Fairfield is a
western suburb of
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
, in the state of
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
, Australia. Being in the centre of the
Cumberland Plain, Fairfield is located west of the
Sydney central business district
The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main Central business district, commercial centre of Sydney. The CBD is Sydney's city centre, or Sydney City, and the two terms are used interchangeably. Colloquially, the CBD or c ...
and is the administrative heart of the
Fairfield City Council
The Fairfield City Council is a local government area in the west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The council was first incorporated as the "Municipal District of Smithfield and Fairfield" on 8 December 1888, and the cou ...
(
local government area
A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...
) – despite a very small portion of it belonging to the
Cumberland Council
Cumberland Council is the local authority for Cumberland in England. It is a unitary authority, the structural change order names the new Cumberland Council as only a district council. It will operate as a shadow authority until taking up its pow ...
. Fairfield supports a mixture of commercial and residential developments, mostly characterised by medium-density buildings and some new
high-rise apartments.
Fairfield is one of the most
multicultural and culturally diverse cities in Australia, with more than half of the residents having been born overseas, mostly in non-English speaking countries. The majority of the suburb's dwellers speak a language other than English at home, with the two most common ones being
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
and
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic
Suret ( syr, ܣܘܪܝܬ) ( su:rɪtʰor su:rɪθ, also known as Assyrian or Chaldean, refers to the varieties of Northeastern Neo-Aramaic (NENA) spoken by ethnic Assyrians, including those identifying as religious groups rather than eth ...
.
Fairfield is an
ethnic enclave
In sociology, an ethnic enclave is a geographic area with high ethnic concentration, characteristic cultural identity, and economic activity. The term is usually used to refer to either a residential area or a workspace with a high concentration ...
of
Assyrian Christians (mostly from Iraq, and more recently Syria) and other
Iraqis
Iraqis ( ar, العراقيون, ku, گهلی عیراق, gelê Iraqê) are people who originate from the country of Iraq. Iraq consists largely of most of ancient Mesopotamia, the native land of the indigenous Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, ...
of various religious and ethnic origins. Fairfield also is home to a large Latin American presence.
History
For more than 30,000 years,
Aboriginal
Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to:
*Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology
* Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area
*One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...
people from the Cabrogal-
Gandangara tribe have lived in the Fairfield area.
European settlement, 1780s–1810s
The earliest recorded
white settlement in the Fairfield district is described in
William Bradley's Journal where he noted an expedition from
Rose Hill to
Prospect Creek to determine whether Prospect Creek led to
Botany Bay
Botany Bay (Dharawal: ''Kamay''), an open oceanic embayment, is located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point and the Cook ...
. Bradley described a place on the Creek where the water changed from fresh to salt with a drop of . The presence of
salt water
Saline water (more commonly known as salt water) is water that contains a high concentration of dissolved salts (mainly sodium chloride). On the United States Geological Survey (USGS) salinity scale, saline water is saltier than brackish water, ...
confirmed Prospect Creek's connection to the sea. Breton Gabriel Louis Marie Huon de Kerrileau, a
soldier
A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer.
Etymology
The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...
in the NSW Corps arrived in the colony in 1794, having fled
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
during the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
. In 1807 he received a grant of in the centre of Fairfield, which he named ''Castel Paul''. This was an Englished form of the town in which he was born in Brittany, Kastell-Paol, Saint-Pol-de-Léon in French. By 1814 ''Castel Paul'' had been combined, by subsequent owners, with several similarly sized grants to form a largely uncleared estate.
Early development, 1820s–1920s
The free settler John Horsley purchased the estate in that year and named it ''Mark Lodge'', after family properties in
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. Horsley, a Magistrate and Coroner at Liverpool (1825-1834), and his large family were among the pioneers of
white
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
settlement in the Fairfield District. Later, a Colonial
Treasurer
A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance.
Government
The treasury o ...
, Thomas Ware Smart (1810–1881) bought the estate and in the 1860s built the mansion, 'Fairfield House'.
