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Fawkner Melbourne, Victoria
Population:	11,876 (2006) [1]
Postcode:	3060
Area:	5.1 km² (2.0 sq mi)
Property Value:	AUD $257,000 [2]
Location:	13 km (8 mi) from Melbourne
LGA:	City of Moreland
State District:	Thomastown
Federal Division:	Wills
Suburbs around Fawkner: Broadmeadows Campbellfield Thomastown Hadfield Fawkner Reservoir Coburg North Coburg North Reservoir

Fawkner is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moreland.

It is located at 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.

Contents 1 History 2 People 3 Commerce 4 Educational facilities 5 Religious buildings 6 Transport 7 References 8 External links

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 8 October 1889 (electrified to Fawkner on 2 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.

Fawkner could be described as a family suburb with about 60 percent 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 percent of Fawkner's population are living below the poverty line.

A study conducted by Jesuit Social Services titled Dropping off the Edge reported that Fawkner was among the 40 top socially disadvantaged areas of more than 700 Victorian communities that were scrutinized in the report. The project manager of the study, Father Peter Norden, attributed this to low levels of preschool attendance, a high number of early school leavers, low computer use and internet access and youth's lack of skills and qualifications^[3].

It is the most culturally diverse suburb in Moreland. Less than 50 percent 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.

The main commercial areas in Fawkner are the strip bordering the Hume Highway, which is mainly automotive-related and light-industrial and the Bonwick Street shopping strip. There are a number of corner shops dotted about the residential area.

Fawkner has two government primary schools (Fawkner PS and Moomba Park PS), two Catholic primary schools (St. Matthew's PS and St. Mark's PS), a government secondary college (Fawkner SC) and an Islamic secondary college (Darul Ulum College of Victoria website http://www.dulum.vic.edu.au ).

• Great Prophet Islamic Centre
• Vietnamese Buddhist Temple
• Two Greek Orthodox churches
• Two Catholic Churches

The stations of Gowrie and Fawkner on the Upfield railway line provide public transport to Melbourne CBD.

The Coburg North-Campbellfield(K-Mart) bus(route no. 530) runs through mainstream Fawkner, providing access to neighbouring suburbs.

The Merri Creek Trail and the Western Ring Road Path provide facilities for recreational and commuting cyclists.

1. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). Fawkner (State Suburb). 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved on 2007-09-17.
2. ^ Fawkner, accessed 27 November 2006
3. ^ Moreland Community News: March 6, 2007

• Fawkner, Victoria is at coordinates 37°42′25″S 144°58′05″E / -37.707, 144.968Coordinates: 37°42′25″S 144°58′05″E / -37.707, 144.968

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