[1] It is a small suburb, approximately 1 km from north to south and 800 metres east to west at its widest point.

Glen Huntly is named after a ship, the Glen Huntly, that arrived in Port Phillip in April 1840, after setting off from Greenock, Scotland carrying 157 new immigrants, skilled manual labourers who were heading for the new colony settled in Melbourne.

Fever, most likely typhoid, struck the ship mid journey and 10 died before reaching Port Phillip Bay.

The Glen Huntly was forced to land at Little Red Bluff (now Point Ormond) where Victoria's first quarantine station, consisting of tents, was set up to deal with the crisis.

38.2% of people living in Glen Huntly were born in Australia and then the next most common countries of birth were India 20.0%, China 9.3%, South Africa 2.3%, England 2.0% and Ukraine 1.4.