Ultimo is an inner-city suburb of
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 ...
,
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. It is adjacent to 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 Sydney
The City of Sydney is the Local government in Australia, local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the Greater Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament ...
west of the
Darling Harbour
Darling Harbour is a harbour and neighborhood adjacent to the city centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, that is made up of a large recreational and pedestrian precinct that is situated on western outskirts of the Sydney central busines ...
area, and is bordered by
Pyrmont to the north, the Sydney CBD and
Chinatown
Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...
/
Haymarket to the east,
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...
and
Chippendale to the south, and
Glebe
A glebe (, also known as church furlong, rectory manor or parson's close(s)) is an area of land within an ecclesiastical parish used to support a parish priest. The land may be owned by the church, or its profits may be reserved to the church. ...
and
Wentworth Park
Wentworth Park is a park near the suburbs of Glebe and Ultimo in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
The park contains several multi-purpose sporting pitches, cricket nets and a number of fitness installations. There is a playground in the s ...
to the west.
Ultimo is considered to be the leading technology, media and startup hub of Sydney, with the
University of Technology Sydney
The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public university, public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The university was founded in its current form in 1988, though its origins as a Institute of technology, ...
,
TAFE NSW Ultimo and
JMC Academy having campuses within the suburb. Ultimo boasts the highest density of startups of anywhere else in Australia and is a central pillar of the NSW Government's Tech Central precinct. The suburb is also home to the headquarters of the national non-profit organisation, Sydney School of Entrepreneurship.
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...
is a locality around the road of the same name, which is located on the borders of Ultimo,
Chippendale and
Glebe
A glebe (, also known as church furlong, rectory manor or parson's close(s)) is an area of land within an ecclesiastical parish used to support a parish priest. The land may be owned by the church, or its profits may be reserved to the church. ...
.
History
"Ultimo" was originally the name of the estate of
Dr John Harris, on granted to him by
Governor King in 1803, for his military service and for aiding the governor in curtailing the illegal trading of rum by a corrupt group in the NSW Corps (the Rum Corps). It was named for a clerical error in a legal case against Harris that had prevented him being court-martialled. The court-martial based on fictitious charges was used as a retaliation by the Rum Corps. His offence was listed as "
ultimo" (having occurred in the previous month) when it should have been cited as "instant" (having occurred in the same month).
Harris Street is named in his honour.
The area remained as farmland, in possession of the Harris family, until it was subdivided in 1859. At that time, most of the current streets were laid out, and the descendants of John Harris constructed the first residences in the area (at least one of which–a row of terraces in Wattle Street–was still owned by the family in the early 1980s).

Residential development accelerated in the 1880s. In 1891 the population of the Pyrmont-Ultimo area was 19,177, in 3,966 dwellings. The population peaked at around 30,000 in 1900. However, the construction of factories, quarries, woolstores and a power station in the early 20th century saw the demolition of hundreds of houses, and a steady decline in population. It was a good site for warehouses because of its proximity to Darling Harbour. Several examples of the
Federation
A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...
Warehouse style can be found along Wattle Street. By 1954, the population of Pyrmont and Ultimo was 5,000, and by 1978 it was just 1,800.
For approximately ten years from the early 1950s, Harris Street was home to the head office, recording studio, pressing plant and warehouse of
Festival Records
Festival Records, later known as Festival Mushroom Records, was an Australian recording and publishing company founded in Sydney, Australia, in 1952 and operated until 2005.
Festival was a subsidiary of News Limited from 1961 to 2005. The com ...
, which was Australia's leading independent record company for almost 50 years. Festival moved its facilities to a site in nearby
Pyrmont in 1966. In 1973, the
Builders Labourers Federation
The Builders Labourers Federation (BLF) was an Australian trade union that existed from 1911 until 1972, and from 1976 until 1986, when it was permanently deregistered in various Australian states by the federal Hawke Labor government and som ...
organised a
green ban
A green ban is a form of strike action, usually taken by a trade union or other organised labour group, which is conducted for environmentalist or conservationist purposes. They mainly took place in Australia during the 1970s, led by the Bui ...
with
Pyrmont to stop the construction of the
North Western Expressway, which would've destroyed large parts of both suburbs.
Subsequently, many industries began to move to cheaper land further from the CBD, and the decline of the wool industry made Ultimo's 15 woolstores redundant. By the start of the 1980s, derelict industrial sites began to be redeveloped for residences, mostly as apartments, a process that continues to the present.
Very little industry remains in the area, and its current character is a combination of residential and commercial. One conspicuous industrial relic is the brick shell of Davey's Flour Mill, built in 1911, and adjacent to the southern approach to the
Anzac Bridge
The Anzac Bridge is an eight-lane cable-stayed bridge that carries the Western Distributor (A4) across Johnstons Bay between Pyrmont and Glebe Island (part of the suburb of Rozelle), on the western fringe of the Sydney central business dis ...
.
