St Albans, Victoria

St Albans () is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Brimbank local government area. In the 2021 census, St Albans recorded a population of 38,042.

St Albans became a small dormitory suburb for growing industrial firms in Deer Park and Sunshine. Despite the Great Depression, development was steady and, by 1940, around 700 people lived in the town. In the years following World War II, the population rapidly increased with the arrival of displaced migrants, particularly from Yugoslavia, Malta and Italy. This led to additional state schools and the 1953 establishment of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, as well as Greek, Russian and Serbian Orthodox churches.

In the 2016 census, St Albans recorded a population of 37,309, 49.6% female and 50.4% male. The median age of the St Albans population was 35 years, 3 years below the national median of 38. 32.6% of people living in St Albans were born in Australia. The other top responses for country of birth were Vietnam 17.8%, India 7.3%, Malta 3.2%, the Philippines 2.7% and New Zealand 1.9%. The most spoken language was Vietnamese, at 25.3% of the suburb's population; the next most common languages were 22.7% English, 5.7% Punjabi, 3.4% Maltese, 2.5% Cantonese and 2.3% Greek.

Transport

Trains

St Albans has three train stations, all in PTV ticketing <span style="color:blue;">Zone 2</span> on the Sunbury line. These are Ginifer, St Albans and Keilor Plains.

The line was electrified as far as St Albans until 26 January 2002 when it was extended to Sydenham. The Sydenham line was electrified to Sunbury and renamed the Sunbury railway line, opening on 18 November 2012.

The level crossing at St Albans station was removed in 2016, with the station lowered and the level crossing replaced with a new overpass.

Buses

St Albans has numerous bus services that service St Albans itself and neighbouring suburbs, most of which start and finish at St Albans railway station.

Cycling

Cyclists in St Albans are represented by BrimBUG, the Brimbank Bicycle User Group.

Flora and fauna

Great parks are located on the East and West borders of the suburb. These areas (particularly in the West) used to have large healthy populations of native reptiles, including tiger snake, eastern blue-tongued lizard and eastern brown snake. Unfortunately due to development these species are now rarely seen in the area.

Due to development of the Cairnlea estate on the southern border of St Albans, native species of frogs have taken advantage and have taken up residence in the new wetlands and lakes. The Eastern Banjo Frog, common eastern froglet and even the now endangered growling grass frog have been seen and heard in the new wetlands and around Kororoit Creek.

Brimbank Park
Kororoit Creek Trail

Education

St Albans has a large number of schools including the following;

Victoria University, Australia
Victoria University Secondary College
Catholic Regional College St Albans
Holy Eucharist Primary School
St Albans Secondary College
St Albans Primary School (established 1889)
St Albans Heights Primary School
St Albans East Primary School
St Albans Meadows Primary School
University Park Primary School (formerly St Albans South Primary School)
St Albans North Primary School
Sacred Heart Primary School
Stevensville Primary School
Movelle Primary School
Jackson School

Community facilities

The suburb and surrounding areas have a large Orthodox Christian community. The suburb is home to the Greek Orthodox Church of St Paraskevi, St Barbara and St John the Merciful, the Serbian Orthodox Church of St George, and also the Coptic Orthodox Church of St George.

Thien Duc Temple, Dieu Am Temple and Bo De Temple, three Vietnamese Buddhist temples, are located in the suburb.

Sport

The suburb has an Australian Rules football team, St Albans Football Club, competing in the Western Region Football League, with the club actually based in neighbouring Kings Park. The club has been very successful particularly over recent years.

The local soccer team, the St Albans Saints is backed by the Croatian community, whilst the Green Gully Cavaliers are backed by the Maltese community. Both currently compete in the Victorian Premier League and both have significant support.