Elaine is a town in Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

, Australia, located on the Midland Highway between Ballarat

Ballarat, Victoria

Ballarat is a city in the state of Victoria, Australia, approximately west-north-west of the state capital Melbourne situated on the lower plains of the Great Dividing Range and the Yarrowee River catchment. It is the largest inland centre and third most populous city in the state and the fifth...

 and Geelong

Geelong, Victoria

Geelong is a port city located on Corio Bay and the Barwon River, in the state of Victoria, Australia, south-west of the state capital; Melbourne. It is the second most populated city in Victoria and the fifth most populated non-capital city in Australia...

. At the 2006 census

Census in Australia

The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...

, Elaine and the surrounding area had a population of 677.

The railway came to the town with the opening of the Geelong-Ballarat line in 1862, with the local railway station opened soon after, but today only grain and freight trains use the line.
The Post Office opened on 1 March 1859 as Mount Doran and was renamed Elaine in 1872. Elaine Railway Station Post Office, some distance away, opened on 14 April 1873. In 1877 the latter office was renamed Elaine, and Elaine reverted to the earlier name of Mount Doran.

Elaine is home to a Serbian Orthodox monastery with five monks and two nuns.