Western Sydney

Greater Western Sydney (GWS) is a large and dynamic region, characterised by strong urban growth, a young population, diverse community, strong economy, advanced infrastructure and an environment of contrasts and change.

GWS has a current population of about 1.87 million people, which is 43% of the Sydney metropolitan total, and is home to just over 1 in 11 Australians.

The region has experienced strong growth over the past four decades and this trend is set to continue with the population forecast to reach 2.5 million by 2031.

The greater part of this growth will be in the new North West and South West Growth Centres and developing regional centres.

One third of the GWS population has migrated to Australia and half of the world’s nations are represented among its residents. In Fairfield Local Government Area (LGA) alone, over 70 different languages are spoken.

The largest urban communities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people live in the region, primarily in the Blacktown, Campbelltown and Penrith LGAs.

Western Sydney is where many young people are choosing to begin their families with the population younger on average than for Sydney generally. More than 1 in 3 people (37.4%) are aged 24 years and under.

The community shows characteristics across the social spectrum including areas of prosperity, enterprise and innovation along with areas of disadvantage.

GWS comprises 14 LGAs. These include Auburn, Bankstown, Baulkham Hills, Blacktown, Blue Mountains, Camden, Campbelltown, Fairfield, Hawkesbury, Holroyd, Liverpool, Parramatta, Penrith and Wollondilly.

All of these locations have individual characteristics while sharing pressures to accommodate population increase, urban growth and rural change.

Profiles for each LGA are below

LGA Profiles of Western Sydney