Moe, Victoria

Moe
Streetscape in central Moe
Moe
Coordinates: 38°10′20″S 146°16′04″E / 38.17222°S 146.26778°E / -38.17222; 146.26778
CountryAustralia
StateVictoria
LGAs
Location
Government
 • State electorates
 • Federal division
Area
(2011 urban)
 • Total
105.3 km2 (40.7 sq mi)
Population
 • Total9,375 (2021 census)
 • Density89.03/km2 (230.59/sq mi)
Postcode
3825
CountyBuln Buln

Moe (/ˈmi/ MOH-ee) is a town in the Latrobe Valley in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. It is approximately 130 kilometres (80 miles) east of the central business district of Melbourne, 45 kilometres (30 miles) due south of the peak of Mount Baw Baw in the Great Dividing Range and features views of the Baw Baw Ranges to the north and Strzelecki Ranges to the south.

At June 2018, Moe had an estimated urban population of 16,812 (including Newborough). The population has been slowly shrinking with an average annual rate of –0.1% year-on-year for the five years to 2018. It is administered by the Latrobe City Council. Moe was originally known as The Mowie, then Little Moi. The town's name is believed to derive from a Kurnai (local Indigenous) word "moia" or "mouay" meaning "swamp".

Moe is a navigation point and stopover for tourists en route to Erica, the historic goldfields township of Walhalla, the Walhalla Goldfields Railway and Mount Baw Baw. Lake Narracan is nearby, and Moe is home to the annual Moe Cup horse races, the Moe Jazz Festival and the recreated historic settlement Old Gippstown. The city has locally produced Aboriginal/Koori art and is regularly home to local Australian Football and Netball Finals in the Gippsland Football & Netball Leagues and the Mid Gippsland Football League. The region is represented by Gippsland Power in the TAC Cup competition.