Fairfield Sydney, New South Wales
Abird's eye view of Fairfield
Population	18,596 (2021 census)[1]
• Density	4,230/km2 (10,950/sq mi)
Established	1807
Postcode(s)	2165
Elevation	15 m (49 ft)
Area	4.4 km2 (1.7 sq mi)
Location	30 km (19 mi) west ofSydney CBD
LGA(s)	City of Fairfield Cumberland Council
State electorate(s)	Fairfield
Federal division(s)	Fowler McMahon
Suburbs around Fairfield: Smithfield Yennora Old Guildford Fairfield Heights Fairfield Fairfield East Canley Heights Canley Vale Carramar

Fairfield is a suburb of Western Sydney, in the state ofNew South Wales, Australia. Being in the centre of theCumberland Plain, Fairfield is located 30 kilometres (19 mi) west of theSydney central business district and is the administrative heart of theFairfield City Council (local government area) – despite a very small portion of it belonging to theCumberland Council. Fairfield supports a mixture of commercial and residential developments, mostly characterised by medium-density buildings and some newhigh-riseapartments.

Fairfield is one of the mostmulticultural and culturally diverse cities in Australia, with more than half of the residents having been born overseas, mostly in non-English speaking countries.^[2] The majority of the suburb's dwellers speak a language other than English at home, with the two most common ones beingArabic andAssyrian Neo-Aramaic.^[1] Fairfield is anethnic enclave ofAssyrian Christians (mostly from Iraq, and more recently Syria),^[3] along with newerSunni Iraqi arrivals. Fairfield's largeIraqi andAssyrian community has had the media describe the suburb asLittle Iraq orLittle Assyria.^[4]

Prior to European settlement,Aboriginal people from the Cabrogal-Gandangara tribe have lived in the Fairfield area for more than 30,000 years. The earliest recordedwhite settlement in the Fairfield district is described inWilliam Bradley's Journal where he noted an expedition fromRose Hill toProspect Creek to determine whether Prospect Creek led toBotany Bay. Bradley described a place on the Creek where the water changed from fresh to salt with a drop of 4 feet (1.2 m). The presence ofsalt water confirmed Prospect Creek's connection to the sea.^[5]

Gabriel Louis Marie Huon de Kerrileau, aBretonsoldier in theNSW Corps arrived in the colony in 1794, having fledFrance during theFrench Revolution. In 1807 he received a grant of 100 acres (40 ha) in the centre of Fairfield, which he namedCastel Paul.^[6] This was an Englished form of the town in which he was born in Brittany, Kastell-Paol, Saint-Pol-de-Léon in French. By 1814Castel Paul had been combined, by subsequent owners, with several similarly sized grants to form a largely uncleared 700 acres (280 ha) estate.

The free settler John Horsley purchased the estate in that year and named itMark Lodge, after family properties inEssex,England.^[7] Horsley, a Magistrate and Coroner at Liverpool (1825-1834), and his large family were among the pioneers ofwhite settlement in the Fairfield District. Later, a ColonialTreasurer, Thomas Ware Smart (1810–1881) bought the estate and in the 1860s built the mansion, 'Fairfield House'.^[8]

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 byrailway 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, producedcrops for distribution in Sydney. Electricity was connected in 1921.^[9]

Rapid population increase afterWorld War II 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 prominenthardware,furniture,menswear andhomeware stores, including aBing Lee. Large scaleHousing 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 onThe Horsley Drive inCarramar, but was relocated toPrairiewood in 1988 with the old site converted into aKaritane infant,Early childhood family education and perinatal mental health centre.^[10]

By 1979, the population had reached 120,000 and the city was becoming one of the largerLocal Government Areas in New South Wales. In the early 1980s, Fairfield Forum was opened and Ware Street was shut for traffic, with apedestrian zone established in its stead with awater fountain imported from Italy being the ornament of the civic area. However, the pedestrianplaza was deemed unsuccessful, despite the annual streetparades occurring there, and thus Ware Street once again was open to traffic.^[11]

