With buzzing suburban communities, beautiful scenery and coastal towns just a short drive away, what’s not to love about the City of Casey?
While Casey residents are likely to be aware of the many perks and benefits of living in the region, this feature showcases the best aspects of life in Casey. From the great education options and local businesses to leisure services and retail sectors, Casey really has it all.
More than 411,000 people are forecast to call the City of Casey home in 2024 – up 18,000 in the past year. It is the most populous council area in the state, and that number is forecast to hit 574,124 in 2046, a staggering 40 per cent increase.
Over the next 18 years, 54 per cent of Casey’s population growth will occur in Clyde and Clyde North.
In 2022, 45 per cent of Casey households were couples with children – compared to 33 per cent in greater Melbourne.
The council area is one of the most diverse in Australia with 42 per cent of residents born overseas and spanning more than 150 nationalities. The top three overseas countries of birth are India, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.
More than three quarters of residents have at least one parent born overseas or were born overseas themselves.
There are more than 100 faiths observed in Casey – the most common being Catholic, Islam and Hindu.
Of the region’s 185,286 employed residents, 86,995 people living in Casey were employed in the city in 2021. The largest number of people were employed in healthcare and social assistance at 15,134 jobs between 2020 and 2021.
Other main areas of employment are retail trade at 14,331, education and training at 12,139 and construction at 9,269.
Many of the businesses are locally owned. In 2023, there were 31,879 businesses in the City of Casey and the Gross Regional Production was $12.21 billion – about 2.4 per cent of Victoria’s GRP.
Construction was the most productive industry in the City of Casey between 2020-2021, generating $1,268 million.
GARDENS AND OUTDOOR DESTINATIONS
The City of Casey has an abundance of parks, playgrounds and open spaces to enjoy.
Whether you visit the 1001 Steps at Bayview Park in Narre Warren South, Wilson Botanic Park in Berwick, Akoonah Park Centre, Royal Botanic Gardens in Cranbourne or the Hallam Valley Trail, you’ll have a myriad of options to choose from. From family friendly to physical activities, the City of Casey has all you need.
ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS CRANBOURNE
Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne offers a natural bushland experience alongside the Australian Garden, an award-winning, contemporary botanic garden of over 100,000 Australian plants from 1,900 plant varieties.
The bushland is a precious remnant of the area’s vegetation, with 10 kilometres of walking tracks, six kilometres of cycling tracks, a lookout tower, picturesque shelters, barbecues and playgrounds.
There is a range of visitor programs, as well as self-guided walks available throughout the year. And entry is free.
WILSON BOTANIC PARK BERWICK
In its vast 39 hectares, the park has more than 1000 native and exotic plant species. It attracts 80 different species of birds as well as turtles, frogs, lizards and snakes.
The picnic areas and barbecue facilities, playground and walking tracks make this park a popular attraction.
Bird watchers use the Birdhide on the edge of the Basalt Lake as the perfect cover to see some of the vast array of native wildlife.
EDUCATION
The City of Casey has a network of great education options that include Catholic schools such as St Catherine’s Primary School in Berwick, Mary MacKillop Primary School in Narre Warren and St Paul Apostle North and South Primary Schools in Endeavour Hills.
The City of Casey also has a range of government schools on offer to parents with the catchment area. These include James Cook Primary School, Oatlands Primary School, Berwick Lodge Primary School and Cranbourne Park Primary School.
Other schools include St Margaret’s Berwick Grammar, Casey Grammar School, St Francis Xavier College Berwick, Beaconhills Christian College, Heritage College, Hampton Park Secondary College and Alkira Secondary College.
The City of Casey is also fortunate to have Dandenong Valley SDS,a school dedicated to students aged from pre school to 18 years with intellectual disabilities. The purpose-built school caters for every one’s needs, with various play areas including a bike track, sensory rooms and outdoor spaces, multipurpose rooms, paramed offices,a hydrotherapy room and a range of therapists on hand.
Endeavour Hills Specialist School opened in 2022. It caters for up to 288 students with learning neighbourhoods for early years, middle years and senior years, a dry lab for media, drama and physical activities and a wet lab for art, science, home-craft and technology.
The state-of-the-art facility also has a gymnasium, full-size outdoor play court and soccer pitch.
SPORT
The City of Casey has long been a hub of sporting activity in Melbourne’s southeast.
Casey Fields is the region’s premier sports and recreation precinct, home to Melbourne City Football Club and the Melbourne Demons AFL/AFLW teams. It also regularly hosts cricket, rugby, athletics and BMX events televised nationally. Boasting more than 30 fields, tracks and courts across its 87 hectares, there is also a dedicated train station in the works for Casey Fields as a part of the Clyde Rail extension.
This month, Melbourne City unveiled an $18.7 million state-of-the-art soccer academy at the precinct. The City of Casey contributed $12.3 million towards the 11-hectare facility, which boasts two-and-a-half grass pitches, three synthetic fields, 16 changerooms, a 60-seat theatrette, hot and cold hydrotherapy pools, two gyms, community classrooms, and extensive sports medicine, sports science, and administration spaces.
Meanwhile, Casey Fields’ athletic track received a $1-million-plus resurfacing.
In its 2024-’25 draft budget, Casey proposes $8.6 million for Springleaf Recreation Reserve, an AFL, cricket and netball facility in Clyde North. It also plans upgrades for pavilions at Tooradin, Strathaird Reserve, Ray Bastin Reserve and Grices Road Recreation Reserve.
