), Carnegie (Zone 1) and then by Murrumbeena Railway Station (Zone 1).
The Sandringham Line is served by: Elsternwick (Zone 1).
Tram routes Route 3 - Malvern East to Melbourne University which travels along Waverley Road, Balaclava Road, Carlisle Street before proceeding along St Kilda Road into the central business district Route 16 - Kew to St Kilda and Melbourne University which travels along Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn Road and Balaclava Road, Carlisle Street, The Esplanade, Fitzroy Street before proceeding along St Kilda Road into the central business district Route 64 - Brighton East to Melbourne University which runs along Hawthorn Road and Dandenong Road, before proceeding along St Kilda Road into the central business district Route 67 - Carnegie to Melbourne University which runs along Glen Huntly Road and Brighton Road, before proceeding along St Kilda Road into the central business district
Schools in the City of Glen Eira
Government
East Bentleigh Primary School Tucker Road Bentleigh Primary School Bentleigh Secondary College St Peters Primary School Coatesville Primary School Bentleigh West Primary School Valkstone Primary School Glen Eira College Caulfield South Primary School Caulfield Primary School Caulfield Park Community Secondary School Caulfield Junior College Glen Huntly Primary School Carnegie Primary School Ripponlea Primary School McKinnon Secondary College McKinnon Primary School Murrembeena Primary School Ormond Primary School
Private
Adass Israel School Beth Rivkah College Caulfield Grammar Senior School Katandra School Kilvington Grammar School Leibler Yavneh College Melbourne Grammar School - Grimwade House Mount Scopus Memorial College - St Kilda East Campus Our Lady of Sacred Heart College Wesley College - Elsternwick Campus St. Aloysius Catholic Primary School St. Anthony's Catholic Primary School St. Bede's Bentleigh East Catholic College St. Joseph's School St. Kevin's Catholic Primary School St. Patrick's Catholic Primary School St. Paul's Catholic Primary School Shelford Girls' Grammar Sholem Aleichem College Yeshivah College
Libraries and information The city is served by free council run libraries. Library membership is free.
Council public library branches Bentleigh - 161 Jasper Road, Bentleigh Carnegie - a large suburban library and civic centre, which was built in 2005 - 7 Shepparson Avenue, Carnegie Caulfield - at the City Hall, Corner Glen Eira and Hawthorn Roads, Caulfield Elsternwick - 4 Staniland Grove, Elsternwick
Private libraries open to the public Kadimah Jewish Cultural Centre and National Library - 7 Selwyn St, Elsternwick Makor Jewish Community Library- 306 Hawthorn Rd, Caulfield
Sister cities Ōgaki, Gifu Prefecture, Japan
Notes