City profile
Darebin is a municipality in Melbourne's inner north. In the council's words it stretches across 53 square kilometres, from the inner northern suburbs of Northcote and Fairfield to Reservoir and Bundoora. Its main suburbs are Northcote, Thornbury, Preston, Reservoir and Kingsbury, and it takes in parts of Alphington, Fairfield, Bundoora and Macleod. The council's offices are at 274 Gower Street, Preston.
New to these terms? Read them in plain English
- Local Government Area (LGA)
- The official area a council governs.
- Estimated Resident Population (ERP)
- The official population count for an area.
- Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)
- The national statistics agency behind population figures.
The area at a glance
- Population (ERP, 30 June 2025)
- 162,496ABS Estimated Resident Population (preliminary).
- Area
- 53.5 km²ABS. The VEC gives 53.43 km².
- Population density
- About 3,000 people per km²162,496 residents ÷ 53.5 km² (ABS).
- Wards
- 9, with one councillor each
- Council group (LGPRF)
- Metropolitan
- Traditional Owners
- The Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung peopleAs acknowledged by the council.
Suburbs & postcodes
- Alphington (part)3078
- Bundoora (part)3083
- Fairfield (part)3078
- Kingsbury3083
- Macleod (part)3085
- Northcote3070
- Preston3072
- Reservoir3073
- Thornbury3071
On the map
The shaded area is the official Local Government Area boundary.
These are the 9 suburbs the CSA lists for Darebin. We checked them against the official Vicmap locality boundaries: Kingsbury, Northcote, Preston, Reservoir and Thornbury lie at least 99% inside the ABS boundary; about 46% of Alphington, 43% of Fairfield, 40% of Macleod and 34% of Bundoora do, so they are marked '(part)'. Postcodes come from the CSA's suburb and postcode table. The map shows the ABS boundary (ASGS 2025).
Sources — check it yourself
- ABS — Regional population 2024–25, data cube 32180DS0002 Table 2 (Victoria) · ERP 30 Jun 2025
- ABS — Regional population, latest release · Released Mar 2026
- Darebin City Council — Councillor Emily Dimitriadis elected as Mayor (description of the area) · Nov 2025
- Darebin City Council — Darebin profile (links to community profile and census data) · Sep 2026
- Victorian Electoral Commission — Darebin City Council (9 single-councillor wards, area) · Sep 2026
- Crime Statistics Agency (CSA) — LGA Recorded Offences, Table 03 (suburb and postcode by LGA) · Jul 2025 to Jun 2026
- DataVic — Vicmap Admin locality polygons · Sep 2026
- Darebin City Council — Annual Budget 2026–27 (acknowledgement of Traditional Owners) · 2026–27
- Local Government Victoria — LGPRF 2020–2025 Full Council Data Set (council group: Metro) · 2024–25
Figures are current as at the dates shown and may change — always confirm with the linked source. See the notice at the bottom of the page for full details and how to report a correction.