Officer, Victoria

Officer Victoria
Aerial view from the south-west
Officer
Coordinates	38°03′29″S 145°24′32″E / 38.05806°S 145.40889°E / -38.05806; 145.40889Coordinates: 38°03′29″S 145°24′32″E / 38.05806°S 145.40889°E / -38.05806; 145.40889
Population	1,761 (2011 census)[1]
Postcode(s)	3809
Elevation	127 m (417 ft)
Location	49 km (30 mi) from Melbourne 8 km (5 mi) from Berwick
LGA(s)	Shire of Cardinia
State electorate(s)	Gembrook, Bass
Federal Division(s)	La Trobe
Suburbs around Officer: Guys Hill Beaconsfield Upper Beaconsfield Upper Beaconsfield Officer Pakenham Clyde Officer South Koo Wee Rup

Officer is a satellite suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 54 km south-east from Melbourne's Central Business District. Its local government area is the Shire of Cardinia, as well as being the Council seat of the shire. At the 2011 Census, Officer had a population of 1,761.

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 (known as Officer's Siding until 1888, Officer Railway Station until 1913).^[2]

On November 17, 2014, the Shire of Cardinia moved from its offices in Pakenham to a new office in Officer, making it the Council seat.

Officer today

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

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

Despite now being considered a suburb and having its own railway station, most of the land around Officer is undeveloped and used for farming. This is likely to change in the future, when construction of a 4,000 lot housing estate begins at Officer.

Princes Highway, Officer

Companies

• The new classical homebuilding company Harkaway Homes is headquartered in Officer, Victoria.^[3]

Notable people of Officer

• AFL player Greg Tivendale (Number 32 for Richmond) grew up in Officer.

See also

• Shire of Pakenham—a former local government area of which Officer was a part
• Officer railway station

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Officer, Victoria.