Erinsborough is a fictional suburb of Melbourne, Australia, where the soap opera Neighbours is set, focusing on the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work there. Neighbours centres primarily on the residents of Ramsay Street and other Erinsborough locations, most prominently those situated within the Lassiters complex. Erinsborough is a loose anagram of Neighbours.Johnston 2005, p.116.
Erinsborough High School
Erinsborough High School, a fictional high school, has been featured onscreen since Neighbours began in 1985. It is a co-educational high school, and in its fictional history, it was opened shortly after the Second World War.Morrison 1991, p.10. Many of the characters have been seen attending or working there over the years. The Blackburn English Language Centre in Burwood East, Victoria, and Coburg High School have both been used for location and exterior shots. Kenneth Muir (Roger Boyce) was principal of the school when the series began and Erinsborough High was regularly seen until 1986, when Scott Robinson (Jason Donovan), Charlene Mitchell (Kylie Minogue), Mike Young (Guy Pearce) and Jane Harris (Annie Jones) graduated. The school was not seen again onscreen until late 1988.
The set features a corridor, a stairwell, an office, and a classroom. Other areas of the school, including the playground and changing rooms, have been featured over the years. In 2010, the layout of the classroom was changed as was the school logo. Neighbours' oldest surviving prop is the school's emblem and motto, which is stuck on the doors leading from the car park to the studios. "Erinsborough High School: Sapienter Si Sincere" means wisdom and success. Onscreen, Erinsborough High has faced the threat of closure four times, in 1991, 1997, 2015 and 2023 and the school has been merged with both West Waratah Tech and West Waratah High.
Erinsborough High's uniform has also been through numerous changes, with the maroon jumper being the most consistent item. A storyline that aired in October 2015 saw a fire destroy part of the school and trap several characters inside.
A spin-off series based in the school setting titled Neighbours: Erinsborough High was released digitally in November 2019. The spin-off was summarised as focusing on "bullying, mental illness, sexuality, cultural diversity, parental and peer pressure, and teacher-student relationships."
In May 2011, Erinsborough High came fourth out of four in a poll run by Inside Soap to find reader's favourite fictional school, which they would most like to attend. Erinsborough High received 16% of the vote.
In the 2023 revamped series, Jane Harris is the principal of Erinsborough High. Former principal Susan Kennedy has retired, while Ramsay street residents Nell Rebecchi, JJ and Dex Varga-Murphy, are students at the school. Wendy Rodwell (Candice Leask) is later hired as a teacher at the school.
Offscreen the interior school sets are shared with the sets of Erinsborough Hospital.
Eirini Rising Eirini Rising is a retirement complex situated within the High School site, established in 2024 by Terese Willis (Rebekah Elmaloglou). Terese initially plans to build the complex on Power Road, but after the council reject her plans she seeks to take advantage of the planned closure of the school. Eirini Rising ultimately shares the High School site, allowing multiple characters to be brought together and "favourite characters from yesteryear" to return. Harold Bishop (Ian Smith) is one of the first residents at Eirini Rising, facilitating his return to the series. Hilary Robinson (Anne Scott-Pendlebury) also buys an apartment in the complex. Terese hires Karl Kennedy (Alan Fletcher) as resident doctor and wellness expert, followed by his wife Susan (Jackie Woodburne) as Operations Manager. Later in 2024, Terese is forced to resign from the project after her alcoholism relapse places the residents in danger, leaving Susan and Karl in charge. However, she is later reinstalled. Darcy Tyler (Mark Raffety) briefly works as a doctor before being arrested following the murder of resident Amanda Harris (Briony Behets). Other Eirini residents include Gino Esposito (Shane McNamara), Vera Punt (Sally-Anne Upton), Moira Tohu (Robyn Arthur), and Monte Jones (Dennis Coard). Eirini comes into financial difficulties and Terese is forced to go into partnership with a larger company in order to remain in operation. Part of the deal includes bringing on Colton Keys (Jakob Ambrose) as an assistant manager. The Eirini Rising resident characters were retired shortly before the series ended, with the setting making its last major appearance on 5 November 2025.
Erinsborough Hospital Erinsborough Hospital is the local accident and emergency hospital. It has seen many of the show's characters pass through its doors over the years. They have been treated for a variety of illnesses including smoke inhalation, burns, heart attacks and kidney disease. Many of the characters have been born or died at the hospital, while a number of regular and recurring characters have worked at the hospital over the years.Monroe 1996, p.54.
Over the years various Melbourne hospitals have been used for filming, including Austin Hospital, Dandenong Hospital, Maroondah Hospital and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. The exterior of the hospital is the entrance to the Neighbours production office in Nunawading. It has also doubled as a law firm reception and a funeral home. Alan Fletcher, who plays Doctor Karl Kennedy, said it was confusing for visitors and couriers when the studio reception was used for filming hospital scenes. In 2010, the hospital underwent a revamp, and a new look reception area was added.
