Clayton, Victoria

Clayton Melbourne, Victoria
Clayton Road Shopping Precinct
Clayton Location in metropolitan Melbourne
Coordinates	37°54′54″S 145°07′48″E / 37.915°S 145.130°E / -37.915; 145.130Coordinates: 37°54′54″S 145°07′48″E / 37.915°S 145.130°E / -37.915; 145.130
Population	15,543 (2011 census)
• Density	2,019/km2 (5,230/sq mi)
Postcode(s)	3168
Area	7.7 km2 (3.0 sq mi)
Location	19 km (12 mi) from Melbourne
LGA(s)	City of Monash
State electorate(s)	Clarinda Oakleigh
Federal Division(s)	Bruce Chisholm Hotham
Suburbs around Clayton: Oakleigh East Mount Waverley Notting Hill Oakleigh South Clayton Mulgrave Clarinda Clayton South Springvale

Clayton is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 19 km south-east of Melbourne's central business district. Its local government area is the City of Monash. At the 2011 Census, Clayton had a population of 15,543.

The main focus for the suburb of Clayton is the shopping strip that runs along Clayton Road. The local railway station, situated at the northern end of the shopping strip bears the name Clayton railway station.

In 2011, the population of Clayton was 15,545 and 28.1% of people were born in Australia. Other dominant groups include Chinese 17.6%, Indians 9.7%, Malaysians 5%, Greeks 3.3% and Indonesians 3.1% and the top languages spoken were English 30%, Mandarin 17.6%, Greek 6.3%, Cantonese 4.9%, Italian 3.2% and Punjabi 3%. The median age for Clayton was 27 which is 10 years younger the Australian average.

The area was first occupied for farming in the 1850s and was originally named after a property, "Clayton Vale", owned by lawyer John Hughes Clayton in the 1860s. A township was originally gazetted on Dandenong Road and in 1862 a primary school was opened at the corner of Dandenong Road and Clayton Road, to serve the whole of the Clayton district. This school changed its name to Clayton North Primary School in 1954.

The construction of the railway to Dandenong and Gippsland about 1 km south of Dandenong Road in 1878 prompted the start of a second township where the line crossed Clayton Road.

The Post Office opened on 18 November 1887 as Clayton's Road Railway Station and was renamed Clayton in 1891.

Clayton's rural lands and relative proximity to Melbourne attracted two institutions at the turn of the century: the Talbot Colony for Epileptics on land later occupied by Monash University, and a Women's Convalescent Home. Apart from that, in 1900 the community consisted of farms, three hotels, two churches, a tennis court and a few shops. Market gardens, fruit growing and a municipal abattoir were the leading industries.