Waterloo is an inner southern 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. Waterloo is located three kilometres (1.9 mi) south 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 ...

and is part of 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 ...

. Waterloo is surrounded by the suburbs of Redfern and

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

to the north, Eveleigh and

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

to the west, Rosebery to the south, and Moore Park, Zetland, and

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

to the east.

History

Alexandria and Redfern 1948-52 SLNSW FL8813523

Waterloo took its name from the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...

in 1815, when Allied and Prussian forces under the Duke of Wellington and Blücher defeated the French forces under

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

. In the 1820s, Waterloo began supporting industrial operations including various mills such as the Fisher and Duncan Paper Mill and the Waterloo Flour Mill. The Paper Mill was a partnership with three partners (Frederick George James Fisher, George Duncan and John Walker. Established in 1818 it is the first mill known to produce paper in Australia. The ''Lachlan and Waterloo Flour Mills'' Waterloo Flour Mills was originally a partnership with Thomas White Melville Winder and

Samuel Terry Samuel Terry (c. 1776 – 22 February 1838) was an English man who was penal transportation, transported to Australia as a criminal, where he became a wealthy landowner, merchant and philanthropist. His extreme wealth made him by far the ric ...

in 1820 with a flour mill established in what is now

. Six partners made up the new partnership including William Hutchinson, Daniel Cooper, Thomas White Melville Winder,

, George Williams and William LevertonMitchell, Cecily Joan (1973). Hunters River. Newcastle, NSW: The Administrator of the Estate of Cecily Joan Mitchell. ISBN 0-9590772-0-0. trading as Hutchinson, Terry & Co. William Hutchinson, superintendent of convicts and public works, had been granted of land in 1823 in the Waterloo area what had previously a water powered flour mill developed (c. 1818). The other partners sold out to existing partner Daniel Cooper in 1825 and new partner

Solomon Levey Solomon Levey ( 1794 10 October 1833) was a convict transported to Australia in 1815 for theft who became a highly successful merchant and financier, at one time issuing his own banknotes in New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbrevi ...

. These two became the sole owners of the Waterloo Co., which was generally known as Cooper & Levey. Cooper later bought out Levey's share and on his death the Waterloo Estate passed onto his nephew, also named Daniel Cooper, who was the first speaker of the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

. This part of Waterloo was part of Daniel Cooper's landholding before being subdivided in the 1880s. In 1974, the Builders Labourers Federation placed a green ban against the construction of demolition of low-income housing to make way for new apartments.

Location

Waterloo is historically a working-class region. Since early 2000s, the region has undergone some degree of

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 a rising business district focusing on technology-oriented firms and the development of more green space such as parks. By 2006, median individual income in Waterloo was slightly higher than the Australian average. Nevertheless, the suburb maintains a large housing commission estate shared with Redfern with around 4,000 tenants. The Waterloo estate is set for a facelift, with the older flats/tower blocks getting redeveloped into large luxury apartment blocks mixing social housing with affordable housing alongside the new

Metro station A metro station or subway station is a train station for a rapid transit system, which as a whole is usually called a "metro" or "subway". A station provides a means for passengers to purchase tickets, board trains, and evacuate the syste ...

being developed nearby. New development and redevelopment in this area is encouraged to be sympathetic to the existing heritage style. Green Square is a district in the south and east of the suburb including the suburbs of Waterloo and Zetland that is being redeveloped. It involves an urban renewal program which has seen many industrial buildings redeveloped or replaced by new residential and commercial developments. The area adjacent to South Dowling Street contains many high-rise apartment buildings with retail space at ground level. In January 2019, the

Government of New South Wales The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the executive state government of New South Wales, Australia. The government comprises 11 portfolios, led by a ministerial department and supported by several agencies. Th ...

released a redevelopment masterplan of the Waterloo social housing estate. The government's plan outlines a 20-year vision for the area, which is about 4 kilometres from the Sydney CBD. It will include building 6,800 new homes and will comprise 6 high-rise buildings of 33 to 40 storeys.

