Suburb Snapshot: Eureka

The size of Eureka is approximately 0.4 square kilometres and has three parks covering nearly 20.6 per cent of total area. The population of Eureka in 2011 was 628 people and by the 2016 Census the population was 628 showing a stable population in the area during that time.

Eureka is a suburb enclosed on all sides by Ballarat East, 2km east of central Ballarat. It was named after the Eureka Park and Gardens, gazetted in 1885 at the prompting of the Ballarat East Town Council. The area gazetted was about 12 acres, including all or most of the Eureka Stockade, built in 1854 by gold miners and the Ballarat Reform League.

The stockade was named after the Eureka gold lead which ran south from the junction of Little Bendigo Creek and Yarrowee River and turned west. The stockade was the scene of a military suppression of a supposed rebellion by miners who were incensed by the behaviour of goldfields police and the government’s high mining tax on miners. In 1884 a monument to the Eureka event was constructed at the south-east corner of the reserve, and even at that time there was disagreement whether the monument’s position was on the location of the 1854 stockade.

CoreLogic data indicates that the predominant age group in Eureka is 20-29 years with households in Eureka being primarily childless couples and are likely to be repaying $1,400 – $1,799 per month on mortgage repayments, and in general, people in Eureka work in a community and personal service occupation. In 2011, 59.2 per cent of the homes in Eureka were owner occupied compared with 54.3 per cent in 2016.

Source: Ballarat Times News Group