https://www.vic.gov.au/development-activity

https://www.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2025-09/FB_Progress-Report_As-at-June-2025.pdf

Fishermans Bend Precincts overview
Fishermans Bend is made up of five distinct precincts across two municipalities (the City of Melbourne and the City of Port Phillip), each with their own features and character.

• Lorimer: a vibrant, mixed-use precinct close to the Yarra River and connected to Melbourne’s CBD, Docklands and emerging renewal areas
• Montague: a diverse and well-connected mixed-used precinct celebrating its significant cultural and built heritage, and network of gritty streets and laneways
• Wirraway: a family friendly inner city neighbourhood close to the bay and Westgate Park
• Sandridge: one of Melbourne’s premium office and commercial centres, balanced with diverse housing and retail
• Fishermans Bend Employment and Innovation Area (formerly Employment Precinct): Australia’s leading design, engineering and advanced manufacturing precinct, including the Fishermans Bend Innovation Precinct at the former General Motors Holden site.

Lorimer, together with the Yarra’s Edge Precinct in Docklands, offers the opportunity to strengthen Melbourne’s identity as a river city.

River crossings for walking, cycling and public transport continue the legacy of connecting Melbourne to the riverfront – linking Fishermans Bend to Docklands, the CBD, and further afield.

New laneways connect residents and workers directly to Lorimer Street through to the Yarra River. This high density, mixed-use precinct is centered on the creation of a central parkland and is stitched together with a linear green spine and landscaped pedestrian and cycling links.

This will create an important public transport, recreational link and biodiversity corridor linking to the adjacent Employment Precinct.

Ingles Street connects Lorimer directly to the proposed commercial centre in Sandridge and also the future Bolte West Precinct along the Yarra River. Taller buildings are located closer to the freeway forming a well-designed backdrop to the precinct.

Achievements and progress by 2025
Fishermans Bend is 485ha, and at over twice the size of the CBD, is Australia’s largest urban renewal precinct.
The nature and scale of transformation is unparalleled. Fishermans Bend is Australia’s largest urban renewal area, and will play a key role in the further evolution of central Melbourne as a world leading place to live, work, visit and invest.
The government endorsed Vision for the precinct is of ‘a thriving place that is a leading example for environmental sustainability, liveability, connectivity, diversity, and innovation’. In line with this Vision, Fishermans Bend is planned to accommodate 80,000 residents and 80,000 jobs by 2050, and to achieve new benchmarks in urban renewal.
The transformation of Fishermans Bend is guided by the Fishermans Bend Framework (the Framework) — a long-term strategic plan to guide for the development of the precinct.
In the seven years since the Framework was approved, there has been significant private and government investment in Fishermans Bend. Outcomes are occurring on the ground, and development is comfortably on track to achieve the vision for 80,000 residents and 80,000 jobs by 2050.

PLANNING
A significant body of planning and policy work has been undertaken as important precursor work to finalising precinct plans and infrastructure funding.

Planning and policy work undertaken since 2018 has included:

• Advancing Manufacturing: the Fisherman Bend Opportunity (2020) was released in 2020, supported by updates to planning controls in the Melbourne Planning Scheme. This is supported by government investment to deliver Stage 1 of the Fishermans Bend Innovation Precinct, , and the Gateway to GMH project.
• Fishermans Bend Water Sensitive City Strategy (2022), which provides an integrated approach to water management in Fishermans Bend with solutions that range from the precinct wide, street, and individual building scale. This is supported by investment in the Water Recycling Plant, DCP funding for Precinct scale drainage and water infrastructure and integrated water management in streets and open spaces, and services for water reuse in buildings.
• Fishermans Bend Seed Toolkit, released in December 2023, outlines a diverse set of levers to generate activity, seed economic opportunities and guide investment partnerships on the ground. It is supported by a commitment of $2.5 million over two years to deliver the Fishermans Bend Innovation, Diversity, Experimentation and Activation (FB IDEAS) pilot via the Melbourne Revitalisation Fund, which is road testing the Seed Toolkit on the ground with investment partners.
• Release of the Draft Montague Precinct Implementation Plan (2023) which elaborates on the distinct precinct character, develops place-making approaches to support precinct activation, and identifies priority actions and key projects from the Framework. The Summary of Engagement was published in 2024. State and local government are collaborating to finalise this work as a priority.