Embleton 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 ...

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, the capital city of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, located north-east of the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

, between the suburbs of Morley and

Bayswater Bayswater is an area in the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...

. Its

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 ...

is the

City of Bayswater The City of Bayswater is a local government area in the Western Australian capital city of Perth, about northeast of Perth's central business district. The city covers an area of and had a population of 69,283 as at the 2021 Census. The Cit ...

History

Before European colonisation

Prior to European settlement, the area was inhabited by the

Mooro The Mooro are a Nyungar Aboriginal clan, a subgroup of the Whadjuk. Their territory stretches from the Swan River in Perth north to the Moore River beyond the northern limits of metropolitan Perth and east to Ellen Brook. Evidence of Aborig ...

group of the

Whadjuk Whadjuk or Wadjak, alternatively Witjari, are Noongar (Aboriginal Australian) people of the Western Australian region of the Perth bioregion of the Swan Coastal Plain. Name The ethnonym appears to derive from , the Whadjuk word for "no". Count ...

people of the

Noongar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian people who live in the South West, Western Australia, south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton, Western Aus ...

nation. The Mooro group were led by

Yellagonga Yellagonga (d. 1843) was a leader of the Whadjuk Noongar on the north side of the Swan River. Colonists saw Yellagonga as the owner of this area. However, land rights were also traced through women of the group. Yellagonga could hunt on wetla ...

, and inhabited the area north of the Swan River, as far east as

Ellen Brook Ellen Brook is an ephemeral stream which runs from south of Gingin to the Swan River in Western Australia. Overview The headwaters of Ellen Brook start south of Gingin, in the Wheatbelt region. From there, Ellen Brook travels south, gener ...

and north to

Moore River Moore River (Garban) is a river in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. Geography The headwaters of the Moore River lie in the Perenjori, Carnamah and Dalwallinu Shires. The river then drains southwards through Moora, flows westerly ...

. The Swan River provided fresh water and food, as well as being a place for trade.

European colonisation

When Europeans founded the

Swan River Colony The Swan River Colony, also known as the Swan River Settlement, or just ''Swan River'', was a British colony established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. This initial settlement place on the Swan River was soon named Perth, an ...

in 1829, they did not recognise the indigenous ownership of the land. Land along the Swan River was surveyed by

John Septimus Roe John Septimus Roe (8 May 1797 – 28 May 1878) was the first Surveyor-General of Western Australia. He was a renowned explorer, a member of Western Australia's legislative and executive councils for nearly 40 years, but also a participant in ...

, the colony's Surveyor General. The survey resulted in the land being divided into long, narrow rectangular strips extending from the river. As the river was the only method of transportation in the early years of the colony, each piece of land had to have river frontage. The long, narrow strips were called " ribbon grants", however the term "grant" was misleading, as the grantees had a requirement that they make improvements to the land granted to them within 10 years, or be forced to forfeit the land. In 1830, the colonists travelled up the river to the land allotted to them. The colonists were disappointed to discover that most of the area inland was unsuitable for European agriculture, being sand dunes interspersed with swampland. Most of these colonists either died or left the area soon after, and none of them settled in the present day Embleton, far away from the Swan River. One example of these early colonists is the family of John and Anne Whatley, their children Joan and Mary, and their servants, the Embleton family, who lived at Location T. They arrived in Fremantle in October 1829, and settled on the land in February 1830, but left soon after in September 1830 when John Whatley drowned. The servants, the Embleton family, stayed in the Swan River Colony, and their legacy lives on today as the name of the suburb Embleton.

20th century development

In the early 1970s, a site on

Broun Avenue Broun is a surname. It is the Middle English and Scots spelling of Brown. Notable people with the surname include: *Agnes Broun (1732–1820), mother of Scottish poet Robert Burns * Alex Broun (born 1965), Australian playwright and screenwriter *D ...

was chosen for an aquatic centre to be built and run by the Shire of Bayswater. Construction on the $500,000 project began in February 1972. The facility is now known as Bayswater Waves. In the early 1980s,

Tonkin Highway Tonkin Highway is an north–south highway and partial freeway in Perth, Western Australia, linking Perth Airport and Kewdale, Western Australia, Kewdale with the city's north-eastern and south-eastern suburbs. As of April 2020, the northern ...

was under construction through the suburb. The highway meant that Beechboro Road was split into Beechboro Road South and Beechboro Road North, a bridge over Tonkin Highway being built for Broun Avenue instead of Beechboro Road, with Beechboro Road South ending up on the west of Tonkin Highway and Beechboro Road North on its east. Tonkin Highway opened to traffic in 1984.