Transport

Waterloo is serviced by

Transdev John Holland Transdev John Holland Buses is a bus operator in Sydney, Australia. A joint venture between Transdev Australasia, Transdev and John Holland Group, John Holland, it operates services in Sydney Metropolitan Bus Service Contracts, Sydney Bus Regio ...

routes to the Sydney CBD. Green Square station, on the Airport line of the

Sydney Trains Sydney Trains is the brand name and operator of Railways in Sydney, suburban and intercity train services in and around Greater Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. The metropolitan part of the network is a hybrid urban rail, urban-suburban r ...

network, is located in the south-west corner of the suburb. Redfern railway station is located close to the north-west corner of the suburb. The to

Metro North West & Bankstown Line The Metro North West & Bankstown Line (numbered M1) is a rapid transit line, rapid transit rail line in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The first and currently only line on the Sydney Metro network, it commenced operation on 26 May 2019, o ...

line includes Waterloo station which opened in August 2024. There will also be large commercial and residential redevelopment to service the new Metro.

Churches

Waterloo hosts the city campus of

Hillsong Church Hillsong Church, commonly known as Hillsong, is a charismatic Christian megachurch and a Christian association of churches based in Australia. The original church was established in Baulkham Hills, New South Wales, as Hills Christian Life Centr ...

(affiliated with the

Assemblies of God The World Assemblies of God Fellowship (WAGF), commonly known as the Assemblies of God (AG), is a global cooperative body or communion of over 170 Pentecostal denominations that was established on August 15, 1989. The WAGF was created to provi ...

). Other churches include Grace City Anglican Church, Shrine and Parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church, Waterloo Congregational Church, South Sydney Uniting Church (earlier known as Mount Lachlan Methodist Church), and Waterloo Salvation Army.

Demographics

At the , Waterloo had a population of 16,379, compared to 14,616 at the . In 2021, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 2.8% of the population and 37.2% of people were born in Australia. The other most common countries of birth were China 11.5%, England 5.6%, New Zealand 2.6%, Ireland 2.3% and Brazil 1.8%. 45.2% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 12.0% Cantonese 3.0%, Spanish 3.2%, Russian 2.7% and Portuguese 1.6%. The largest religions were Catholicism (16.5% of the population), Buddhism (4.4%) and Anglicanism (4.2%). Furthermore, 50.2% of the population marked no religion, well above the national average. 91.1% of residences were units, well above the rest of Australia (where only 14.2% of residences were units). Furthermore, 72.7% of dwellings were rented, compared to 30.6% in Australia as a whole.

Recreation

The Waterloo Skate Park is a modern skate park and the first of its kind to copy the urban streetscape layout of popular skate spots like

Martin Place Martin Place is a pedestrian mall in the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. Martin Place has been described as the "civic heart" of Sydney.

and Cathedral Square in Sydney. The park is located next to Waterloo Oval and the Weave Youth Services (formerly South Sydney Youth Services) building on Elizabeth Street. File:Fernside skate park 2025-01-25.jpg, Fernside skate park File:Waterloo Oval 2025-01-25.jpg, Waterloo Oval

Notable people

* Samuel George Ball, rugby league administrator * Nellie Cameron, criminal * Fred Chaplin, rugby league player * Anne Clark, netball administrator and coach * Claude Corbett, journalist * Harold Corbett, rugby league player and soldier * Tom Dadour, doctor and politician * Dick Daley, rugby league player * Jim Davis, rugby league player * Frank Easton, cricketer * Reta Mildred Findlay, businesswoman * Edward Hallstrom, businessman * Edward Hocking, politician * Perce Horne, rugby league player * Ernie Hucker, rugby league player * Vince Hughes, rugby league player * Rangi Joass, rugby league player * Jim Kenny, politician * Perry Keyes, singer-songwriter *

The Kid LAROI Charlton Kenneth Jeffrey Howard (born 17 August 2003), known professionally as the Kid Laroi (stylized as The Kid LAROI), is an Australian rapper, singer and songwriter. He was first discovered by Triple J Unearthed in 2016 at the age of 13. As ...

, rapper, singer and songwriter * George Kilham, rugby league player * Jack Lawrence, rugby league player * Vic Lawrence, rugby league player * Elaine Nile, politician * Syd Price, Australian Rules footballer * Edward Root, rugby league player * Alf Sadler, rugby league player * Eric Spooner, politician * Clarrie Stevenson, rugby league player * David Watson, rugby league player * Frank Wilkins, rugby league player * Ern Wilmot, rugby league player

References

External links

Local Residents Group

Local Community Centre

Waterloo Guide - Sydney.com
{{Authority control Suburbs of Sydney Gay villages in Australia Populated places established in 1815 Green bans