Fairfield railway station was opened in 1856 and has the oldest surviving railway building in New South Wales. Development began in the mid 19th century supported by
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
construction in 1856. The railway aided with the enlargement of local industries including timber, fruit development and agricultural produce. Around the start of the 20th century the area had a population of 2,500 people and with fertile soils, produced
crops
A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. When the plants of the same kind are cultivated at one place on a large scale, it is called a crop. Most crops are cultivated in agriculture or hydroponics ...
for distribution in Sydney. Electricity was connected in 1921.
Post-war period, 1940s–1980s
Rapid population increase after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
saw the settlement of many ex-service men and European migrants, with Ware Street becoming the new main street, which featured the city's only escalator. The street at that time featured prominent
hardware,
furniture
Furniture refers to movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (tables), storing items, eating and/or working with an item, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Fu ...
,
menswear and
homeware Home accessories are furniture items which are easy to replace and easy to move, and include almost any items that are not strictly functionally necessary in a decorated space. These accessories include such items as curtains, sofa sets, cushions, t ...
stores, including a
Bing Lee
Bing Lee is an Australian retailing company, a chain of superstores specialising in consumer electronics, computer and telecommunication goods. Bing Lee is the largest privately held electrical retail business in New South Wales with 41 stor ...
. Large scale
Housing Commission development in the 1950s swelled the population to 38,000. The Civic Centre was established in the 1960s in Spencer Street and featured many businesses, including the nearby Civic Hotel.
Fairfield Hospital was opened in September 1956 on
The Horsley Drive, but was relocated to
Prairiewood in 1988.
By 1979, the population had reached 120,000 and the city was becoming one of the larger
Local Government Areas in New South Wales. In the early 1980s, Fairfield Forum was opened and Ware Street was shut for traffic, with a
pedestrian zone established in its stead with a
water fountain imported from Italy being the ornament of the civic area. However, the pedestrian
plaza was deemed unsuccessful, despite the annual street
parade
A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...
s occurring there, and thus Ware Street once again was open to traffic.
Rapid growth, 1980s–present
During the mid to late 1980s
war between Iraq and Iran, large number of Assyrians fled
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
and settled in Fairfield, making it the most popular settlement for
Assyrians. In 1990, Neeta City was opened due to the rapid growth of Fairfield's commercial centre. An
amphitheatre
An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...
situated in Spencer Street with
chess board
A chessboard is a used to play chess. It consists of 64 squares, 8 rows by 8 columns, on which the chess pieces are placed. It is square in shape and uses two colours of squares, one light and one dark, in a chequered pattern. During play, the b ...
was closed in the early 2000s with the street reopening to traffic. In the mid-2000s, Fairfield's first high rise apartment building (around 9 to 11 storeys) was constructed, with a number of other high rise buildings which were built consequentially throughout the city centre.
In 2015, the
Abbott government granted 12,000 extra humanitarian visas to
persecuted groups in the war-torn Middle Eastern countries,
namely Syria. The Department of Social Services confirmed that 11,400 Iraqi and Syrian refugees (many of whom being Assyrian) were admitted to Australia as part of its one-off humanitarian intake, with half of them primarily settling in Fairfield and also Liverpool. Fairfield City
accommodated 3,000 humanitarian arrivals in 2016, taking in 75% of all western Sydney's refugee intake, with
Liverpool City Council
Liverpool City Council is the governing body for the city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. It consists of 90 councillors, three for each of the city's 30 wards.
The council is currently controlled by the Labour Party and is led by Mayor ...
second at 14%.
Fairfield City Centre today features a concoction of retail, commercial and residential developments, including medium density edifices and medium to high-rise shop-top housing developments.
In July 2021, Fairfield was one of the "suburbs of concern" and became a hotspot due to rising
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
cases in the region that resulted in a strict
lockdown in the area, transforming the CBD into a
ghost town
Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to:
* Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned
Film and television
* Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser
* Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...
