Western Sydney

Greater Western Sydney is the thirteen local government areas of:
Blacktown, Blue Mountains, Camden, Campbelltown, Canterbury Bankstown, Cumberland, Fairfield, Hawkesbury, Liverpool, Parramatta, Penrith, The Hills and Wollondilly Shires.

Or, through a First Nations lens:
the country of the Bidjigal, Cabrogal, Darkinjung, Dharawal, Dharug, Gundungura, Gweagal, Wongal and Tharawal Aboriginal people.

10% of Australia’s population lives in the Greater Western Sydney region

49.7% of Western Sydney’s population is under the age of 35.

Greater Western Sydney residence represent over half of the worlds population coming from more than 170 countries and speaking over 100 different languages.

33% of people in Greater Western Sydney were born in countries where English was not their first language.

44% of people speak a language other than English at home

Greater Western Sydney has the third largest economy in Australia after Sydney and Melbourne’s CBD.

Greater Western Sydney has higher than average unemployment and lower than average salary levels.

60% of new immigrants who come to Australia settle in Greater Western Sydney.

One-fifth of Australia’s Aboriginal population is located in Greater Western Sydney with the densest clustering being in Blacktown and the Macarthur region. Of these, 60% are aged under 24.

In Canterbury Bankstown Lebanese ancestry constitutes the highest demographic at 15% then Australian, Vietnamese and Chinese with an aging Greek and Italian population

The majority of new immigrants (60%) who come to Australia settle in GWS and over the past decade 50% of these arrivals were from Iraq and Sudan.

Figures: 2016 Census; Regional Centre of Expertise, Western Sydney University, Profile.id researchgate.net

WestWords facilitates the creation and sharing of these stories that draw on a rich blend of European and non-Western European cultural traditions.