Sports and Culture

• G Line gives Melbourne’s sporting precinct a world-class arrival and supporting infrastructure its venues deserve.
  
  It separates competing movements, improves access and creates the capacity to host overlapping major events more effectively. Importantly, it extends the event experience beyond the venue itself, supporting hospitality, entertainment and fan activation before and after events while reinforcing Melbourne’s position as the world’s sporting capital.

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  G Line will reinforce Melbourne’s position as the world’s sporting capital.

  G Line will reinforce Melbourne’s position as the world’s sporting capital.

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  Sport and culture, every day of the week
  This precinct already holds some of the country’s biggest shared moments. What it lacks is a life between them.
  
  G Line spreads sport and culture along its full length, so neither depends on the event calendar. Community sport and recreation sit alongside the major venues, and people who come to play are as much a part of the precinct as those who come to watch.
  
  Culture is built into each neighbourhood. The site’s sporting and rail history is told through the public realm, together with the living presence of Country, developed in partnership with the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Traditional Owners. Art and performance give the spaces between the venues a character of their own.

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• The precinct’s major venues gain the space and access they need, with community sport, recovery facilities, and sports administration alongside them.

  Room for the venues to grow

  Wider, shaded concourses and allowance for future expansion give the major venues space they currently lack. Purpose-built support buildings free up valuable space inside the venues themselves.

  Event operations infrastructure

  Separate arrival routes, purpose-built support buildings, clearly defined zones, and a shared concourse connecting them, are designed to let major events run side by side.

  Event-day access

  Richmond Station is rebuilt for nine-carriage trains, with a dedicated events platform to clear crowds. A relocated tram stop puts AAMI Park 100 metres away. New walking and cycling links spread crowds across every edge of the precinct, before and after the game.

  Activation before and after the game

  Plazas and event spaces hold pre-game activation and post-match dining, and a hotel overlooking the MCG lets visitors stay through a major event. People have a reason to arrive early and stay on.

  Sports history on show

  Bronze statues, a sports museum and daily heritage tours share the precinct’s sporting history every day of the year.

  A connected sporting campus

  Sports administration, club headquarters and a media hub move into purpose-built facilities. A connected internal network lets staff move between venues quickly.

  Performance and recovery

  Sports medicine and sports science are based within the precinct, with public recovery facilities such as heated pools and hydrotherapy proposed alongside.

  Community courts

  Eight tennis courts at Jolimont Fields for community and Tennis Australia use, with shelters, bandstands and public BBQs. During the Australian Open, they become event space. New youth activation spaces are also planned.

  Community oval

  The Front Lawn at Jolimont Fields is an activated community oval with a pavilion, open to local competitions and large events like the Melbourne Marathon.

  Fitness and active recreation

  Running and cycling clubs use the precinct as a meeting point, with bike links to the Main Yarra Trail and Capital City Trail. Boot camps and fitness sessions run on the open lawns.

• Explore sport in the neighbourhoods

  • Jolimont Fields

    Community Courts and the Front Lawn keep sport running every day, hosting the Australian Open’s overflow and the Melbourne Marathon alike.

  • Olympic Plaza

    The Legends Forecourt, Sports Museum and Sports Administration make this the ceremonial and administrative heart of the precinct’s sporting life.

  • Yarra Park Residences

    Home to residents who live within a short walk of every major venue, with running and cycling clubs meeting nearby before the day begins.

  • Richmond Circus

    Richmond Station and the transport Interchange carry every event-day crowd through the precinct, with a direct walkway straight to the MCG and venues.

  • The Village

    Laneway bars and late-night food give the post-match crowd somewhere to go once the final siren sounds.

  • Cremorne Commons

    A quiet residential neighbourhood, set apart from the sporting intensity of the precinct’s western end.

  

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  The design seeks to establish a layered character that references the site’s history.

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  The design seeks to establish a layered character that references the site’s history.

• Art and performance are found throughout the precinct, alongside the stories of the site and of Country.

  First Nations knowledge

  Stories of Country are woven throughout G Line, developed in partnership with the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Traditional Owners. Language and places to pause and learn are built into how people move through the precinct.

  Major events and concerts

  The precinct already hosts stadium-scale concerts alongside its sporting calendar. New event space gives these shows room to spill out before and after, and gives civic ceremonies and parades a place to gather.

  Spaces for the arts

  18,539 m² of museum and contemporary arts space is planned across the masterplan, including galleries, studios and maker spaces. Artists-in-residence live and work in the precinct they exhibit in.

  History interpreted throughout public spaces

  The site’s history is interpreted through the precinct itself, from its sporting and rail past to the Birrarung’s relationship with the land. Materials reclaimed from the old train yards are built back into its streets and structures, and heritage walks and school programs share that history with visitors.

  Public art

  Permanent and rotating works run the length of G Line, serving as landmarks as well as artworks. Walls and structures become canvases, with public art competitions proposed to give Melburnians an opportunity to shape the precinct.

  Performance in public spaces

  Live music and outdoor screenings gather shared audiences in streets and on lawns, with quieter performances suited to the calmer neighbourhoods.

  Culture beyond the event calendar

  Cultural programming runs in every neighbourhood independently of major events, with pop-ups through the day, and gallery nights and night markets in the evening. A free program comes first, with paid experiences layered on top, so cost isn’t a barrier to taking part.