, with heavy
police patrol compliance checks. Fines were issued for those who didn't comply with the state public health order. Workers from Fairfield were ordered to
stay at home by NSW premier
Gladys Berejiklian
Gladys Berejiklian (born 22 September 1970) is an Australian former politician who served as the 45th premier of New South Wales and the leader of the New South Wales division of the Liberal Party from 2017 to 2021.
Berejiklian became a member ...
unless they had leave the house for emergency reasons or that they had produced a negative
COVID-19 test.
Commercial area
![Fairfield Thomas Ware Plaza](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/Fairfield_Thomas_Ware_Plaza.JPG)
Fairfield consists of a combination of main street
retail
Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and t ...
centred in Smart and Ware Streets, arcade and larger shopping centres, with a variety of activities including retail, café/restaurant/take away foods, supermarkets (with some displayed in a
bazaar
A bazaar () or souk (; also transliterated as souq) is a marketplace consisting of multiple small Market stall, stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, North Africa and India. However, temporary open markets elsewhere, suc ...
-style environment), personal services and commercial uses. Although most of these commercial precincts are not a leading part of Fairfield's
night time attribute at present, wedding receptions, however, do prevail night activity on the weekends. A couple of shop fronts along The Crescent are in the
Federation
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...
and
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
style, which date from the late 1890s to 1920s, respectively, reflecting its former role as an early main street. The CBD is surrounded by a halo of three-storey residential
flat
Flat or flats may refer to:
Architecture
* Flat (housing), an apartment in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and other Commonwealth countries
Arts and entertainment
* Flat (music), a symbol () which denotes a lower pitch
* Flat (soldier), ...
s, which are beneficial for pedestrian activity to the City Centre. The community holds public gathering and interaction in a high regard, which is manifested by the CBD's active shopping streets and daily social assemblage for playing chess on Kenyon Street.
Fairfield has three
shopping malls which were established between the 1980s and early 1990s. The two largest are the ''Fairfield Forum'' and ''Neeta City'' (later renamed to ''Fairfield City Central'') and the smaller ''Fairfield Chase''. Forum contains
Kmart,
Aldi
Aldi (stylised as ALDI) is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 10,000 stores in 20 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, when t ...
and
Coles. Fairfield City Central, formerly Neeta City (name changed in late 2021), features a
Woolworths
Woolworth, Woolworth's, or Woolworths may refer to:
Businesses
* F. W. Woolworth Company, the original US-based chain of "five and dime" (5¢ and 10¢) stores
* Woolworths Group (United Kingdom), former operator of the Woolworths chain of shops ...
supermarket. The ''Fairfield Chase Commercial Tower'' was Fairfield's first high-rise structure. It has a lower level of commercial shops, a medical centre & food outlets open to the public while the higher levels function as private
office building
An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific dut ...
spaces are occupied by government agencies such as
Legal Aid NSW, the
NSW Service for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors and private companies such as a child care centre and
employment agencies. Fairfield doesn't feature a formal ‘
City Square’, though ''The Crescent Plaza'', opened to the public in December 2016, and ''Thomas Ware Plaza'' in Nelson Street, provide a similar sense of fashion to a City Square. The Crescent, Nelson, Ware and Nelson Streets are ornamented by a number of
London planetree
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...
s.
Culture
![Fairfieldavenue](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Fairfieldavenue.png)
A cinema at Fairfield Forum was opened as '
Hoyts Forum Twin' on 17 March 1983 with around 400 seating. In 1992, the complex was renamed Fairfield Cinema, with a third screen installed in 1996. In 2006, it was reestablished as the
World Cinemas (primarily exhibiting
Bollywood
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...
films). The cinema was altogether closed in 2010 and its site became a fitness/
gym centre.
Fairfield's large
Iraqi and
Assyrian
Assyrian may refer to:
* Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia.
* Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire.
** Early Assyrian Period
** Old Assyrian Period
** Middle Assyrian Empire
** Neo-Assyrian Empire
* Assyrian ...
community has had the media describe the suburb as 'Little Iraq' or 'Little
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
'. More Iraqi businesses have opened in Fairfield, mostly around Ware Street. These businesses include everything from
jewellery
Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry (U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a wester ...
shops to restaurants, making the area favourite entertainment and shopping hotspot for the Iraqi and Assyrian community. Fairfield's culturally diverse population is reflected in multicultural local businesses such as over twenty different types of cafés and restaurants that include
Assyrian
Assyrian may refer to:
* Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia.
* Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire.
** Early Assyrian Period
** Old Assyrian Period
** Middle Assyrian Empire
** Neo-Assyrian Empire
* Assyrian ...
,
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
i,
Italian,
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
,
Lebanese,
Vietnamese,
South American and
Thai
Thai or THAI may refer to:
* Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia
** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand
** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand
*** Thai script
*** Thai (Unicode block ...
cuisine.
Sydney's Iraqi community congregated in Fairfield to celebrate Iraq qualifying for the Asian Football Cup finals in 2007. More than 7000 people joined in street celebrations around Fairfield on Sunday 29 July 2007 after Iraq won the
Asian Cup
The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second oldest cont ...
finals.
There is a 1,000 sqm public
library
A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...
in Hamilton Road, which was previously located in Kenyon Street. Fairfield has a few Assyrian churches,
sporting clubs, cultural associations and health groups.
Heritage
![Fairfield School of Arts](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Fairfield_School_of_Arts.JPG)
The ''School of Arts Building'', established in the late 19th century, is a social and historical significance and is an example of
Victorian
Victorian or Victorians may refer to:
19th century
* Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign
** Victorian architecture
** Victorian house
** Victorian decorative arts
** Victorian fashion
** Victorian literature ...
and
Federation period styles which are uncommon
in the suburb. The ''
Uniting Church
The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) was founded on 22 June 1977, when most congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost all the churches of the Congregational Union ...
'' is made up of two churches – One of which was built in 1894 and the other in 1927. The first fire brigade built in the city, the
Fire Station in William Street, is a
free classical style building and is also a historical significance. A federation
weatherboard cottage
A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a Cotter (farmer), cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager ...
located in Lawson Street was established in around 1910.
Made up of two red
brick
A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...
entrance pillars, Honour Avenue was built in honor of the Fairfield residents who served in the
World Wars and it includes the names of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
personnel. Its connecting metal arch exhibits the words: '1939 Honour Avenue 1945'. The
avenue
Avenue or Avenues may refer to:
Roads
* Avenue (landscape), traditionally a straight path or road with a line of trees, in the shifted sense a tree line itself, or some of boulevards (also without trees)
* Avenue Road, Bangalore
* Avenue Road, ...
therein contains large
brush box
''Lophostemon confertus'' (syn. ''Tristania conferta''), is an evergreen tree native to Australia, though it is cultivated in the United States and elsewhere. Common names include brush box, Queensland box, Brisbane box, pink box, box scrub, and ...
es on both sides and public seating.
Fairfield has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
* Great Southern railway:
Fairfield railway station, Sydney
Fairfield railway station is a heritage-listed railway station located on the Old Main South line, serving the Sydney suburb of Fairfield. It is served by Sydney Trains T2 Inner West & Leppington and T5 Cumberland line services. It was desig ...
, the oldest Railway Station in New South Wales and one of the oldest groups of buildings in Fairfield City, which are Mid-
Victorian
Victorian or Victorians may refer to:
19th century
* Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign
** Victorian architecture
** Victorian house
** Victorian decorative arts
** Victorian fashion
** Victorian literature ...
,
Georgian Style
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British monarchs of the House of Hano ...
public buildings dating back to 1856.
Media
Fairfield has two local
newspapers
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports ...
, The ''Fairfield Advance'' and the ''Fairfield Champion'', which are issued every Wednesday.
Transport
Fairfield railway station is on the
Inner West & Leppington and
Cumberland
Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...
lines of the
Sydney Trains network. Trains run frequently from Fairfield to
Leppington
Leppington is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Leppington is located 38 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government areas of the City of Liverpool and Camden Counci ...
,
Parramatta and the
City Circle. Fairfield also has a major bus interchange adjacent to the railway station. For details of bus services from the interchange see
Fairfield railway station.
