Doncaster East is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 20 km east of Melbourne's Central Business District, in the City of Manningham. Doncaster East had a population of 30,926 according to the 2021 census.
History
The area was originally occupied by the Wurundjeri, Indigenous Australians of the Kulin nation, who spoke variations of the Woiwurrung language group. After European settlement, the area was used for agriculture, predominantly orchards. A small settlement known as Waldau Village was established in the 1860s by predominantly German migrants. Those settlers planted the large swathes of pine trees to serve as windbreaks to protect the farmlands and orchards, those pine trees still exist today. German Lane was the original name for George Street, and Bismarck Street the original name for Victoria Street. The names were replaced during the First World War and the present names adopted with the wartime anti-German sentiments being an influential factor in removing German-influenced names from the local areas in favour of more overtly British names.
Like much of the City of Manningham, Doncaster East was predominantly covered in fruit orchards for some time before subdivision began and it became a contiguous part of Melbourne. Housing estates began to replace orchards in the 1960s, generally along Doncaster Road, in the southern half of the suburb. The north half of the suburb was developed through the 1970s and 1980s, with the last orchard being removed in the 1990s. As the young parents who moved into these estates now retire and move away, many houses from the 60s and 70s were converted into multi-tenant units. The Wurundjeri people are represented by the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation.
Demographics
In the 2021 Census, there were 30,926 people living within Doncaster East.