“Clayton is the most neglected and forsaken place,
between Melbourne and Dandenong.
Neglected roads and footpaths, no water.
Only three street lights and sometimes none”.
Oakleigh and Caulfield Times, 13 April 1923.
(Keeley, 1980)
Acclaimed to be called “a vibrant high-technology science city” (Lim, 2011), Clayton, a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, is definitely differed with what illustrated in one reader’s letter to editor of
Oakleigh and Caulfield Times above.
Picture 1. Map of Clayton - Source: Australia Bureau Statistic, 2008
Clayton is located 18 km south east of the Melbourne Central Business District, and positioned between the Princess Highway and Wellington road, with arterial route set in Clayton Road. This suburb covers 3.0 square miles of the Local Government Area (LGA) City of Monash administration and bounded by several suburbs such as Mount Waverley, Nothing Hill, Mulgrave, Springvale, Clayton South and Clarinda as well as Oakleigh East and Oakleigh South. With 197 feet above sea level, Clayton’s physical land couture is mainly flat with stability in its soil (Departement of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 2008). This is considered to be beneficial for its residents because this suburb provides spatial, solid and quite strategic areas that enable functions of residential, industrial, institutional and commercial lands.
In the early 1850s, Clayton was projected by Kelley (1980) as “virgin country with Mordialloc tribe of aboriginals roaming around’. Not much was being found, rather than flowery bush in watery land. Couple years later, upon arrival of the first colony of three white settler families, this beautiful bush land was changed into farming-based area. This suburb gained its name of “Clayton Vale” after John H. Clayton, a lawyer who owned an early property in the area around 1860s, and renamed into “Clayton” in short (NCAS Multimedia, 1999).
Picture 2. Clayton’s residents in 1935 - Source: Museum Victoria, 1987
Several community services had been built since 1860, such as Clayton Primary school, railway line and post office. Nevertheless, Clayton’s progression during the first five decades was considerably slower than its nearest neighbor, Dandenong. Inadequate water supply and poor lighting were become significant down lines. Some residents argued that this slow progression was caused by “underhanded and apparently secret boycott” (Keeley, 1980) that likely to be charged to this suburb. It was after Second World War, Clayton begun to fully grow. With a decent combination of demographic, socio-economic, art and recreation features, as well as major features, this suburb now continuously builds its reputation as one of areas with sustained development.
The Demographic Features
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) census data in 2006 reflected a demography structure of Clayton’s residents in a broaden dimension. Being one of members in “Melbourne's most populous municipalities”(Monash City Council, 2010), Clayton was populated by 14,322 residents from total population of 19,855,288 in Australia , with 52% of the suburb’s population were males, 48% females and the rest 0,3 % were indigenous residents (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2008). In comparison to the population of Melbourne, Clayton’s population tend to be more youthful, with higher portion of 33.3% on average age of 15-24 years, while Melbourne was only at 14.1%. With the median age of 26, it is indicated that most of Clayton’s residents were at productive age of student. It is believed that the development of some educational institutions in the suburb become one of the principal backgrounds for this inclination. The presence of some primary schools as well as the second largest university in Australia, Monash University, within the suburb is likely attracting more academics and students to pursue their education in Clayton. Similarly, the data for marital status in Clayton projected a confirmation on this. Australian Bureau Statistic (2008) shows that more than 55% of Clayton’s residents, age 15 years and over, were never married. It is addressed that the enrollment of 24,000 students at the Monash University Clayton campus in 2006 has made a prominent contribution on the trend (Monash University, 2006).