Geography

Embleton is located approximately north-east of the central business district of Perth, the capital of Western Australia, east of the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

, and covers an area of . It is surrounded by

to the south and east,

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

to the west and Morley to the north. Its border roughly follows, heading anti-clockwise, Broun Avenue, Coode Street, Beaufort Street, Drake Street, Rothbury Road. Maurice Street, Langley Road and

Beechboro Road Beechboro Road is a north–south arterial road located in the northeastern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, connecting Morley and Bayswater with areas further north. Until the construction of the nearby section of Tonkin Highway between 1 ...

. Embleton is predominantly zoned as "urban" in the

Metropolitan Region Scheme The Metropolitan Region Scheme (MRS) provides the legal basis for land use planning within the Perth metropolitan region. It classifies land into broad zones and reservations and is administered by the Western Australian Planning Commission (WAP ...

, however the area between Embleton Avenue and Tonkin Highway is zoned as "industrial". Embleton lies on the Bassendean Dunes, which formed 800,000 to 125,000 years ago during the middle

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

. The dunes form low-lying hills made of heavily leached white to grey sands, which are poor at retaining nutrients. Groundwater is generally about below the surface. The Bassendean Dunes are a part of the greater

Swan Coastal Plain The Swan Coastal Plain in Western Australia is the geographic feature which contains the Swan River as it travels west to the Indian Ocean. The coastal plain continues well beyond the boundaries of the Swan River and its tributaries, as a geol ...

Demographics

Embleton's population at the 2016

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

was 3,167. This is an increase on the 2,737 recorded at the 2011 census, 2,434 recorded at the 2006 census, and 2,404 recorded at the 2001 census. 49.6% of residents are male and 50.4% are female. The median age is 37 years, just above the Western Australian average of 36. Out of the suburb's 1,309 dwellings, 1,140 were occupied and 169 were unoccupied. Out of the occupied dwellings, 996 were detached houses, 129 were semi-detached, 3 were apartments or flats and 3 were another type. 288 were owned outright, 436 were owned with a mortgage, 379 were rented and 35 were another type or not stated. The median weekly household income was $1,542, which is close to the median weekly household income of Western Australia, which is $1,595. Major industries that residents worked in were cafes and restaurants (3.5%), hospitals (3.5%), state government administration (2.4%), other social assistance services (2.0%) and primary education (2.0%). The population of Embleton is predominantly Australian born, with 53.2% of residents born in Australia. The next-most-common birthplaces are England (5.6%), Vietnam (3.6%), Philippines (3.0%), China (2.9%) and New Zealand (2.5%). 28.4% of residents had both parent born in Australia, and 51.0% had neither parents born in Australia.

Parks and amenities

Located in Embleton is Bayswater Waves, the City of Bayswater's aquatic centre. It has several indoor and outdoor pools, including Western Australia's only

wave pool A wave pool is a swimming pool in which there are artificially generated, large waves, similar to those of the ocean. Wave pools are often a major feature of water parks, both indoors and outdoors, as well as some leisure centres. History Th ...

. It also has a crèche, health club, and hydrotherapy area. Next to Bayswater Waves is Broun Park. Embleton Golf Course is a 9-hole golf course owned by the City of Bayswater and operated by Golf Oracle. Wotton Reserve is on the corner of Embleton Avenue and Broun Avenue. It has several

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

pitches and a

skate park A skatepark, or skate park, is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, scootering, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairsets, quarter pipe ...

. Other minor parks are spread throughout the suburb, including Feredy Reserve, McKenzie Reserve and Ockley Square Reserve. The portion of Embleton used as public open space is less than the 10% recommended by the state government's liveable neighbourhoods policy.

Education

The sole school located in Embleton is Embleton Primary School, a public primary school for students from Kindergarten to Year 6. Hillcrest Primary School and John Forrest Secondary College are located adjacent to the suburb's western boundary.

Governance

Local

Embleton is in the

local government area. It is almost entirely within its central ward, but there is a small portion in its west ward. Councillors for the central ward are Barry McKenna, Sally Palmer and Steven Ostaszewskyj. Councillors for the west ward are Lorna Clarke, Giorgia Johnson and Dan Bull, who is also the mayor.

