In 2023, the City of Melbourne introduced a Parking and Kerbside Management Plan that committed to regular reviews of the kerbside parking system based on proactive engagement in local areas and sharing the data that underpins decision-making.

East Melbourne has easy access into Melbourne’s CBD and gardens, nation-leading medical care facilities, and some of the biggest sporting and cultural events in the country. The neighbourhood has more than 1900 on-street parking spaces, which are managed by the City of Melbourne.

Currently, on-street parking conditions in East Melbourne are incredibly varied, including:

• a mix of one-hour (1P), two-hour (2P), three-hour (3P), four-hour (4P) and all-day parking
• a range of short-stay bays including No Parking, Loading Zones, 15 minutes, 10 minutes and 5 minutes
• paid and unpaid parking
• a range of permit areas, and some parking that is permit excepted.

This diverse mix means parking conditions across East Melbourne are inconsistent, which impacts the community’s ability to find the right space that meets their needs.

Feedback provided by the community as part of this neighbourhood parking review has informed upcoming parking changes that will be rolled out in East Melbourne. Delivery of these changes will begin in late 2025 and you can read more about the changes on the East Melbourne parking improvements page.

Any changes we make to parking conditions won't be 'set and forget' – we will check in with the community annually to review the performance of the conditions and fine-tune them where necessary. Through this process, parking conditions may evolve over several years.

In East Melbourne, the second phase of engagement was run in August 2025.

During this engagement process, we ran a targeted social media campaign and sent more than 5000 postcards to residents and businesses directing them to our survey to provide feedback on proposed parking changes in East Melbourne.

Through this consultation process, we had 316 responses from 292 residents, businesses, workers and visitors whose feedback has helped us plan the next steps.

You can still have your say on East Melbourne parking via our always on survey. You can also learn more about what we heard from the community in the first round of engagement in the next tab.

Once this round of parking changes in East Melbourne is complete, an Annual Review will be scheduled. We'll give the community time to adjust, and we will review the performance of the new conditions each year and fine-tune them where necessary.

We had 316 survey responses from East Melbourne.

This included:

• 276 residents
• 22 businesses
• 26 visitors.

We also received direct submissions and heard from a range of stakeholders including employers such as Dentl, hospital attendees and workers, and the East Melbourne Resident Assocation.

Of the 316 survey responses, a majority (65%) supported the investigation of an event parking overlay. We also received 70 pieces of feedback about event parking, which has helped us better understand community sentiment about this topic.

• "Event parking management overhaul is urgently needed."
• "Event overlay is a great idea."
• "I agree with the need for the changes and agree with trials."

A smaller number did not think an event overlay would support parking in East Melbourne:

• "I don’t think the no event parking should be enacted. As a regular visitor of the East Melbourne tennis club, I would lose access to this community of which is important to me."

Based on community support, the City of Melbourne will further investigate an approach for an event parking overlay. This will include discussions with stakeholders across the neighbourhood and those who travel to the area. We will also speak with local Councils that have event parking overlays in their municipalities to better understand the scope of these overlays and how they can be managed.

We will then develop proposed parameters for event day parking. We anticipate that this will take some time. No event day parking changes will be introduced in East Melbourne until further research has been completed, and a proposed approach is shared with community.

Key considerations for Council when proceeding with any change to event day parking will include a range of insights from community, including:

1. Fourteen respondents wanted Council to increase the cost of fines during event days.

• "Fines will need to be significantly increased (eg. $500 plus).”

Parking fine costs are set by the Victorian Government. We can investigate advocating for increased fines or examining road rules for increased fines on event days.

2. Feedback indicated that resident permits and visitors need to be central in the investigating of event parking.

• "Support major event restrictions with residents allowed to still park with resident permits."

Permit holders for any event overlay in East Melbourne would need to be defined at a future stage and would take into account the existing resident permit system.

3. Other key considerations such as the function of business and medical appointments need to be considered in any adjustment to parking.

• “I am worried that on event days that fall during the week will mean our patients can not park anywhere close by and will be forced to walk considerably long way and effecting business.”
• “Don’t forget those of us who drive to visit vital medical support teams Monday to Friday as we need 2 hr parking.”
• “The event overlay will harm businesses that have long supported the community, paid rates, and contributed to the area’s culture. We require at least 2–6 hours of free parking for visitors dining or exploring—especially on event days when trade is strongest.”

Further work and trials will assess impacts to all functions across East Melbourne including medical functions and business needs.

We received 156 location-specific responses. These will be assessed by our design and delivery team in the update and design of parking conditions for each street.

In addition to the key themes identified through community feedback, a range of responses offered broader reflections on East Melbourne’s transport and accessibility landscape.

While some of these comments fell outside the scope of immediate parking updates – such as references to public transport, active travel, and urban greening – they nonetheless underscore the community’s interest in integrated and sustainable solutions. This feedback will be used by Parking Services and other teams across the City of Melbourne in long-term updates to strategies and the delivery of parking projects.