Lassiters complex
The Lassiters complex appears from 1986, encompassing many of the local amenities, including a hotel, bar, law firm, courtyard, and the Lassiters Lake. The sets from Holiday Island (1981–82) were redesigned and turned into the Lassiters complex and the swimming pool was turned into a lake.Mercado 2004, p.160. Daphne Clarke's coffee shop relocated to the complex, and when characters visited the café they started to get to know the rest of the complex.Monroe 1996, p.114. Rosemary Daniels (Joy Chambers) thought the complex would make a good base for the Daniels Corporation and she moved the company into an office there. A hotel, pub and lake also appeared in the complex. This meant that there were enough different locations for characters to come into contact with each other. There are also enough jobs within the complex to ensure that characters would make each other's acquaintance.
At the end of the 2004 season, Lassiters was burnt down by returning character Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis). Paul also murders villain, Gus Cleary (Ben Barrack) in the pub. When the stunt team set fire to the set, many of the trees surrounding the area also caught alight. The Herald Sun placed the Lassiters fire at number five on their list of Neighbours top ten moments. Of the storyline, the paper said "Lassiters, the iconic hub of cafes, pubs and other businesses was for years where everyone met in Erinsborough, including the very famous pub run by Lou Carpenter. But at the end of 2004 producers wanted a massive cliff hanger, so they decided that the whole place would burn down. It was the part of the last major revamp for the soap." Sarah Megginson of SheKnows also added the fire to her list of most memorable Neighbours moments. David Walliams referenced the fire in his 2008 book, The Boy in the Dress. In early 2010, bulldozers moved into the Lassiters complex lot to the begin work on revamping the sets ahead of the show's 25th anniversary in March 2010. The lake was drained and a new walkway was constructed. There were also some new additions, including a new Erinsborough News office.
Harold's Café Harold's Café (previously Daphne's, The Hungry Bite, The Holy Roll, The Coffee Shop, The General Store and Harold's Store) is a café and shop. It previously offered dry cleaning and postal services. During 2004, the café was burned down in a fire that also destroyed other businesses in the Lassiters Complex. When it was rebuilt, a Post Office was included. The production staff worked with the Australia Post to create the store, which was an official registered Post Office. During The Erinsborough Tornado storyline in 2014, Lou Carpenter (Tom Oliver) was trapped in Harold's Store with Susan Kennedy (Jackie Woodburne), who had to perform an emergency tracheotomy on him when he began choking on some food. In 2015, the store was renovated and renamed Harold's Café. The Rebecchi family took over running the café upon their introduction in 2017. Shiv Palekar was cast upon the 2023 Neighbours reboot as Haz Devkar, who is introduced as the new manager of Harold's. After Haz leaves Erinsborough, Nicolette Stone (Hannah Monson) recommences her position as manager of Harold's.
Lassiters Hotel
Lassiters Hotel is a ten-story tower block hotel in Erinsborough. It is part of a worldwide chain of hotels in places like Darwin, London, Montana, and New York. The hotel's grounds form a courtyard area, known as the Lassiters Complex, where several independently managed businesses are located. Lassiters used to have a shopping arcade, which had a bookstore, chemist, clothes shop, and gift shop inside. Characters often stay at the hotel and are seen socialising and working there. Lassiters was originally owned by Jack Lassiter (Alan Hopgood) when it first began appearing in Neighbours. On behalf of The Daniels Corporation, Rosemary Daniels (Joy Chambers) purchased the hotel in 1987.Monroe 1996, p.115. To this day, the Corporation holds a majority share interest in Lassiters, and Rosemary's nephew Paul Robinson owns a majority share of the hotel.Monroe 1996, p.116. His former wife Terese Willis (Rebekah Elmaloglou) also owns shares in the hotel and was introduced as its manager in 2013. Scenes set in the interior of the hotel are filmed at the Global Television Studios. The exterior of the building is also one of several purpose-built sets at the studio.
In early 2010, the hotel was one of the many sets which underwent a makeover. A new black, orange and silver logo was introduced, and the courtyard updated. A new mezzanine level, which contains a dining area, was added to the hotel. The mezzanine later became the focal point of Neighbours 6000th episode and viewers saw Paul pushed from it by an unknown assailant. Real-life applications for jobs at Lassiters have been sent in from members of the public, including one woman who sent in a full CV applying for a job on reception. In 2013, the top floors of Lassiters are turned into The Eclipse Apartments and Paul moves into the penthouse apartment. In the "Hotel Death Trap Week" storyline that aired in April 2016, an explosion rips through the hotel, destroying it and causing the deaths of Josh (Harley Bonner) and Doug Willis (Terence Donovan). Although many characters have stayed at the hotel, the most notable of which are the members of the Robinson family, who have moved in an out of the penthouse to stay with Paul. Paul, Daniel Robinson (Tim Phillipps), Amy Williams (Zoe Cramond), Jimmy Williams (Darcy Tadich), Leo Tanaka (Tim Kano), David Tanaka (Takaya Honda), Harlow Robinson (Jemma Donnovan) and Abigail Tanaka (Mary Finn; Axelle Austin; Juliet Basaraba; Nikita Kato) have all lived there during their tenures on the serial.