During the mid to late 1980sIran–Iraq War, large number of Assyrians fledIraq and settled in Fairfield, making it the most popular settlement forAssyrians. In 1990, Neeta City was opened due to the rapid growth of Fairfield's commercial centre. Anamphitheatre situated in Spencer Street withchess board 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.^[12]

In 2015, theAbbott government granted 12,000 extra humanitarian visas topersecuted 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 Cityaccommodated 3,000 humanitarian arrivals in 2016, taking in 75% of all western Sydney's refugee intake, withLiverpool City Council second at 14%.^[13] 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 risingCOVID-19 cases in the region that resulted in a strictlockdown in the area, transforming the CBD into aghost town, with heavypolice patrol compliance checks.Fines were issued for those who did not comply with the state public health order.^[14] Workers from Fairfield were ordered tostay at home by NSW premierGladys Berejiklian unless they had leave the house for emergency reasons or that they had produced a negativeCOVID-19 test.^[15]

Fairfield consists of a combination of main streetretail 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 abazaar-style environment), personal services and commercial uses. Fairfield does not feature a formal ‘City Square’, thoughThe Crescent Plaza, andThomas Ware Plaza in Nelson Street, provide a similar sense of fashion to a City Square.

A couple of shop fronts along The Crescent are in theFederation andArt Deco 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 residentialflats, 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.^[16]

Fairfield has threeshopping malls which were established between the 1980s and early 1990s. The two largest are theFairfield Forum,Fairfield City Central which was renamed fromNeeta City in 2021 and the smallerFairfield Chase, which underwent a major redevelopment in 2025. Forum containsKmart,Aldi andColes. Fairfield City Central features aWoolworths supermarket (previously it featured aBig W). TheFairfield Chase Commercial Tower was Fairfield's first high-rise structure. It has a lower level of commercial shops, a medical centre and food outlets open to the public while the higher levels function as privateoffice building spaces are occupied by government agencies such asLegal Aid NSW, theNSW Service for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors and private companies such as a child care centre andemployment agencies. The Crescent, Nelson, Ware and Nelson Streets are ornamented by a number ofLondon planes.

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 theWorld Cinemas (primarily exhibitingBollywood films). The cinema was altogether closed in 2010 and its site became a fitness/gym centre.^[17] Sydney's Iraqi community congregated in Fairfield to celebrate Iraq qualifying for theAsian Football Cup finals in 2007. More than 7000 people joined in street celebrations around Fairfield on Sunday 29 July 2007 after Iraq won theAsian Cup finals. Similar events took place in January 2023 when Iraq won the25th Arabian Gulf Cup by defeating Oman in the final. There is a 1,000 sqm publiclibrary in Hamilton Road, which was previously located in Kenyon Street. Fairfield has a few Assyrian churches,sporting clubs, cultural associations and health groups.^[18]

Although most of the aforementioned commercial precincts are not a leading part of Fairfield'snight time attribute at present, wedding receptions, however, do prevail night activity on the weekends. Major wedding and party venues in the area includeCrystal Room Paradiso,Monamor Reception,Imperial Paradiso andParadiso Reception Centre. In the 1990s and 2000s,El Roche Reception Centre was a popular wedding venue and a Middle Eastern restaurant in Smart Street,^[19] before it was shut down in August 2009,^[20] and superseded byCrystal Room Paradiso in 2010.

‘Fairfield’ has been synonymised with ‘Assyrian’, as people overseas have been familiar with itsAssyrian culture.^[21] Iraqi and Assyrian businesses have opened in Fairfield, mostly around Ware Street. These businesses include everything fromjewellery shops to restaurants, making the area favourite entertainment and shopping hotspot for the Iraqi and Assyrian community. Elderly Assyrian men gather daily to playdominoes in the outdoor tables, which are printed withchess board.^[4] Fairfield's culturally diverse population is reflected in multicultural local businesses such as over twenty different types of cafés and restaurants that includeAssyrian,Iraqi,Italian,Chinese,Lebanese,Vietnamese,South American andThai cuisine.

