Fawkner, Victoria
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Fawkner is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moreland.
It is located in the northern end of the Moreland municipality and is bound by Merri Creek on the east, the Hume Highway on the west and the Western Ring Road on the north, and Boundary road on the south separating it from Coburg North. The suburb does not have any main roads for through traffic.
Fawkner has three major reserves: Charles Mutton Reserve, Moomba Park and CB Smith Reserve and significant open space along Merri Creek. The suburb is compact and has two shopping strips: Bonwick Street and Major Road.
People
Fawkner could be described as a family suburb with about 60 per cent of house ownership. It has high levels of disadvantaged residents reflected in levels of income, unemployment and educational qualifications. Unemployment in Fawkner is higher than the Melbourne metropolitan average. There is a high proportion of tradespeople, production and transport workers and labourers. Average income is lower than the metropolitan and Moreland average. It is estimated that about 10 per cent of Fawkner's population are living below the poverty line.
It is the most culturally diverse suburb in Moreland. Less than 50 per cent of the people living in Fawkner in 2001 were born in Australia with high proportions from Italy, Greece, Lebanon and Turkey. Fawkner has the highest proportion of overseas-born citizens of all Moreland's suburbs.
According to Census data in 2001, 11,925 people were living in Fawkner, with the population relatively stable. The Fawkner community is a highly religious community with three in four citizens affiliated with Christianity. There are also high proportions of Islamic and Buddhist citizens living in Fawkner.
Transport
The stations of Gowrie and Fawkner on the Upfield railway line provide public transport to Melbourne CBD.
The Merri Creek Trail and the Western Ring Road Path provide facilities for recreational and commuting cyclists.
History
The suburb was named after Melbourne settler pioneer, John Pascoe Fawkner, and formed part of the original Fawkner estate.
The opening of the Upfield railway line on 8th October 1889 (electrified to Fawkner on 2nd December 1920); and the development of the Fawkner general cemetery encouraged residential development in the area.
The period after World War II saw the most significant period of development in the suburb, continuing up until the 1960s with the development of the Moomba Park estate.