Dharruk () is a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, in the state of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It is located 46 kilometres 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 ...

, in the

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 federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

of the

City of Blacktown Blacktown City Council is a Local government in Australia, local government area in Western Sydney, situated on the Cumberland Plain, approximately west of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Esta ...

and is part of the

Greater Western Sydney Greater Western Sydney (GWS) is a large region of the metropolitan area of Greater Sydney, New South Wales (NSW), Australia that generally embraces the north-west, south-west, central-west, far western and the Blue Mountains sub-regions with ...

region. Dharruk is chiefly a residential suburb with almost no industry or commercial activity. The only other significant activity is education, with the Mount Druitt campus of Chifley College and Dawson Public School located in the suburb. The boundaries of Dharruk are defined by Carlisle Avenue to the east, Popondetta Road to the west, Jersey Road to the north and Woodstock Avenue to the south.

History

Dharruk is derived from the name of the

Darug people The Dharug or Darug people, are a nation of Aboriginal Australian clans, who share ties of kinship, country and culture. In pre-colonial times, they lived as hunters in the region of current day Sydney. The Darug speak one of two dialects o ...

, an Aboriginal tribe associated with the area west of Sydney.

Population

According to the of Population, there were 2,806 people in Dharruk. * Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 6.6% of the population. * 56.2% of people were born in Australia. The next most common country of birth was Fiji at 3.2%. * 54.5% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Arabic 7.9% and Hindi 3.2%. * The most common responses for religion were Catholic 24.1%, No Religion 20.3%, Islam 13.4% and Anglican 8.4%.

Housing

Housing in Dharruk is almost entirely low density in nature and is a mixture of private residential development and former NSW Housing Commission estate; most homes in the suburb were built between the late 1960s and the mid-1970s. The Housing Commission properties were erected in the north eastern portion of the suburb (in the vicinity of Dawson Public School); however, the majority of housing in Dharruk consists of slightly newer homes built by private residential development companies in the 1970s. As elsewhere in NSW, many of the former Housing Commission properties have been transferred to private ownership. The 2016 Australian census indicated that 30% of occupied private dwellings in Dharruk were rented while approximately 65% were owned outright or in conjunction with a mortgage.

Commercial area

The West Tradies Club is the main commercial facility in Dharruk.https://westtradies.com.au/about-us/ There are otherwise limited commercial and retail outlets within the area, although the adjacent suburbs of Emerton, Plumpton, and

Mount Druitt Mount Druitt is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Blacktown, and is part of the Greater Western Sydney regio ...

offer access to a wide range of supermarkets, banks, and department stores.

Schools

Chifley College's Mount Druitt campus is located within Dharruk. Formerly Mount Druitt High School (established 1969), it is named for

Ben Chifley Joseph Benedict Chifley (; 22 September 1885 – 13 June 1951) was an Australian politician and train driver who served as the 16th prime minister of Australia from 1945 to 1949. He held office as the leader of the Labor Party (ALP), and was n ...

, Australian

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister is the chair of the Cabinet of Australia and thus the head of the Australian Government, federal executive government. Under the pr ...

from 1945 to 1949. Nearby is Dawson Public School (established 1972).

References

* ''The Book of Sydney Suburbs'', Compiled by Frances Pollen, Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1990, Published in Australia {{Sydney Blacktown suburbs Suburbs of Sydney City of Blacktown