Diggers Rest lies on the Old Calder Highway 33kms north west of Melbourne and is easily accessible by the newly extended Metro rail line to the Melbourne CBD and the Calder Freeway. The town began life as a stopping place on the road to the Bendigo goldfields and grew in the 1870s and 1880s becoming a postal village with a general store, post office, weigh bridge, mechanics' institute and a chaff mill.

The town now has a general store with a Post Office, a primary school and a CFA fire station, along with three large recreation reserves. Sporting groups in Diggers Rest include Diggers Rest Football Club who play in the Riddell District Football League.

Diggers Rest Primary School was first opened in 1882 and moved to its present site in 1990 and features excellent facilities including air conditioned and heated classrooms with computer and Internet accessible to all grades, modern sports and playground equipment and landscaped grounds. The primary school is an integral part of the wider community and hosts annual events such as the Community Carols, Billy Cart Derby and Grandparents’ Day.

Other facilities in the Diggers Rest area include the Holden Flora and Fauna Reserve, Animal Land Children's Farm, there is also a Scout Group containing Cub Scouts and Scouts.

Diggers Rest is currently experiencing significant growth with the opening up of 2 new estates St Genevieve and Bloomfield.