Kensington is a unique inner suburb of Melbourne approximately 4km north west of the central city.

Kensington encompasses Racecourse Road to the north, Smithfield Road to the west, the Maribyrnong River and South Kensington railway line by Childers St to the south, and Moonee Ponds creek to the east.

Kensington has a distinct heritage character, an active local community and village-like shopping hub around Kensington Station.

Almost 11,000 people live in Kensington, with family households comprising 57 per cent of dwellings - one of the highest in our municipality. People aged between 20-34 years make up the largest age demographic.

Housing ranges from small heritage cottages, public housing, and new townhouses in Kensington Banks. There are some industrial and commercial uses in the south east.

Kensington includes part of the Macaulay renewal precinct area to the east which is expected to undergo significant change over the coming decades.

Kensington Neighbourhood map

  • Find an address by selecting the magnifying glass in the top right hand corner.
  • See the legend by selecting the second box in the top right hand corner.
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Quick facts

Data is sourced from 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Census of Population and Housing, ABS Estimated Resident Population 2023, and 2022 Census of Land and Employment (CLUE).

To access more data on Kensington, visit: Kensington community profile on profile .id.

To learn more about the ABS Census of Population and Housing, including definitions, visit: Guide to Census data.

Council services, facilities and spaces

The Kensington Community Children’s Co-Operative is run by a Committee of Management on behalf of the City of Melbourne. It offers a 140-place education and care centre with integrated and sessional kindergarten. We also operate the Kensington Maternal & Child Health Centre which supports children’s health and development from birth until school age. Playgroup sessions also operate through this service.

The Kensington Neighbourhood Centre located in Anthony Street, hosts a range of programs and events for older people. It is available for community hire and prioritises older people’s community groups and not-for-profit organisations. The Centre contains a Sensory Garden for use by all visitors and holds programs specifically to support people living with dementia and their families.

The Venny Adventure Playground is run by a Committee of Management on behalf of the City of Melbourne. The Venny offers a range of programs to support children and their families.

Kensington Town Hall is currently managed by YMCA and has many spaces available for community use. It hosts many community events and activities, and is home to the Kensington Compost Hub and the soon to be launched bike repair hub.

We manage and maintain many public spaces across Kensington including:

  • Bayswater Road Park
  • Bellair Street Reserve
  • Cakebread Mews Park East
  • Cakebread Mews Park West
  • The Crescent Council Reserve
  • Cuffe Walk Council Reserve
  • Eastwood and Rankins Park
  • Escarpment Park
  • Fisken Walk
  • Gilbertson Walk
  • JJ Holland Park
  • Kensington Banks
  • Kensington Hall Reserve
  • Kensington Town Hall
  • Lascelles Square
  • Liddy Street Reserve
  • Lynches Bridge Small Reserve
  • Maribyrnong River Reserve Bike Trail
  • Mercantile Park East
  • Mercantile Park West
  • Cornish Lane Council Reserve
  • McAllister Mews Council Reserve
  • Kensington Community Garden
  • Moonee Ponds Creek
  • Parsons Reserve
  • Peppercorn Park
  • Woodruff Street Reserve
  • Riverside Park
  • Robertson Street Reserve
  • Stock Route Reserve
  • Taylor Mews Reserve
  • Warun Biik Park
  • Women’s Peace Garden.

Kensington Community Recreation Centre is currently being redeveloped. The new centre will feature an eight lane 25 metre swimming pool, children’s water play facilities, three full-sized multipurpose courts, and an updated and expanded gym. It will also contain large flexible spaces suitable for a range of classes and community uses, accessible change rooms and a wrap-around café.

The Newmarket Reserve provides a pitch for community soccer clubs for use in the winter season and for community sport and training use in the summer.

JJ Holland sport ovals provides three fields used regularly by community sporting clubs and local schools for training and competition.

We also manage the Childers Street skatepark and BMX track, Kensington Banks Tennis Courts and the Flemington-Kensington Bowls Club site.

  • We also support the Kensington Business Association through our Business Precinct Program.
  • We currently provide annual funding to support the running and delivery of programs at the Kensington Neighbourhood House (McCracken St).
  • We support a range of community groups in and around Kensington to deliver local project and activities through our grant programs. Since 2020 we have funded 21 community projects based in and around Kensington to the value of more than $218,000. This includes the Kensington Repair Hub, Flemington-Kensington Arts Show, Kensington Stockyard garden and many more.

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