The Horsley Drive is a prominent road in Fairfield, with a high amount of traffic, and acts as a pivotal entrance to the city from the north and southeast. Hamilton Road to the southwest is another.
Schools
Public schools
Public school may refer to:
*State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government
*Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England and ...
in Fairfield include
Fairfield High School and Fairfield Public School.
Private School
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
s include
Patrician Brothers' College and Our Lady of the Rosary Primary School, which are both
catholic school
Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syste ...
s. Patrician Brothers' Primary School was also previously located in Fairfield but closed in 2006.
Geography
Much of the original
bushland
In Australia, bushland is a blanket term for land which supports remnant vegetation or land which is disturbed but still retains a predominance of the original floristics and structure.
Human survival in bushland has a whole mythology evolving ...
cover within the city has been cleared through past
land management
Land management is the process of managing the use and development (in both urban and rural settings, but it is mostly managed in Urban places.) of land resources. Land resources are used for a variety of purposes which may include organic agricul ...
practices. A few small areas of this original bushland remain, including examples of
Cumberland Plain vegetation, which is listed under the Threatened Species Conservation Act. The
Australian white ibis are specifically present in The Crescent, opposite of the train station.
Eight
creeks, 80 kilometres in length, have their headwaters in Fairfield City and flow into the
Georges River
The Georges River, also known as Tucoerah River, is an intermediate tide-dominated drowned valley estuary, located to the south and west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
The river travels for approximately in a north and then easterly ...
and Hawkesbury Nepean catchments. The impact of development over the past 50 years has resulted in severe degradation of the
natural habitat in the creek banks and
water quality
Water quality refers to the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water based on the standards of its usage. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which compliance, generally achieved through tr ...
has been assessed as very poor in recent years. Strategies are being implemented so that this trend is being reversed.
Air quality in the city is heavily impacted upon by an insufficiently integrated public transport system, creating an over reliance upon private vehicles for moving people and freight.
Climate
Fairfield has a
humid subtropical climate
A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...
(
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
: ''Cfa''). Summer weather may come from north-east (
humid
Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present.
Humidity depen ...
) or the north west (
dry). Fairfield is usually a few degrees warmer than Sydney on summer days and a few degrees cooler on winter nights. There could be a temperature differential of 5 degrees Celsius in summer due to
sea breezes
A sea breeze or onshore breeze is any wind that blows from a large body of water toward or onto a landmass; it develops due to differences in air pressure created by the differing heat capacity, heat capacities of water and dry land. As such, ...
in the City that don't generally penetrate inland, and in extreme cases there could be a
10 degrees differential. It receives less annual rain than
Sydney CBD
The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main commercial centre of Sydney. The CBD is Sydney's city centre, or Sydney City, and the two terms are used interchangeably. Colloquially, the CBD or city centre is often refer ...
by about 400mm. Late winter and early spring receive the least rainfall, whilst late summer and autumn receive more rain.
Demographics
![Fairfield International Monument](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Fairfield_International_Monument.JPG)
According to the
2021 census, the suburb of Fairfield had a population of 18,596 people, the majority of whom (67.3%) were born outside of Australia.
;Country of birth:
The largest groups were born in
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
(22.6%),
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
(9.8%),
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
(8.3%),
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
(2.7%) and
Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...
(2.1%).
;Languages:
Only 16.0% of people spoke English as their only home language. The most common language spoken other than English is
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
at 16.7% (mostly
Iraqi Arabic
Mesopotamian Arabic, ( ar, لهجة بلاد ما بين النهرين) also known as Iraqi Arabic ( ar, اللهجة العراقية), or Gilit Mesopotamian Arabic (as opposed to North Mesopotamian Arabic, Qeltu Mesopotamian Arabic) is a contin ...
and
Syrian Arabic),
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic
Suret ( syr, ܣܘܪܝܬ) ( su:rɪtʰor su:rɪθ, also known as Assyrian or Chaldean, refers to the varieties of Northeastern Neo-Aramaic (NENA) spoken by ethnic Assyrians, including those identifying as religious groups rather than eth ...