Following that, according to ABS (2008), although 50% of Clayton’s residents hold the Australian citizenship, the Australian born proportion in this suburb was much lower (30.2%) compare to those who’s born overseas such as China, Malaysia, India, Greece and Sri Lanka. This high composition of overseas born residents in the suburb was verified by Johnson (1979 ) as a result of “the migration flux” that appear to reshape the Clayton’s resident structure. One of reasonable examples of this reformation is in terms of language using at home. ABS (2008) shows that there were only 32.4 % of Clayton’s residents using English as the only spoken language at home rather than 41.9 % in 2001. Another example is in religion affiliation. It is stated by Hugo (2001) that immigration movement into Australia during 1996-2001 was more diverse, particularly when the religious faith is taken into account. This diversity is clearly shown in Clayton’s residents’ religious affiliation composition. Compared to Melbourne’s residents, Clayton’s residents were showing more various compositions. According to the 2006 census, Christianity was the most commonly reported religious affiliation for the majority of Melbourne’s resident. On the other hand, Clayton’s residents considered themselves to be religiously diverse with no religion 21.2%, Christian 28.4 % including 19.9 % of Catholic and 8.5 % of Orthodox, Buddhists constituted 8.1 % and others professing Islam 5.2 % (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2008) .
In fact, this religious diversity was influencing Clayton’s residents’ specific religious, social and cultural needs. Islam, for instance, which seen proportional growth since the 2001 Census, had induced Clayton to provide several supporting facilities for its followers. These facilities have made Clayton to be a more comfortable place to live in instead of other surrounding suburbs.
Picture 3. Halal Butcher in Clayton - Source: Walk Walk Melbourne, 2010
A mosque and praying centers, which are adjacent to Monash University, were built to assist Muslim in doing their prayers as well as various activities such as Islamic study circle, Arabic classes and social gathering (Monash University, 2011). Several
halal - Islamic term used for objects or actions which are allowed to consume or accomplish – shops, restaurants and butchers right in center of Clayton Road are available for Clayton’s residents. Sport services in Clayton are also being alert of this necessity, simply by providing particular swimming hours for Muslim women who “were not able to participate in mixed swimming
” (Teather, 2010)
The Socio-Economic Features
The proportion of labor force, occupation, industrial employment and income level in the ABS 2006 census for Clayton’s residents give a coarse illustration of the socio-economic status of in the suburb. To begin with, ABS (2008) shows that there were totally 5, 997 of Clayton’s residents aged 15 years and over in the labor force during 2006. Most of them were employed as full-time worker at 49%, followed by part-time worker at 32.9 %. The work participation of part-time employment was considered to remain stable since 2001. On the contrary, full-time employment rate shows a different trend by a slight decline of 2 % within 4 years. This downward rate was admittedly as a result of educational preparation taken by more residents aged 15 and over before entering the labor force. This pattern is synchronized with a large number of residents who finish their education at year 12 or equivalent, rising from 12, 014 in 2001 to 16, 368 by 2006. As a consequence of that, not only availability of skilled and well-educated workforces in Clayton was increased but also more opportunities for residents to be employed in white-collar occupations such as professionals and managerial staff. With university attendance as educational background up to 50% (Australia Property Monitor, 2011), a significant growth of professional workers in Clayton’s residents had been verified by ABS (2008), noted that 23.9% of them were working as professionals rather than 8.9 % in 2001.
Next, manufacturing is appeared to be character of industrial employment in Clayton. The ABS census in 2006 showed that 1,478 of Clayton’s residents working in this field, followed by retail trade with 1,312 residents and accommodation and food service with 1,036 residents. It is likely reasonable that manufacturing played a leading role in Clayton’s industry since the number of factories - large and small – has grown in Clayton since the early 1940s such as Dulux Australia Limited (Dulux Paint), Cheesebrough Ponds and Peters’ Ice Cream. This also paralleled the shift of Melbourne’s industry from the inner to the south-eastern suburbs which now form Melbourne’s industrial heartland (Johnson, 1979).
Meanwhile, income rate of Clayton’s residents was considered fairly lower than Melbourne’s residents, with median 928 AUD per week for family income compare to 1, 242 AUD in Melbourne at the same scope (ABS, 2008). As income is an assessment of “resident’s ability to meet their need for good and service” (Johnson, 1979), the data also exemplified that standard of living cost in Clayton was equitably low. For example, private dwelling rental rate in Clayton is confirmed to be cheaper with the average rental rate at $225 per week for unit/apartment and $370 per week for house, compared to $490 per week (unit/apartment) and $550 per week (house) in Melbourne (State Government Victoria Australia, 2011). With considerably lower level of house rental rate than Melbourne’s average; this pattern also explained the nature of dwelling in Clayton was rented tenancy, accepted by 48% of the residents.