TheSchool of Arts Building, established in the late 19th century, is a social and historical significance and is an example ofVictorian andFederation period styles which are uncommonin the suburb. TheUniting Church 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, theFire Station in William Street, is afree classical style building and is also a historical significance. A federationweatherboardcottage located in Lawson Street was established in around 1910.^[22]

Made up of two redbrick entrance pillars, Honour Avenue was built in honour of the Fairfield residents who served in theWorld Wars and it includes the names ofWorld War II personnel. Its connecting metal arch exhibits the words: '1939 Honour Avenue 1945'. Theavenue therein contains largebrush boxes on both sides and public seating. The heritage-listed siteFairfield railway station is the oldest Railway Station in New South Wales. The commercial centre, particularly in The Crescent, has one of the oldest groups of buildings in Fairfield City, which are Mid-Victorian,Georgian Style public buildings dating back to 1856.^[23]

TheInternational Monument in The Crescent Park was built as a symbol of Fairfield's migrant population in 1968. It was designed byLeonid Denysenko and Yurij Denysenko. The letter "A" represents Australia and alsoMount Ararat. Originally, the monument had water gushing from the middle in the form of a waterfall. The angular object above symbolises a boat or a plane, while the hole in the middle symbolises the opening where migrants exit to colonise the new land. The nearby LJ Clock Tower was erected in 1958.^[24][25]

Fairfield has two localnewspapers, TheFairfield Advance and theFairfield Champion, which are issued every Wednesday.Fairfield Local News is an online, independentlocal news source for those who reside in the Fairfield area.2GLF is acommunity radio station that caters to the communities ofLiverpool and Fairfield LGAs.^[26]

Fairfield railway station, situated on The Crescent and Dale Street, is on theOld Main South. Trains run frequently from Fairfield toLeppington,Parramatta and theCity Circle. Fairfield also has a major bus interchange adjacent to the railway station. For details of bus services from the interchange seeFairfield 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.^[27]

Public schools in Fairfield includeFairfield High School andFairfield Public School.Private Schools includePatrician Brothers' College and Our Lady of the Rosary Primary School, which are bothcatholic schools. Patrician Brothers' Primary School was also previously located in Fairfield but closed in 2006.Alternative High Schools for students who have been expelled or unfit for mainstream include Indie School - Fairfield campus, and Warakirri College - Fairfield campus.

Much of the originalbushland cover within the city has been cleared through pastland management practices. A few small areas of this original bushland remain, including examples ofCumberland Plain vegetation andCooks River/Castlereagh Ironbark Forest, which are listed under the Threatened Species Conservation Act. TheAustralian white ibis are specifically present in The Crescent, opposite of the train station. Although the suburb is in the Fairfield LGA area, only one very small part of it falls in the Cumberland City Council area; Bell Crescent, which is adead-end street just east of Prospect Creek.

Eightcreeks, 80 kilometres in length, have their headwaters in Fairfield City and flow into theGeorges River and Hawkesbury Nepean catchments. The impact of development over the past 50 years has resulted in severe degradation of thenatural habitat in the creek banks andwater quality 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.

Fairfield has ahumid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification:Cfa). Summer weather may come from north-east (humid) 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 tosea breezes in the City that don't generally penetrate inland, and in extreme cases there could be a10 degrees differential. It receives less annual rain thanSydney CBD by about 400mm. Late winter and early spring receive the least rainfall, whilst late summer and autumn receive more rain.^[28]

^[note a] : Fairfield is a large suburb, therefore some areas in it may be proximate to the climate of the top or bottom table

According to the2021 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 inIraq (22.6%),Vietnam (9.8%),Syria (8.3%),China (2.7%) andCambodia (2.1%).