  Making and reuse

  Studios and fabrication labs turn materials reclaimed on site into furniture, art and new products, linking the precinct’s creative life with its circular economy.

  A sensory layer

  Soundscapes and surface graphics shift from one neighbourhood to the next, so the stories of the site are heard and read as you move through it.

• Explore culture in the neighbourhoods

  • Jolimont Fields

    Water sculptures turns the precinct’s water treatment into a visible, everyday piece of public art, right at the postcode’s green gateway.

  • Olympic Plaza

    The Legends Forecourt and Sports Museum keep sporting history alive every day, while the Central Plaza hosts concerts, civic ceremonies and parades beyond the event calendar.

  • Yarra Park Residences

    A quieter cultural presence, suited to smaller performances and everyday life rather than large-scale activation.

  • Richmond Circus

    Materials reclaimed from the old rail yards, and details of the original 1885 station, are built back into the public realm along the corridor edge.

  • The Village

    The Contemporary Gallery’s artist-in-residence programme and the Design District’s fabrication labs turn making and reuse into the neighbourhood’s creative identity.

  • Cremorne Commons

    A trail of commissioned public art runs through pocket parks and back streets, discovered rather than displayed, alongside quiet evenings of acoustic music and readings.

  

• G Line will have a transformational positive impact on the efficiency and safety of visiting the MCG and Melbourne Park sporting precinct. Beyond the world-famous MCG’s annual domestic content, in an ever more competitive stadia marketplace both at home and internationally, the experience for fans, patrons and event goers will make the venues within the broader precinct a more appealing proposition. Not just for global sport and cultural content, but one that will enable promoters in turn to reinforce and elevate Melbourne’s positioning as the Sports Capital of the World.

  I’ve been surrounded by sport my entire life and have seen the powerful role it can play in strengthening communities and improving lives. This project is a rare opportunity to elevate one of the world’s premier sporting precincts, enhancing its value for both Melbourne and its people. The legacy of the G Line will extend far beyond sport, creating a more connected, vibrant, and inclusive city.

  I’m inspired by Melbourne’s creative community, and I see this project as an invitation to come with us on the journey. We’ve used a contemporary approach to everything from inception to delivery, collaboration to design.

• Common questions

  Will construction disrupt training or matchday operations?

  No. The construction program is designed so that the precinct's training grounds stay accessible and in use, and match and event days at every venue carry on as normal.

  How is capacity managed on shared event days?

  Several sporting and cultural events already run at the same time across the MCG and Melbourne Park precinct, in both winter and summer. But the biggest events are kept from landing on the same day and time, to avoid overloading today's infrastructure.

  G Line changes that. Increased capacity, including a rebuilt Richmond Station with longer platforms and a dedicated events platform, allows the precinct to be programmed without those constraints.

  Public safety remains the critical common denominator, and as it is today, will be underpinned by close consultation and extensive planning with Victoria Police.

  What does this unlock for the major venues?

  The major venues across the MCG and Melbourne Park precinct are deeply invested in the match day and events experience of their customers. Any deterrent to attending live and in person presents a deep concern and is a fundamental consideration.

  As we've seen across the AFL Finals Series in 2026, and the incredible success of the NFL extravaganza, there is nothing quite like being there to witness the theatre and unscripted drama of live events.

  G Line will deliver a transformational improvement in the match day and event experience for the fans and patrons who travel to and attend events at the venues across the broader precinct, through a safer, more efficient commuter journey.

  How is the supporter experience improved?

  Today, a day at the venues is largely a single stop: you arrive, watch the event and head home.

  G Line turns that into a multi-stop, exploratory experience. Arrive early and wander the laneways, have a beer at the brewery, catch the view from a rooftop bar, browse the Swan St Market, visit the Sports Museum or join a heritage tour from the Legends Forecourt, and stay on after the final siren.

  The event is still the main act, but the whole day around it becomes part of the outing.

  What recreation facilities are open to everyone?

  The precinct already has a range of recreation facilities open to the public, both informally and formally.

  At Melbourne Park, tennis courts can be booked. At Gosch's Paddock, you can simply walk onto the grass pitches for a kick about, except when Storm, Victory, the Demons and the Pies are training, or jump on the running track around the old Olympic Park Oval.

  G Line keeps this access in place. The tennis courts on Olympic Boulevard relocate to the north-west end of the precinct, closer to the junction of Spring and Flinders Streets, and G Line adds to the suite around them: a community oval and pavilion on the Front Lawn, children's play and nature play areas, open lawns for yoga, boot camps and running groups, picnics, a dog off-leash green, new youth activation spaces, and a starting point for running and cycling clubs. Public heated pools, saunas, hydrotherapy and natural swimming are also proposed.

  What’s the balance between elite and grassroots sport?

  This is a professional sports and events precinct, built around the venues and the clubs, codes and promoters that bring content to it. G Line embraces that, and adds to it for the public.

  New public sports amenities include courts, sports medicine and recovery facilities, and walking, jogging and cycling routes. And the benefits go beyond playing: there's real public value in watching sport, from seeing the teams train to visiting the Sports Museum to being in the crowd on the day.