Officer, Victoria


Officer is a satellite suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 48 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Cardinia local government area. Officer recorded a population of 7,133 at the 2016 Census. Officer serves as the Council seat of the shire.
Most of the land around Officer is currently being developed for residential use with medium density housing. Population and demographic mixes are changing, with construction of a to be completed in late 2019. Current estates that have been announced and under construction include:

History

The suburb is named after the Officer family, who were early settlers in the area. A timber industry was established, and by 1870 timber was being transported from the railways sidings, named Officer's Wood Siding. This was shortened to Officer's and later, Officer.
A brickmaking industry began in the 1880s, but died away after the collapse of the land boom. The population was sufficient to justify a post office, opening on 16 December 1885.
On 17 November 2014, the Shire of Cardinia moved from its offices in Pakenham to a new office in Officer, making it the Council seat.

Demographics

In Officer 70.1% of people were born in Australia. The most common ancestries in Officer were English 25.7%, Australian 24.6%, Irish 6.7%, Scottish 5.9% and Indian 4.0%. The most common countries of birth outside of Australia were England 4.3%, India 4.3%, Sri Lanka 2.9%, New Zealand 1.8% and Philippines 1.0%. 0.6% of people in Pakenham are Aboriginal. The most common responses for religion in Officer were No Religion, so described 32.9%, Catholic 24.5%, Anglican 9.4%, Not stated 6.3% and Christian, nfd 4.5%. In Officer, Christianity was the largest religious group reported overall 53.2%.

Education

Officer is in the south east growth corridor, with many new schools opening in the past ten years. There are now twelve schools in the area; Berwick Grammar School, Glenvale School, Heritage College, Maranatha Christian School, Minaret Islamic College, Officer Primary School, Officer Secondary College, Officer Specialist School, St Brigid's Catholic Primary School, St Clare's Catholic Primary School, St. Francis Xavier College and Bridgewood Primary School are located in Officer.

Facilities

Recreation

There are various facilities in officer for recreation. There are two lighted AFL sporting grounds which also support Cricket. There are presently 5 recreational parks for walking and children's playgrounds. Popular also is the Venue "Club Officer" which hosts Family Dining, Sport Bar and pokies facilities.
There are also gymnasium facilities located at Arena Shopping centre.

Sport

Officer is home to the Australian Rules ROC Football Club, competing in the Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League. They last won the premiership in 2002.

Retail

Currently there the major shopping precinct is . It has a mix of major retail and some smaller commercial outlets including the Officer Post Office and a McDonald's. As a newly developed area Officer also has access to the Australian NBN service which has much larger capability for increased network performances.

Transport

Officer has its own Officer railway station which is located on the Gippsland line, in Victoria, Australia. It serves the south-eastern Melbourne suburb of Officer, and opened on 4 August 1881 as Officer's Siding.

Notable Residents