Languages

Only 16.0% of people spoke English as their only home language. The most common language spoken other than English isArabic at 16.7% (mostlyIraqi Arabic andSyrian Arabic),Assyrian Neo-Aramaic at 15.2%,Vietnamese at 12.0%,Chaldean Neo-Aramaic at 5.9% andMandarin at 3.0%. If the Assyrian and Chaldeanvarieties were combined, thenNeo-Aramaic will be the most common language at 21.1%.

Ethnicity

The most common ethnic groups wereAssyrian (15.5%),Vietnamese (11.2%),Chinese (10.2%),Iraqi (10.1%) andAustralian (6.9%).

Religion

The top responses for religious affiliation wereCatholic (31.1%),No Religion (11.8%),Buddhism (11.7%), andIslam (8.5%). Christianity was the largest religious group reported overall (61.8%).

Families

47.2% were couplefamilies with children, 24.9% were couple families without children and 24.6% wereone parent families. Of people over 15 years, 45.5% weremarried and 13.3% were eitherdivorced 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 privatedwellings in Fairfield, 40.0% were separate houses, 13.4% were semi-detached ortownhouses and 46.0% wereapartments. 21.0% of the dwellings were owned and 57.5% were rented.^[1]

Fairfield Adventure Park, a large playground for older children and teens, was opened in April 2015.^[34] Nearby is theFairfield Youth and Community Centre and theFairfield Leisure Centre, anaquatic centre. These facilities are all situated inFairfield Park Precinct, a largeurban park andsports ground.Prospect Creek winds through it.^[35] Several small parks meander Prospect Creek as it heads northwest, and they include Cawarra Park, Fairfield Road Park, Bernadette Park, Hemingway Reserve and Solo Reserve, all featuring walking tracks alongside the creek.

Fairfield is also the home suburb of theFairfield Bulls andFenix 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 theDavid Carty Reserve, which is a small, round islet, surrounded by Fairfield Street and The Horsley Drive, that features a number of prominentHill's weeping figs, andcamphor trees – which areintroducedevergreens native toEast Asia.

• 
  The Crescent, opposite of Fairfield train station, 1890s
• 
  Storefronts dating between 1892 to 1922.
• 
  The Clock Tower, erected in 1958
• 
  Commercial centre in The Crescent withart deco buildings dating from the 1920s.
• 
  The avenue of remembrance in Fairfield Park
• 
  Fairfield railway station
• 
  Fairfield Youth and Community Centre
• 
  Fairfield City Community Church
• 
  Fairfield Leisure Centre

• Mark Bosnich, AustralianSocceroos player
• Mitchell Claydon, Australian-English cricketer
• Jelena Dokić, Australiantennis player
• Jon English, singer, songwriter, musician and actor
• Blake Green, Australian rugby league player
• Evan Green, journalist
• Glenn Grief, Australian rugby league player
• Les Hill, Australian actor
• Justice Crew, winners ofAustralia's Got Talent in 2010
• Harry Kewell, Australian Socceroos player
• David Klemmer, Australian rugby league player
• Bing Lee, Founder of the Bing Lee enterprise
• Michael Masi,Formula One race director
• Bill Summerell, Australian rugby league player
• Donnie Sutherland, Journalist and television host
• Maria Tran, Actress, film director
• Kyle White, Australian rugby league player
• Gough Whitlam, 21stPrime Minister of Australia (1972 to 1975)
• Ruben Zadkovich,Newcastle Jets and Australian Socceroos player

• Fairfield Hospital (Sydney)

Wikimedia Commons has media related toFairfield, New South Wales.

• Fairfield City Council Official Site
• 2001 Census Information.
• Fairfield Advance Local Newspaper
• Fairfield Champion Newspaper

33°52′14″S150°57′19″E / 33.87056°S 150.95528°E /-33.87056; 150.95528

• Suburbs of Sydney
• Populated places established in 1807
• Cumberland Council, New South Wales
• City of Fairfield

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