The Hermitage (Australia)

The City of Greater Geelong is a local government area in the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia, located in the western part of the state. It covers an area of 1,248 square kilometres (482 sq mi) and, had a population of 271,057 as of the 2021 Australian census. It is primarily urban with the vast majority of its population living in the Greater Geelong urban area, while other significant settlements within the LGA include Anakie, Balliang, Barwon Heads, Batesford, Ceres, Clifton Springs, Drysdale, Lara, Ocean Grove, Portarlington and St Leonards. It was formed in 1993 from the amalgamation of the Rural City of Bellarine, Shire of Corio, City of Geelong, City of Geelong West, City of Newtown, City of South Barwon, and parts of Shire of Barrabool and Shire of Bannockburn.The City is governed and administered by the Greater Geelong City Council; its seat of local government and administrative centre is located at the council headquarters in Geelong, it also has service centres located in Drysdale, Ocean Grove and several other locations within Geelong. The City is named after the main urban settlement located in the centre-west of the LGA, that is Geelong, which is also the LGA's most populous urban centre with a population of 211,986.In 2019, City of Greater Geelong announced a new headquarters across the road from WorkSafe Victoria. The project will be part of the new "Civic Precinct" in the Geelong CBD.

The City of Geelong was a local government area about 75 kilometres (47 mi) southwest of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The city covered an area of 13.4 square kilometres (5.2 sq mi), and existed from 1849 until 1993.

The Electoral district of Geelong was one of the original sixteen electoral districts of the old unicameral Victorian Legislative Council of 1851 to 1856. Victoria being a colony in Australia at the time. The Electoral district of Geelong's area was defined as: "Bounded by a line drawn from a point on the eastern shores of Corio Bay near Point Henry at a distance of 2 miles from the north-east corner of the Township of Geelong as a centre bearing southerly to a point bearing east from the said corner thence by a line south crossing a small portion of Corio Bay parallel with and at a distance of 2 miles from the eastern boundary of the said township to a point bearing east from the south-east corner of the said Township of Geelong thence by a line drawn westerly at a distance of 2 miles from the southern boundary of the said township crossing the Barwon River and Waurn Chain of Ponds to a point 2 miles west of the south-west corner of the said township thence by a line bearing north parallel with and at a distance of 2 miles from the western boundary of the said Township of Geelong to a point bearing west from the north-west corner of the said township thence by a line drawn at a distance of 2 miles from the north-west corner of the said township as a centre to the western shore of Corio Bay near Cowie's Creek and also to include the remaining portion of the reserve at Point Henry and the reserve at the junction of the Moorabool with the Barwon River."From 1856 onwards, the Victorian parliament consisted of two houses, the Victorian Legislative Council (upper house, consisting of Provinces) and the Victorian Legislative Assembly (lower house).

Geelong Province was an electorate of the Victorian Legislative Council until 2006, located around Geelong. It was abolished from the 2006 state election in the wake of the Bracks Labor government's reform of the Legislative Council. The area of the former Geelong Province then became part of the larger Western Victoria Region.

The electoral district of Geelong is an electoral district of the Victorian Legislative Assembly. It centres on inner metropolitan Geelong and following the June 2013 redistribution of electoral boundaries includes the suburbs of Belmont, Breakwater, East Geelong, Geelong, Geelong West, Newtown and South Geelong, Herne Hill, Manifold Heights, Newcomb, Newtown, St Albans Park, Thomson, Whittington and part of Fyansford.The seat first existed from 1856 to 1859 as a four-member seat. It was split into Geelong East and Geelong West in 1859, but re-created in 1876 as a three-member seat. It was cut back to a two-member seat in 1889 and became a single-member seat in 1904. It was abolished in 1976 but re-created in 1985. In its current incarnation, it has historically been a marginal seat with demographics similar to the state at large. As such, it was held by the governing party of the day from 1985 to 2010. Incomes vary strongly across the seat. It was won in 1999 by Ian Trezise for the ALP by 16 votes after recounts. The Victorian Parliament was hung at that election, and the results for the seat of Geelong, which took several days to arrive at, had a significant impact on the events that brought the Bracks government to power. At the 2002 election, the seat's margin grew to 8.1%, however, neither major party considered it safe due to its history as a marginal seat. Trezise narrowly held it for Labor in the 2010 election, becoming the first opposition member for this seat in its current incarnation. The 2014 Victorian state election saw boundary changes and Christine Couzens retained the seat for the ALP following the retirement of Trezise.