• "With street parking being at a premium in East Melb, I would suggest the City of Melbourne should look at creating more flexibility in the planning regulations to allow homeowners to construct off road parking."
• "East Melbourne is serviced by multiple tram and train routes."

Importantly, 20 responses expressed broad support for the overall direction of the project, particularly its emphasis on balancing residential needs, safety, and equitable access. This broader sentiment reinforces the value of continuing to engage with the community as part of a wider conversation about mobility and place.

• "I love every proposed parking change. These changes will make a big improvement to quality of life for residents."
• "I support all the proposals."
• "Event day parking restrictions need to be addressed with increased numbers of people and cars in East Melbourne when big events are on."

As a result of the feedback we received about the proposed changes to on-street parking in East Melbourne, we have updated the changes that will be rolled out. These include:

1. We will progress the investigation of an Event Parking overlay including working with State Government on the cost of fines issued.
2. We will not introduce new paid parking on Powlett Street between Gipps and Grey Street, or on Gipps Street between Clarendon and Powlett Street.
3. No decrease of residential exemptions or permit zones will take place; by reviewing available space some areas will see a minimal increase in resident exempt bays – particularly Area 14.

To read about the changes to parking being delivered in East Melbourne from late 2025, please visit our East Melbourne parking improvements page.

We won’t set and forget the new conditions. The community feedback we heard has informed the final design of upcoming parking changes in East Melbourne. Delivery of these changes begins in late 2025 and you can read more about the changes on the East Melbourne parking improvements page.

We'll give the community time to adjust and then review the functionality and performance of the changes. We will be back in East Melbourne to see how these changes are working and hear from community again. At that stage we will also provide an update about the event parking overlay investigations.

You can have your say any time on parking in your neighbourhood by completing our always on survey.

We continuously seek community feedback about on-street parking in our municipality, and specific neighbourhood engagement periods are just one element of our feedback collection. The following feedback relates to one specific engagement period for East Melbourne.

These changes won't be 'set and forget' - we will check in with the community annually to review the performance of the conditions and fine-tune them where necessary. Through this process, parking conditions may evolve over several years.

You can have your say any time on parking in your neighbourhood by completing the always on survey. The next review of your neighbourhood will use this data to inform future changes.

In 2023, the City of Melbourne introduced a Parking and Kerbside Management Plan that committed to regular reviews of the kerbside parking system based on proactive engagement in local areas and sharing the data that underpins decision-making.

Data was provided, and opinions were sought on the following topics:

• The allocation of space at the kerb between parking and other kerbside uses.
• Short-stay parking. Defined as bays with a stay limit ≤ 3P that support several arrivals across the day.
• Long-stay parking. Defined as bays with a stay limit ≥4P that support one or two arrivals per day.
• Off-street parking. Commercial parking facilities open to the public.
• Home-based vehicles including private vehicles stored off-street and at the kerb (under the permit system), as well as shared kerbside vehicles (car share).
• Enforcement of the rules of the parking system.

In East Melbourne, the cycle of regular reviews began with a round of engagement between July and August 2024. The engagement process included two workshops (attended by 27 people), 10 stakeholder interviews with local businesses, hospitals and the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC). We also surveyed over 80 people travelling to the MCG to watch the AFL across two weekends.

We heard from residents, visitors and businesses across East Melbourne. We spoke to local businesses and workers, hospitals, Melbourne Cricket Club and childcare centres.

• 27 residents attended three workshop sessions.
• 81 individuals were surveyed on games days at the MCG.
• 11 people submitted responses for East Melbourne in the Participate Melbourne survey.

The engagement activities highlighted four key focus themes; event parking, parking restrictions, enforcement and technology.

• Events at the MCG put pressure on parking in East Melbourne. Residents cannot find street parking during game days and do not want to leave the area and lose a park.
• The 1P time restriction makes it difficult for tradespeople, visitors and businesses.
• Residents are unsure if expanding paid parking would solve concerns, but they would consider it being implemented in places.
• Residents would like to see a dedicated area for pick-up and drop-offs for the MCG.

• Need for a dedicated space for pick-up and drop-offs.
• Tradespeople and businesses face limited parking options due to widespread 1P restrictions in the area. They would be willing to pay for parking if suitable options were available closer to their work sites.

Recommendations have been made to Council that include:

• Consistent controls across the neighbourhood
• Increased pick-up and drop-off areas to support events
• Advocate to key partners for transport and event parking policies.

We are designing proposed changes for East Melbourne parking that will be shared with the community for feedback before being rolled out in 2025.

We won’t set and forget the new conditions once works are complete; we'll give the community time to adjust and then review the functionality and performance of those changes annually. This will include a comprehensive review of how these changes are functioning mid-2026 at our first community check-in.

You can have your say any time on parking in your neighbourhood by completing the survey. The next review of your neighbourhood will use this data to inform future changes.