Oakleigh East
Oakleigh East is a residential suburb 16 km south-east of central Melbourne. It is bounded by Dandenong Road (Princes Highway), Ferntree Gully Road and Clayton Road with a part extending southwards along Franklyn Street to North Road. Its previous boundaries have been different.
Prewar, the railway station next after Oakleigh was East Oakleigh, but that area became Huntingdale. By 1970 Oakleigh East could more accurately have been Oakleigh North as it ran along Scotchmans Creek from present day Stephensons Road to Scotchmans Hill. By 1982 most of the area along Scotchmans Creek was Mount Waverley, and Oakleigh East went no further east than Macrina Street, putting Oakleigh high school (1956) in Clayton North.
The present suburb of Oakleigh East has a state primary school, Amsleigh Park (formerly Oakleigh East opened 1929). Amstel state primary school (1958) and Oakleigh high school (1956) were further west toward Clayton. The part of Oakleigh East that extends to North Road includes the Princes Highway Reserve flanked by the site of the Oakleigh Motel (1956) and the pedestrian footbridge built for high school students to cross the highway.
Oakleigh East has a few shops in Huntingdale Road, some corner stores and local parks along Ferntree Gully Road. Its census populations have been:
| census date | population |
|---|---|
| 2001 | 5499 |
| 2006 | 5623 |
| 2011 | 5972 |
The proportions of residents affiliated with Eastern Orthodox religions at the census have been:
| Year | % of respondents |
|---|---|
| 2006 | 16.9 |
| 2011 | 13.8 |
