Aerial panorama of Chadstone Shopping Centre with the Dandenong Ranges on the horizon

Malvern East is a suburb in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Victoria, Australia Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania), with a land area of ; the second-most-populated state (after New South Wales), with a population of over 7 million; ...

, 13 km south-east of the

Melbourne central business district The Melbourne central business district (colloquially known as "the City" or "the CBD", and gazetted simply as Melbourne) is the city centre of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. As of the 2021 census, the CBD had a population of 54,941, and is ...

, located within the

City of Stonnington The City of Stonnington is a local government area located within the metropolitan area of Melbourne, Australia. It comprises the inner south-eastern suburbs, between , from the Melbourne CBD. The city covers an area of . Within twenty years o ...

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 federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

. Malvern East recorded a population of 22,296 at the 2021 census. Malvern East is bounded to the north by Wattletree Road and

Gardiners Creek Gardiners Creek, originally known as Kooyongkoot Creek, is an urban stream in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, and part of the Yarra River catchment. Apart from a few sparse surviving remnant riparian bushlands, the majority of the creek's leng ...

, to the east by

Warrigal Road Warrigal Road is a major inner urban road in southeastern Melbourne, Australia. On weekdays, it is heavily trafficked as it runs through many major suburbs along its route, traversing some of Melbourne's eastern and south-eastern suburbs. These ...

, to the south by the

Princes Highway Princes Highway is a major road in Australia, extending from Sydney via Melbourne to Adelaide through the states of New South Wales, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and South Australia. It has a length of (along Highway 1) or via the former ...

(Dandenong Road) and to the west by Tooronga Road. It is most famous for the

Chadstone Shopping Centre Chadstone Shopping Centre (colloquially known as Chaddy) is a shopping centre located in the south-eastern Melbourne suburb of Malvern East. Chadstone Shopping Centre is the largest indoor shopping centre in Australia by both floor area and nu ...

, the largest shopping centre in the southern hemisphere, and the largest by total lettable space under one roof. In recent times, what was once a relatively small suburb was extended to incorporate parts of neighbouring

Chadstone Chadstone is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Monash local government area. Chadstone recorded a population of 9,552 at the 2021 census. Landmarks in ...

. Based on its easterly proximity to Malvern, the expansion and redefinition of Malvern East was driven in the 1990s by resident groups eager to 'reclaim' their address from being identified with the Chadstone Shopping Centre, which had been massively expanded since its original construction. However, the Chadstone Shopping Centre shares the 'Malvern East' address and postcode.

History

The first Malvern East Post Office opened on 4 August 1914 by Mathew Renbach, who was raised in East Malvern and was renamed Wattletree Road 20 days later. The second Malvern East Post Office opened in 1924 and was renamed Central Park in 1928. The third Malvern East Post Office was renamed from Caulfield East in 1928, but reverted to that name in 1929. The fourth Malvern East Post Office opened around 1935 and closed in 1993. Three post offices remain marking the major commercial areas of the suburb; Wattletree Road office on the corner of Tooronga Road, Central Park office on

Burke Road Burke Road is a major north–south thoroughfare in Melbourne, Australia. It runs from Ivanhoe East to Caulfield East and through the major shopping district at Camberwell. It is aligned with the western boundary of Elgar's Special Survey, ...

near Wattletree Road and Darling South office on Waverley Road. The suburb is also home to the Buddhist Society of Victoria, founded in 1953, making it the oldest Buddhist Institution in Victoria.

Parks and gardens

Malvern East has a number of popular public open spaces, the most notable of which are

Hedgeley Dene Gardens Hedgeley Dene Gardens is a public open space in the suburb of Malvern East in Melbourne, Australia. It is one of the most popular parks in the Malvern East locality. It is also significant as an example of public open space design that recrea ...

, Central Park and the Urban Forest Reserve. While Central Park and its surrounding residential neighbourhood are subject to

heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset A heritage asset is an item which has value because of its contribution to a nation's society, knowledge and/or culture. Such items are usually physical assets, but some countries also ...

protection, Hedgeley Dene Gardens is the first public open space to be designated worthy of protection on

neighbourhood character Neighborhood character refers to the 'look and feel of an area', in particular a residential area. It also includes the activities that occur there. In everyday usage, it can often be synonymous with local character, residential character, urban cha ...

grounds.

Transport

Malvern East is serviced by Darling, East Malvern and Holmesglen railway stations, all on the

Glen Waverley line The Glen Waverley line is a commuter railway line in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Operated by Metro Trains Melbourne, it is the city's sixth shortest metropolitan railway line at . The line runs from Flinders Street station in ce ...