State

Embleton west of Tonkin Highway is within the

Electoral district of Maylands Maylands is a Western Australian Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly Electoral districts of Western Australia, electorate in the state of Western Australia. Maylands is named for the inner northeastern Perth suburb of Maylands, Western A ...

, and east of Tonkin Highway is within the

Electoral district of Bassendean Bassendean is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia. The district is based in the eastern suburbs of Perth. It is a safe Labor seat. Geography Bassendean is a compact electorate situate ...

for the

Western Australian Legislative Assembly The Western Australian Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Western Australia, an Australian state. The Parliament sits in Parliament House, Perth, Parliament House in the Western Australian capi ...

. Both of these districts are strong seats for the centre-left Labor Party. Labor has held Maylands since 1968 and Bassendean since it was created in 1996. Maylands' current member is Lisa Baker, and Bassendean's current member is Dave Kelly. In the

Western Australian Legislative Council The Western Australian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Western Australia, a state of Australia. It is regarded as a house of review for legislation passed by the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, Legislative A ...

, both these districts are part of the East Metropolitan electoral region.

Federal

Bayswater is within the

Division of Perth The Division of Perth is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division in the states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is named after Perth, the capital city of Western Austral ...

in the

Australian Federal Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national Executive (government), executive government of Australia, a federalism, federal Parliamentary system, parliamentary con ...

. It is a safe seat for the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

, and has been held by a Labor member since 1983. Its current member is Patrick Gorman.

Transport

At the 2016 census, 70.0% of residents traveled to work in a car, whether it be as a passenger or a driver, and 7.2% took public transport.

Road

Major roads that pass through Embleton include

, Broun Avenue, Collier Road, Embleton Avenue and

. Tonkin Highway can be accessed by an interchange with Collier Road in Bayswater. Broun Avenue bridges over Tonkin Highway but does not have any connecting ramps.

Public transport

Embleton is served by

Transperth Transperth is the public transport system for Perth and surrounding areas in Western Australia. It is managed by the Public Transport Authority (PTA), a state government organisation, and consists of train, bus and ferry services. Bus operat ...

routes 48, 66, 341, 342, 345, 950 and 955. When the under-construction

Ellenbrook line The Ellenbrook line, known as the Morley–Ellenbrook line during construction, is a suburban railway line in Perth, Western Australia, which is operated by the Public Transport Authority (Western Australia), Public Transport Authority as part ...

Bus

* 40

Galleria Bus Station Galleria bus station, formerly Morley bus station, is a Transperth bus station located next to the Galleria Shopping Centre in Morley, Western Australia. It has 17 stands and is served by 17 Transperth routes operated by Path Transit, Swan Tra ...

Elizabeth Quay Bus Station Elizabeth Quay bus station, formerly the Esplanade Busport, is a Transperth bus station, located at the southern edge of the Perth (suburb), Perth CBD in Western Australia, next to the Perth Convention Exhibition Centre and Elizabeth Quay rail ...

– serves Broadway, Irwin Road, Collier Road, Power Street and Langley Road * 46 Morley Station to Bayswater Station – serves Embleton Avenue and

* 47 Morley Station to Bassendean Station – serves Embleton Avenue and

* 352 Morley Station to

– only serves Morley Station * 355

to Whiteman Park Station – serves Broun Avenue and Collier Road * 950X Morley Station to

Queen Elizabeth II Medical Centre The Queen Elizabeth II Medical Centre (QEIIMC), commonly known as just QEII, is a medical campus in Perth, Western Australia, situated in the suburb of Nedlands directly adjacent to Kings Park. It contains Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, th ...

(high frequency / limited stops) – only serves Morley Station * 975 Bayswater Station to Warwick Station (high frequency) – serves

, Collier Road and Broun Avenue Bus routes serving Broun Avenue and Morley Station: * 353, 354 and 356

to Ballajura Station * 950 Morley Station to

(high frequency)

Rail

Ellenbrook Line The Ellenbrook line, known as the Morley–Ellenbrook line during construction, is a suburban railway line in Perth, Western Australia, which is operated by the Public Transport Authority (Western Australia), Public Transport Authority as part ...

** Morley Station

References

{{City of Bayswater suburbs Suburbs of Perth, Western Australia Suburbs in the City of Bayswater