It is a semi-urban electorate extending from the outer south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne to the westernmost areas of Gippsland.

It fully incorporates the suburbs of Beaconsfield, Officer and Pakenham, the majority of Clyde North and Harkaway, and eastern portions of Berwick.

The division also covers towns beyond the metropolitan area such as Beaconsfield Upper, Bunyip, Cockatoo, Emerald, Garfield, Gembrook, Koo Wee Rup, Lang Lang, Nar Nar Goon and Pakenham Upper.

It originally included the suburbs of Croydon, Dandenong, Ferntree Gully and Ringwood.

In 1961, the division was the subject of a book, Parties and People: A Survey Based on the La Trobe Electorate, by Creighton Burns.