The
Dairy Farmer's Cooperative operated from its facility in Harris Street and Ultimo Road from 1912 to its closure in 2009, after which the site was redeveloped by the nearby UTS in a project designed by architect
Frank Gehry
Frank Owen Gehry ( ; ; born February 28, 1929) is a Canadian-American architect and designer. A number of his buildings, including his private residence in Santa Monica, California, have become attractions.
Gehry rose to prominence in th ...
.
Wentworth Park commenced its life as a creek and swamp, known from the 1830s as Blackwattle Cove Swamp. Wentworth Park became a
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...
oval and the home ground of the
Glebe Dirty Reds
The Glebe Dirty Reds are an Australian rugby league foundation club which played in the New South Wales Rugby League, New South Wales Rugby Football League's New South Wales Rugby League premiership, Sydney premiership, the major competition for ...
who were a part of the
New South Wales Rugby League premiership
The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia and contributor to today's National Rugby League. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League (initially named the New Sout ...
back in its inception.
Since 1991, the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...
has been headquartered in Ultimo.
Heritage listings
Ultimo has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
* Darling Harbour goods railway:
Ultimo Road railway underbridge
* 494 Harris Street:
Ultimo Post Office
* 41 Mountain Street:
Ultimo Substation
* William Henry Street:
Ultimo Sewage Pumping Station
Churches
One of the landmarks in the area is the Uniting Church on the corner of Quarry Street and Bulwara Road. The church was originally built in 1883 to replace the old Presbyterian Church at Mount Street, Pyrmont. The latter had been the first Presbyterian Church in the colony, but it outgrew its old premises and the congregation had to move to the new church in Ultimo. A manse was built a few years later. By 2001 the church was in bad repair and had to be restored with help from a government grant. The church is still active and the congregation goes by the name of The Mustard Seed.
Commercial area of architecture

The commercial areas of Ultimo are mainly centred on Broadway, Harris Street and Wattle Street. The
Broadway Shopping Centre
Broadway Shopping Centre is a shopping centre in Sydney, located in the Broadway locality. It features a 500-seat Food Court and Hoyts 12-screen cinema complex along with major retailers Kmart, Coles, Target, Aldi, H&M, JB Hi-Fi, Harvey No ...
is located in the former site of the flagship building of the
Grace Bros
Grace Bros was an Australian department store chain, founded in 1885. It was bought by Myer (later Coles Myer) in 1983. There were 25 stores across New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory plus a few in Victoria, until they wer ...
department store chain. The Ultimo area is undergoing
gentrification
Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...
, with considerable redevelopment of industrial buildings for residential and commercial purposes. The NSW transmission network service provider
TransGrid
Transgrid is the manager and operator of the high voltage electricity transmission network in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, Australia, and is part of the National Electricity Market (NEM). The company's offices are locate ...
is located on Thomas Street.
The corporate headquarters and Sydney studios of the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...
are located in its Ultimo Centre on
Harris Street. The Ultimo Centre also houses an auditorium and recording studio, known as the
Eugene Goosens Hall.
NITV
National Indigenous Television (NITV) is an Australian free-to-air television channel that broadcasts programming produced and presented largely by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It includes the six-day-a-week ''NITV News Updat ...
and
Aurora
An aurora ( aurorae or auroras),
also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...
from a digital broadcast centre are located at Ultimo Centre.
Harris Street is also the home of Sydney's
Powerhouse Museum
The Powerhouse Museum, formerly known as the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (MAAS), is a collection of 4 museums in Sydney, owned by the Government of New South Wales. Powerhouse is a contemporary museum of applied arts and sciences, explori ...
.
Wentworth Park
Wentworth Park is a park near the suburbs of Glebe and Ultimo in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
The park contains several multi-purpose sporting pitches, cricket nets and a number of fitness installations. There is a playground in the s ...
is a multi-purpose sporting facility in Ultimo that is used for various sports including
rugby union
Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
,
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...
,
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 ...
and
greyhound racing
Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around an oval track. The sport originates from Hare coursing, coursing. Track racing uses an artificial lure (usually a form of windsock) that travels ahead of th ...
.
Transport
Ultimo is well-served by public transport.
Central railway station is at the southern border of the suburb, on the opposite side of Broadway.
The
Inner West Light Rail
The Inner West Light Rail is a light rail line in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, running from Central railway station, Sydney, Central railway station through the Inner West to Dulwich Hill railway station, Dulwich Hill and serving 23 sto ...
has stations at the eastern edge of the suburb, where Ultimo borders
Darling Harbour
Darling Harbour is a harbour and neighborhood adjacent to the city centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, that is made up of a large recreational and pedestrian precinct that is situated on western outskirts of the Sydney central busines ...
. Many buses travel along Broadway.
A distinctive landmark in Ultimo is the former railway
viaduct
A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide ...
that now carries the light rail through
Wentworth Park
Wentworth Park is a park near the suburbs of Glebe and Ultimo in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
The park contains several multi-purpose sporting pitches, cricket nets and a number of fitness installations. There is a playground in the s ...
