Moonee Ponds is an inner-city suburb in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

, Victoria,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

, north-west of Melbourne's

Central Business District A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

, located within the

City of Moonee Valley The City of Moonee Valley is a local government area located within the metropolitan area of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It comprises the north-western suburbs between 3 and 13 kilometres from the Melbourne city centre, and in June 2018, the ...

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 State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

. Moonee Ponds recorded a population of 16,224 at the 2021 census. Moonee Ponds is home to Queens Park and the

Moonee Valley Racecourse Moonee Valley Racecourse, currently marketed as The Valley, is a horse-racing track in Moonee Ponds, Melbourne, Victoria Australia. History Moonee Valley Racecourse was established in 1883 by William Samuel (W.S.) Cox, who purchased a fa ...

Demographics

In Moonee Ponds 69.9% of people were born in Australia. The other most common countries of birth were Italy 5.4%, India 2.6%, England 2.3%, Greece 1.5%, and New Zealand 1.5%. 70.9% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Italian 8.8%, Greek 3.6%, Cantonese 1.0%, Spanish 0.9% and Mandarin 0.9%.

Sport

Moonee Valley Racecourse, Melbourne, Aust, jjron, 25

Essendon Royals Soccer Club is located in Moonee Ponds and plays in the Victorian State League. The suburb has an

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 oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

team, Maribyrnong Park playing in the

Essendon District Football League The Essendon District Football League (EDFL) is a professional Australian rules football league competition based in Essendon, Victoria, consisting of teams based in the north-west suburbs of Melbourne. Founded in 1930, the men's competition c ...

, and another,

Moonee Valley Football Club The Essendon District Football League (EDFL) is a professional Australian rules football league competition based in Essendon, Victoria, consisting of teams based in the north-west suburbs of Melbourne. Founded in 1930, the men's competition ...

, based at Ormond Park competing in the same league. Moonee Valley Cricket Club also located at Ormond Park competes in the VTCA.

Transport

Moonee Ponds station is located at the western end of Puckle Street, on the Craigieburn railway line. Bus route 467 runs from the station to Aberfeldie. For details of other

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ...

/bus routes see

Moonee Ponds Junction Moonee Ponds Junction is a bus and tram interchange on the junction of Ascot Vale Road / Pascoe Vale Road and Mount Alexander Road in Moonee Ponds, Melbourne (Puckle Street / Dean Street also meets at the same point). It is located approximately ...

which is located at the eastern end of Puckle Street. The

Maribyrnong River Trail __NOTOC__ The Maribyrnong River Trail is a shared use path for cyclists and pedestrians, which follows the Maribyrnong River through the north western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The path, sometimes along both sides of the river, ...

and

Moonee Ponds Creek Trail __NOTOC__ The Moonee Ponds Creek Trail is a shared use path for cyclists and pedestrians, which follows the Moonee Ponds Creek through the northern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. History A public meeting called by State Member of ...

are cycling tracks in and around Moonee Ponds.

Attractions

The Clocktower Centre was originally constructed as the

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League United King ...

Mechanics' Institute, which was later purchased by the State of Victoria to become the Essendon Town Hall. Today it is primarily used as a large theatre. As well as serving for some international, interstate and local functions, the centre has a number of conference rooms. It is named after its prominent clock tower. Moonee Ponds Junction is the centre of the suburb, with buses, trams and trains all converging in the area. The Clocktower Centre is nearby. Puckle Street is the main shopping street and there are many shops and cafes along its length. At its eastern end is Moonee Ponds Junction and at its western end is Moonee Ponds train station. The

is one of Melbourne's four horse racing tracks. Moonee Ponds Central Shopping Centre has many stores including Kmart,

Aldi Aldi (stylised as ALDI) is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 10,000 stores in 20 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, when ...

, The Coffee Club, Man to Man, EB Games, Smiggle and Moonee Ponds Sewing. Moonee Ponds is also home to many restaurants. Most notable among these are Jack's Satay Bar, Carosello, Philhellene, Darling St Espresso and Khao San Road, plus KFC – a traditional first date location for youth in the area. There is a range of allied health professions in the Moonee Ponds area, including acupuncture and Chinese medicine at Qi Medicine Acupuncture Melbourne, physiotherapy at Platform 7 Physiotherapy, optometry at Specsavers Moonee Ponds and osteopathy at Beyond Fitness Health.

Notable residents

Moonee Ponds is the location of the office and private home of politician and former Australian Opposition Leader Bill Shorten. Australian singer

Tina Arena Filippina Lydia "Tina" Arena (born 1 November 1967) is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician, musical theatre actress and record producer. She is one of Australia's highest-selling artists and has sold over 10 million records worldwid ...

and photographer Ruth Hollick grew up in the area. An incomplete list of its other residents includes: *

Shaun Atley Shaun Atley (born 13 September 1992) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the North Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Originally from Rochester, Atley was taken with draft pick #17 ...

, North Melbourne Footballer and part-time DJ. *

Allen Aylett Allen James Aylett OBE (24 April 1934 – 16 September 2022) was an Australian rules football player and administrator. He was the chairman/president of the North Melbourne Football Club from 1971 to 1976, and then again from 2001 to 2005. In b ...

, former

North Melbourne Football Club The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Kangaroos, is a professional Australian rules football club. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Kangaroos also ...

player and chairman/president * Aydan Calafiore, The Voice and Eurovision: Aus Decides 2019 contestant and singer * E. Morris Miller, philosopher and vice-chancellor, earlier a member of the Moonee Ponds Mental Improvement Society * Jason Moran, Melbourne underworld figure *

Jake Webster Jake Ngapera Webster (born 29 October 1983) is a New Zealand international rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Keighley Cougars in Betfred League 1. He previously played as a and er for the Melbourne Storm and Gold Coast Titans i ...

, former Melbourne Storm player who now plays for Hull Kingston Rovers in the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of w ...

* Lilian Wells, only woman president of Congregational Union of Australia, and first moderator of the NSW Synod, Uniting Church in Australia. She was born in Moonee Ponds. The fictitious character of Dame Edna Everage also claimed to be from Moonee Ponds. There is a street in the suburb named Everage Street in her honour.

References