Avenel, VIC
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Avenel is a small town in the Shire of Strathbogie in central Victoria, about 130 kilometres north of Melbourne and just north of Seymour, where Hughes Creek runs through the district. Henry Kent Hughes settled here in 1838, laid out the township and named the creek; the name Avenel is generally traced to a village in Gloucestershire. The town is best known for its links to a young Ned Kelly, who spent part of his boyhood here and is said to have saved a local boy from drowning in Hughes Creek; members of the Kelly family are buried in the Avenel cemetery. Today the town sits on the Melbourne to Albury railway and hosts the long-running Goulburn Valley Horse Trials, held since 1967.
Around the national middle
Avenel is more socio-economically advantaged than about 43% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 976, where about 1000 is the national average).
A socio-economic measure from ABS Census data — not a measure of how good a suburb is to live in or visit. How we calculate this.
Avenel at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 1,112
- Median age
- 49
- Median weekly household income
- $1,414
- SEIFA score
- 976
- Coordinates
- -36.9304, 145.3140
Avenel demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Avenel using the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census; every percentage is a share of a clearly stated Census count, so each one traces back to the source. At a glance, the largest age group is mid-life (45–64) at 29%, 15% of homes are rented, and 12% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 180 | 16% |
| Youth (15–24) | 99 | 9% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 220 | 20% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 320 | 29% |
| Seniors (65+) | 296 | 27% |
Share of the 1,115 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 214 | 47% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 160 | 35% |
| Rented | 69 | 15% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 453 | 99% |
| Townhouses & semis | 3 | 1% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 456 occupied private dwellings in Avenel.
- Median weekly rent
- $300
- Median monthly mortgage
- $1,509
- Average household size
- 2.3 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,756
- Median weekly personal income
- $749
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 126 (12%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 36 (3%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 6 (1%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 438 (49%)
- Labour-force participation
- 60.1%
- Unemployment rate
- 2.3%
- Employed full-time
- 322
- Employed part-time
- 180
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021 (General Community Profile, by Suburb and Locality). © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. How we group bands and derive each share is set out on our methodology page.
Common questions about Avenel
Where is Avenel?
Avenel is a suburb of Victoria, Australia.
What is the population of Avenel?
At the 2021 Census, Avenel had a population of about 1,112.
Is Avenel an advantaged area?
Avenel has an ABS SEIFA score of 976, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 43 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 43% of Australian suburbs.
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