. The viaduct was built in 1922 and consists primarily of twenty-three brick arches. It is considered "an outstanding example of engineering brickwork" and is listed on the
Register of the National Estate
The Register of the National Estate was a heritage register that listed natural and cultural heritage places in Australia that was closed in 2007. Phasing out began in 2003, when the Australian National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heri ...
.
The Goods Line is a park and pedestrian pathway utilising a section of the railway line not used by the light rail.
Population
At the , there were 7,410 people living in Ultimo.
Its proximity to
Chinatown
Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...
means that it has historically had a large Chinese population.
In 2021, the most common ancestries in Ultimo were Chinese 31.4%, English 13.5%, Australian 9.1%, Thai 7.0% and Irish 4.6%. In Ultimo, 26.7% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were China 16.8%, Thailand 7.1%, India 4.4%, Indonesia 4.0% and Colombia 2.5%. 34.5% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 17.9%, Thai 6.9%, Cantonese 6.2%, Spanish 3.7% and Indonesian 2.7%. The most common response for religion was No Religion at 49.2%. In 2021, 87.4% of occupied residences were flats and 11.7% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, or townhouses. Just 0.2% were separate houses.
At the , it had a population of 8,845 of which 82.4% were born overseas.
In 2016, the most common ancestries in Ultimo were Chinese 36.6%, English 8.4%, Australian 5.8%, Thai 4.3% and Korean 3.3%. In Ultimo, 17.6% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were China 29.8%, Thailand 5.0%, South Korea 3.5%, Indonesia 3.1% and India 2.4%. 23.7% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 28.1%, Cantonese 7.0%, Thai 5.0%, Korean 3.2% and Indonesian 2.5%. The most common response for religion was No Religion at 49.9%. In 2016, 90.6% of residences were flats and 8.2% were semi-detached, row or terrace house, townhouse etc.
The 2001 census recorded a population of 4,054, 46% of whom were born overseas.
Houses

In common with other inner suburbs such as
Surry Hills
Surry Hills is an Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), inner-east suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Surry Hills is immediately south-east of the Sydney central business district in the Local government in Australia, local gover ...
, Ultimo still has some of the oldest examples of Victorian
terraces. Despite
slum clearance
Slum clearance, slum eviction or slum removal is an urban renewal strategy used to transform low-income settlements with poor reputation into another type of development or housing. This has long been a strategy for redeveloping urban communities; ...
and redevelopment during the 20th century, many fine examples exist which, as in other inner Sydney suburbs, have been progressively 'gentrified' in recent times.
Education
Ultimo is home to the main
campus
A campus traditionally refers to the land and buildings of a college or university. This will often include libraries, lecture halls, student centers and, for residential universities, residence halls and dining halls.
By extension, a corp ...
of the
University of Technology Sydney
The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public university, public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The university was founded in its current form in 1988, though its origins as a Institute of technology, ...
and the
Sydney Institute of TAFE, the largest
TAFE
Technical and further education or simply TAFE () is the common name in Australia for vocational education, as a subset of tertiary education. TAFE institutions provide a wide range of predominantly vocational courses. Colloquially also known ...
in New South Wales.
International Grammar School is located near the western boundary. Ultimo Public School is bounded by Jones Street, Wattle Street and Quarry Street. Barnardos Early Learning Centre is accessible from the Jones Street side of the property, with its balcony overlooking Ultimo Public School to the west.
Notable residents
*
Lionel Bowen
Lionel Frost Bowen (28 December 1922 – 1 April 2012) was an Australian politician. He was the deputy leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1977 to 1990 and served as the sixth deputy prime minister of Australia in the Hawke g ...
, politician, 6th
Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
The deputy prime minister of Australia is the deputy Chief executive officer, chief executive and the Deputy prime minister, second highest ranking officer of the Australian Government. The office of deputy prime minister was officially creat ...
*
John Harris, surgeon and magistrate
*
John Alexander Stammers Jones, owned the Zig Zag brewery
[
* Nina Eva Vida Jones born Harris, (1882–1966) was a racing driver]
* Edward Riley, pastoralist and merchant
Gallery
File:Ultimo ABC.JPG, ABC building, Harris Street
File:Museum in sydney0001.jpg, Powerhouse Museum
The Powerhouse Museum, formerly known as the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (MAAS), is a collection of 4 museums in Sydney, owned by the Government of New South Wales. Powerhouse is a contemporary museum of applied arts and sciences, explori ...
, Harris Street
File:112 N7A8606 UTS Central Andy Roberts hr.jpg, UTS tower, Broadway
File:Ultimo UTS Fairfax.JPG, UTS Fairfax building, Jones Street
File:Frank Gehry's Dr Chau Chak Wing Building (3a).jpg, Dr Chau Chak Wing Building, Ultimo Road
File:Mustard Seed Uniting Church 20180921.jpg, Uniting Church, Quarry Street
References
External links
* Creative Commons license">CC-By-SA">Creative_Commons_license.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Creative Commons license">CC-By-SA/nowiki>
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Suburbs of Sydney
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