at 15.2%,
Vietnamese at 12.0%,
Chaldean Neo-Aramaic
Suret ( syr, ܣܘܪܝܬ) ( su:rɪtʰor su:rɪθ, also known as Assyrian or Chaldean, refers to the varieties of Northeastern Neo-Aramaic (NENA) spoken by ethnic Assyrians, including those identifying as religious groups rather than eth ...
at 5.9% and
Mandarin
Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to:
Language
* Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country
** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China
** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
at 3.0%. If the Assyrian and Chaldean
varieties were combined, then
Neo-Aramaic
The Neo-Aramaic or Modern Aramaic languages are varieties of Aramaic that evolved during the late medieval and early modern periods, and continue to the present day as vernacular (spoken) languages of modern Aramaic-speaking communities. Within ...
will be the most common language at 21.1%.
;Ethnicity:
The most common ethnic groups were
Assyrian
Assyrian may refer to:
* Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia.
* Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire.
** Early Assyrian Period
** Old Assyrian Period
** Middle Assyrian Empire
** Neo-Assyrian Empire
* Assyrian ...
(15.5%),
Vietnamese (11.2%),
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
(10.2%),
Iraqi (10.1%) and
Australian (6.9%).
;Religion:
The top responses for religious affiliation were
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
(31.1%),
No Religion (11.8%),
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
(11.7%), and
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
(8.5%). Christianity was the largest religious group reported overall (61.8%).
;Families:
47.2% were couple
families
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideall ...
with children, 24.9% were couple families without children and 24.6% were
one parent families
Gingerbread says it is the leading British charity working with single parent families. The National Council for the Unmarried Mother and her Child, founded in 1918, changed its name to the National Council for One Parent Families in the early 1970 ...
. Of people over 15 years, 45.5% were
married and 13.3% were either
divorced
Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...
or separated. Of all households, 74.4% were family households, 23.1% were single person households and 2.4% were group households.
;Dwellings and occupation:
Of occupied private
dwellings
In law, a dwelling (also known as a residence or an abode) is a self-contained unit of accommodation used by one or more households as a home - such as a house, apartment, mobile home, houseboat, vehicle, or other "substantial" structure. The ...
in Fairfield, 40.0% were separate houses, 13.4% were semi-detached or
townhouses and 46.0% were
apartments. 21.0% of the dwellings were owned and 57.5% were rented.
Politics
Sports and recreation
![Honouravenue](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Honouravenue.jpg)
''Fairfield Adventure Park'', a large playground for older children and teens, was opened in April 2015. Nearby is the ''Fairfield Youth and Community Centre'' and the ''Fairfield Leisure Centre'', an
aquatic centre. These facilities are all situated in
Fairfield Park Precinct
Fairfield Park Precinct, or Fairfield Park, is an urban park situated in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Situated to the south of Fairfield CBD, the park contains an open grassland, bushland, picnic spots, playground ...
, a large
urban park
An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to resi ...
and
sports ground.
Prospect Creek winds through it.
[http://www.fairfieldcityleisurecentres.com.au/fairfield-leisure-centre/ Fairfield Leisure Center]
Fairfield is also the home suburb of the
Fairfield Bulls and
Fenix FCS football clubs.
''The Crescent Park'' is adjacent to the station, which features public seating surrounded by native and exotic plants. Another green space in the city is the ''David Carty Reserve'', which is a small, round islet, surrounded by Fairfield Street and The Horsley Drive, that features a number of prominent
Hill's weeping fig
''Ficus microcarpa'', also known as Chinese banyan, Malayan banyan, Indian laurel, curtain fig, or , is a tree in the fig family Moraceae. It is native in a range from China through tropical Asia and the Caroline Islands to Australia. It is wide ...
s, and
camphor trees – which are
introduced evergreen
In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...
s native to
East Asia
East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...
.