, Caulfield and Malvern railway stations on the Frankston and

Gippsland Gippsland () is a rural region in the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains south of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It covers an elongated area of east of th ...

lines and tram routes 3 and 5. Bus routes 612, 623, 624, and 626 operated by

CDC Melbourne CDC Melbourne is a bus operator in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It operates 55 bus routes under contract to Public Transport Victoria. It is one of the brands of CDC Victoria, which is in turn a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro Australia. As a ...

also service the area. The suburb is also serviced by the community

bike path A bike path or a cycle path is a bikeway separated from motorized traffic and dedicated to cycling or shared with pedestrians or other non-motorized users. In the US a bike path sometimes encompasses '' shared use paths'', "multi-use path", or ...

along Gardiners Creek, which joins and is an integral part, of the Greater Melbourne network of bike paths.

Sport

The suburb has an

Australian Rules 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 Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

football team, East Malvern Football Club, competing in the

Southern Football League The Southern League is a football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from East Anglia, the South and Midlands of England, and South Wales. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven a ...

. The De La Salle Old Collegians Associated Football Club also competes at Waverley Park, on Waverley Road, in the Victorian Amateur Football Association in A Section. Malvern East also boasts one of the largest Australian Rules

Auskick Auskick is a program designed to teach the basic skills of Australian football to children aged between 5 and 12. Auskick is a non-contact variant of the sport. It began in Australia and is now a nationwide non-selective program. It has incre ...

clinics in Australia, which is held on Saturday mornings during winter. Golfers play at the course of the East Malvern Golf Club, on Golfers Drive, the Malvern Valley Public Golf Course on Golfers Drive or at the course of the Nepean Golf Club, on Waverley Road.

Notable citizens

* Bruce Clarke (1925–2008), jazz guitarist, composer, and educator, lived in Malvern East *

Alan Jackson Alan Eugene Jackson (born October 17, 1958) is an American country music singer-songwriter. He is known for performing a style widely regarded as "neotraditional country", as well as writing many of his own songs. Jackson has recorded 21 studi ...

(1936–2018), Australian businessman who was the CEO of

Nylex Nylex Plastics, founded in 1927, is an Australian manufacturer of a range of plastic goods. It was originally called the Australian Moulding Corporation but changed its name in 1948. The founder was John Derham. During the period between 1990 ...

. He lived his later life in the suburb. *

Marg Downey Marg Downey (born 5 May 1961) is an Australian comedian and actress, best known for her roles in '' The D Generation'', '' Fast Forward'' and '' Full Frontal'' Early life and education Downey grew up in a middle-class Catholic family in the Me ...

(born 1961), actress *

Eva Duldig Eva Ruth de Jong-Duldig (née Duldig; born 11 February 1938) is an Austrian-born Australian and Dutch former tennis player, and current author. From the ages of two to four, she was detained by Australia in an isolated internment camp, as an enem ...

(born 1938), Austrian-born Australian and Dutch tennis player, author *

Karl Duldig Karl (Karol) Duldig (29 December 1902 – 11 August 1986) was a Jewish sculptor. Born in Poland, he and his family fled Vienna in 1938 following the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany, eventually settling in Australia. As a sculptor, he was i ...

(1902–1986), Austrian-Australian sculptor *

Slawa Duldig Slawa Duldig née Horowitz (28 November 1901– 16 August 1975) was an inventor, artist, interior designer, and teacher. In 1929, as Slawa Horowitz, she patented a design for an improved compact folding umbrella. Duldig was the wife of the mode ...

(1902–1975), Polish-born Austrian-Australian inventor, artist, interior designer, and teacher *

Max Holmes Max Holmes (born 29 August 2002) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for Geelong in the Australian Football League (AFL). Geelong traded their future first round pick with Richmond to secure Pick 20 in the 2020 AFL draft to select Holm ...

(born 2002), AFL player *

John Williamson Legge John Williamson Legge, better known as Jack Legge (3 April 1917 – 29 October 1996), was an Australian biochemist and communist activist. He is best known for his work testing the effects of mustard gas on Australian troops in tropical condition ...

(1917–1996), biochemist and communist activist. *

Pia Miranda Pia Miranda is an Australian actress. Her career was launched with her role in the 2000 feature film '' Looking for Alibrandi'', an Australian film based on the novel of the same name by Melina Marchetta. She is also known for her roles as K ...

(born 1973), actress *

Bailey Smith Bailey Smith (born 7 December 2000) is a professional Australian rules footballer who plays for the Geelong Football Club. Smith was recruited by the with the 7th draft pick in the 2018 AFL draft, making his debut in the 2019 AFL season. He r ...

(born 2000) – AFL player

References

External links

Australian Places – Malvern East
{{Authority control Suburbs of Melbourne Suburbs of the City of Stonnington