Geelong ( jih-LONG) (Wathawurrung: Djilang/Djalang) is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, about 65 km (40 mi) southwest of Melbourne. Geelong is the second largest Victorian city behind Melbourne with an estimated urban population of 268,277 as of June 2018, and is also Australia's second fastest-growing city. Geelong is also known as the "Gateway City" due to its critical location to surrounding western Victorian regional centres including Ballarat in the northwest, Torquay, Great Ocean Road and Warrnambool in the southwest, Hamilton, Colac and Winchelsea to the west, providing a transport corridor past the Central Highlands for these regions to the state capital Melbourne in its northeast. The City of Greater Geelong is also a member of the Gateway Cities Alliance in partnership with Councils from Newcastle and Wollongong. Geelong is the administrative centre for the City of Greater Geelong municipality, which is Port Phillip's only regional metropolitan area, and covers all the urban, rural and coastal reserves around the city including the entire Bellarine Peninsula and running from the plains of Lara in the north to the rolling hills of Waurn Ponds to the south, with Corio Bay to the east and the Barrabool Hills to the west. The traditional owners of the land on which Geelong sits were the Wadawurrung (also known as Wathaurong) Aboriginal people of the Kulin nation. The Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation is the Registered Aboriginal Party for the region. The modern name of Geelong, established in 1827, was derived from the local Wadawurrung name for the region, Djilang, thought to mean "land", "cliffs" or "tongue of land or peninsula". The area was first surveyed by the European settlers in 1838, three weeks after Melbourne. A town post office was opened by June 1840, the second to open in the Port Phillip District. The first woolstore was erected in this period and it became the port for the wool industry of the Western District.During the Victorian gold rush, Geelong experienced a brief boom as the main port to the rich goldfields of the Ballarat district. The town then diversified into manufacturing, and during the 1860s became one of the largest manufacturing centres in Australia with its wool mills, ropeworks, and paper mills. It was proclaimed a city in 1910, with industrial growth from this time until the 1960s establishing the city as a manufacturing centre for the state, and the population grew to over 100,000 by the mid-1960s. During the city's early years, an inhabitant of Geelong was often known as a Geelongite or a "Pivotonian", derived from the city's nickname of "The Pivot", referencing the city's role as a shipping and rail hub for the area. Population increases over the last decade were due to growth in service industries, as the manufacturing sector has declined. Redevelopment of the inner city has occurred since the 1990s, as well as gentrification of inner suburbs, and currently has a population growth rate higher than the national average.Today, Geelong stands as an emerging healthcare, education and advanced manufacturing centre. The city's economy is shifting quickly and despite experiencing the drawbacks of losing much of its heavy manufacturing, it is seeing much growth in other tertiary sectors, positioning itself as one of the leading non-capital Australian cities. It is home to the Geelong Football Club, the second oldest club in the Australian Football League.

Sacred Heart College is a Roman Catholic secondary school for girls, and is located in Retreat Road, Newtown, Geelong, Victoria in Australia. It is now one of the largest Catholic secondary girls schools in Victoria.The current principal is Anna Negro, with three Deputy Principals: Gerard Raven, Tanya Malley and Acting Deputy Principal, Catherine Gulli.

Matthew Flinders Girls' Secondary College is an all-girls State secondary school located in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. It provides education for students years 7–12.

The Geelong College is an Australian independent and co-educational, Christian day and boarding school located in Newtown, an inner-western suburb of Geelong, Victoria. Established in 1861 by Alexander James Campbell, a Presbyterian minister, the Geelong College was formerly a school of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and is now operated in association with the Uniting Church in Australia but is not governed or managed by the church. The school has a non-selective enrolment policy and currently caters for over 1,200 students from kindergarten to Year 12, including around 100 boarding students from Years 7 to 12. The boarding students are accommodated in two boarding houses at the senior school campus: Mackie House for boys, Mossgiel House for girls. The college is affiliated with the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia, the Junior School Heads Association of Australia, the Association of Independent Schools of Victoria, the Australian Boarding Schools Association, and has been a member of the Associated Public Schools of Victoria since 1908.

Pako Festa is an annual festival held in Pakington Street, Geelong West each year around late February. The festival is held to promote cultural diversity and show appreciation for the artwork and fashion designed by citizens of the Geelong area. The first festival was held in 1983, and currently attracts the participation of around 30 cultural community groups, up to 60 community groups and a total attendance in excess of 100,000 people. It is the largest multicultural festival in Victoria.

Pakington Street is a boutique shopping strip in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. Known as “Pako” to local residents, the strip stretches between the suburbs of Geelong West at its north end and Newtown at the south. The south end of Pakington Street is commonly referred to as the "Paris end", due to its high density of high-end designer boutiques and exclusive restaurants, while the north end, better suited for retail and hospitality, is commonly referred to as the "Melbourne end".While both ends have their followers, it is the Melbourne end that has been the most popular of recent times, in part, due to its position as the center of Geelong when it comes to cosmopolitan atmosphere and multiculturalism.Every February, the street hosts the Pakington Street Festa or Pako Festa; a parade dedicated to celebrating the multicultural heritage of the area.

Geelong Arts Centre, formerly the Geelong Performing Arts Centre (GPAC), is a performing arts, functions, and events venue located in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The complex is located between Little Malop and Ryrie Streets in central Geelong, and comprises a number of venues. It also hosts Creative Engine, a sector of the organisation that runs programs such as Community Fuel.