Notable people
*
Mark Bosnich, Australian
Socceroos
The Australia men's national soccer team represents Australia in international men's soccer. Officially nicknamed the Socceroos, the team is controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is affiliated with ...
player
*
Mitchell Claydon
Mitchell Eric Claydon (born 25 November 1982) is an Australian-English former first-class cricketer. Although he was born at Fairfield, New South Wales he holds a British passport. Claydon is a left-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-fast bow ...
, Australian-English cricketer
*
Jelena Dokić, Australian
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
player
*
Jon English
Jonathan James English (26 March 1949 – 9 March 2016) was an English-born Australian singer, songwriter, musician and actor. He emigrated from England to Australia with his parents in 1961. He was an early vocalist and rhythm guitarist for S ...
, singer, songwriter, musician and actor
*
Blake Green, Australian rugby league player
*
Glenn Grief
Glenn Grief (born 15 August 1973) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. A City New South Wales representative forward, he played in the NRL for the Western Suburbs Magpies, Newcastle Kn ...
, Australian rugby league player
*
Les Hill
Les Hill (born 1 August 1973) is an Australian actor who has appeared in many Australian television productions including '' Rescue: Special Ops,'' ''Home and Away'' and ''Underbelly.''
Early life
Hill was born in the Royal Hospital for Women ...
, Australian actor
*
Justice Crew
Justice Crew is an Australian dance and music group consisting of John and Len Pearce, Lukas Bellesini, Paul Merciadez, Samson Smith, and Solo Tohi. Although the group is Australian, members Samson and Solo are from New Zealand. The group origin ...
, winners of
Australia's Got Talent
''Australia's Got Talent'' is an Australian reality television talent show. The show is based on the ''Got Talent'' series format that originated in the United Kingdom with Simon Cowell.
The first six seasons aired on the Seven Network, from 2 ...
in 2010
*
Harry Kewell
Harry Kewell (born 22 September 1978) is an Australian association football coach, manager and former player. His most recent role as a club manager was at English National League side Barnet, and he is currently a first team coach at Celtic F.C ...
, Australian Socceroos player
*
David Klemmer, Australian rugby league player
*
Bing Lee
Bing Lee is an Australian retailing company, a chain of superstores specialising in consumer electronics, computer and telecommunication goods. Bing Lee is the largest privately held electrical retail business in New South Wales with 41 stor ...
, Founder of the Bing Lee enterprise
*
Michael Masi,
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
race director
*
Bill Summerell, Australian rugby league player
*
Donnie Sutherland
Donald Sutherland OAM (born 22 December 1946) is an Australian radio and television presenter. He was the host of TV pop music show ''Sounds'' between 1975 and 1987. Sutherland has also worked as a TV producer and music journalist, and is asso ...
, Journalist and television host
*
Maria Tran
Maria Tran (Vietnamese: Maria Trần) (born 30 January 1985) is an Australian actress, martial artist, producer, and director based in Las Vegas, Nevada. She is known for developing the martial arts action film genre in Australia via the Asian ...
, filmmaker, Artist-in-residence Powerhouse Youth Theatre 2018
*
Kyle White, Australian rugby league player
*
Gough Whitlam
Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the he ...
, 21st
Prime Minister of Australia
The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the Australian Government, federal government of Australia and is also accountable to Parliament of A ...
(1972 to 1975)
*
Ruben Zadkovich
Ruben Anton Zadkovich ( hr, Zadković, ; born 23 May 1986) is a former Australian professional football (soccer) player, and manager of Perth Glory. He played for 6 clubs in a career that spanned between England and Australia, notably becoming a ...
,
Newcastle Jets and Australian Socceroos player
See also
*
Fairfield Hospital (Sydney)
The Fairfield Hospital is a district hospital located in Prairiewood, a western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located in the City of Fairfield, it has about 200 beds and provides general medical, physiotherapy, general surgical, ...
References
External links
Fairfield City Council Official Site2001 Census Information
Fairfield Advance Local NewspaperFairfield Champion Newspaper
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fairfield, New South Wales
Suburbs of Sydney
Populated places established in 1807
Cumberland Council, New South Wales
City of Fairfield