The division was created in 1949 and is named after Joseph Gellibrand, a pioneer settler of the Melbourne area.

It is located in the industrial inner western suburbs of Melbourne and includes Altona, Altona North, Altona Meadows, Kingsville, Laverton, Newport, Seabrook, Seaholme, Seddon, South Kingsville, Spotswood, Williamstown, Williamstown North and Yarraville; and parts of Brooklyn, Footscray, Laverton North, Point Cook, West Footscray and Williams Landing.

Labor has never tallied less than 60 percent of the two-party vote, and until 2010 always won an outright majority on first preferences alone.

In recent years there has been considerable gentrification in the inner-city suburbs such as Footscray, Williamstown and Yarraville, and a consequent rise in the progressive Greens vote, which rose to 37 percent in Footscray in the 2013 election.

In the west, a solid patch of working-class suburbia remain strongly Labor-leaning.