The Art and Recreation Features
Considered to be “most multicultural electorate in Victoria” (Lim, 2011), Clayton offers broad dimension of art events. Two iconic festivals, Clayton Annual Multicultural Banquet and Clayton Street Festival, were conducted annually to “bring together community groups from more than 60 nationalities” (Gay Alcorn, 2003).Clayton Annual Multicultural Banquet has been carried out every September or October since 1994. Every year, more than 600 guests were being served with great dine, entertainment and guest speaker. This event is aimed to “strengthen multiculturalism in Victorian society as well as present opportunities for community groups to network” (Lim, 2011). The banquet itself has become one of important multicultural events in Victoria. While Clayton Street Festival is an annual cultural event as cooperation between Monash Arts and Cultural Development Unit with Monash City Council. Once in a year, Clayton’s residents are presented with live musical performance by local community cultural groups, a wide range of market and food stalls.
Picture 4. Children’s Choir at Clayton Street Festival - Source : Avlxyz, 2011
This festival is intended to facilitate “a sense of community belonging and vitality that builds on cultural diversity and strengthens local communities” (Monash City Council, 2008). In addition, Clayton also encloses several sites that propose significant recreational opportunities for its residents such as parks and wetlands. One of them is Karkarook Park which is well known for its serpentine wetlands. This park is not only served Clayton’s residents as picnic areas, a playground and a lake but also holds important functions as the wetland purifies water quality in the suburb and prevents flooding and erosion after rain by creating stable flow rate (Park Victoria, 2010).
The Major Landmark
Aside from Monash University, Clayton railway station and several schools, this suburb also houses some leading institutions such as Monash Medical Centre (Clayton Campus), Jessie McPherson Private Hospital, Sir John Monash Private Hospital, Monash Home Maker Centre, Clayton Reserve, Fregon Reserve, CSIRO Australia, Australian Synchrotron Facility and Clayton Community Centre. The last three are prominent institutions in Australia. CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization) is well-known as one of major science agencies in Australia. It is also “one of the largest and most diverse research agencies in the world” (CSIRO, 2011). Meanwhile, Australian Synchrotron Facility is an important source of highly intense light such as infrared and hard x-rays which can be used for a wide variety of research points. Both of them are built adjacent to Monash University and become parts of growing research hubs in this suburb.
Next is Clayton Community Center, which is located at Cooke Street Clayton. Worth $24.2 million, the Clayton Community Center is announced as the “largest community facility in Victoria” (Lim, 2011). Clayton Community Center opened to the public on 7 April 2008. Considered as an outstanding example of co-operation among different levels of government, the Center is able to provide a wide range of services for its user’s in one place. The Clayton Community Center boards Clayton Aquatics and Health Club, the Clayton Public Library, Clayton and Clarinda Arts, pre-school, a theatrette, meeting rooms, occasional care and cafe. The growing demands from Clayton’s community indicated that all of the programs and services that the Center provides have been well accepted (Monash City Council, 2010).
Picture 5. Clayton Community Centre - Source : Avlxyz, 2011
For example, the Clayton Library has recorded a significant increase in visitor number, membership as well as attendance at programmed activities up to 77% since its movement to the center (Department of Planning and Community Development, 2009) . In 2008, the Center was the recipient of the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects Design Award (Australian Institute of Landscape Architects, 2008).
To sum it up, Clayton is a suburb that represents diversity in its reputation. Once acknowledged as a beautiful bush land, it is now being recognized as a productive area with multicultural residents. Being abandoned and left behind in early 1920s, Clayton now houses various congenial facilities alongside with numerous distinguished landmarks which make this suburb a worth place to live in.
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