Community Profile
Profile of the Leichhardt Council Community
Leichhardt Local Government Area (LGA) lies immediately west of the City of Sydney and covers the suburbs of Annandale (postcode 2038), Birchgrove, Balmain and East Balmain (postcode 2041), Lilyfield and Leichhardt (postcode 2040), and Rozelle (postcode 2039). To access the detailed Community Profile of Leichhardt, commissioned by Council in the course of its integrated Community and Cultural and Land Use planning, click here.
Leichhardt before European settlement was home to the Gadigal and Wangal people. The current fabric of Leichhardt was mainly built in the late nineteenth century, and still retains much of the Victorian housing stock in its medium-density terrace and cottage housing. It also retains much of the transport and land-use patterns from this era, with narrow roads winding between residential and business premises.
In 2006, the Census data shows, the Leichhardt community is characterised by its young, prosperous community. The two major groups in the community are the baby-boomer, typically long-term resident home-owners in their fifties, and the younger Gen X city-workers, who typically rent and leave when in their mid-thirties, and the small dwellings become too restrictive for their growing families.
To access an overview of Leichhardt's population and key demographic features, click here - 
Leichhardt Community and Key Demographic Features 2006 and On - 3,563 KB.
Contents
Introduction
Leichhardt Local Government Area (LGA) lies immediately west of the City of Sydney and covers the suburbs of Annandale (postcode 2038), Birchgrove, Balmain and East Balmain (postcode 2041), Lilyfield and Leichhardt (postcode 2040), and Rozelle (postcode 2039).
The estimated resident population for Leichhardt in 2006 is 51,142 people. In 2001, the population was 50,456, so grew by 3% from 2001 to 2006, or 0.7% pa.
The characteristics of the community, as revealed by the 2006 Census, are explored in depth in a range of Census analysis tools commissioned by Leichhardt Council. This page introduces these tools and the main characteristics they reveal.
Evolution
Leichhardt before European settlement was home to the Gadigal people of the Eora Aboriginal nation. The current fabric of Leichhardt was mainly built in the late nineteenth century, and still retains much of the Victorian housing stock in its medium-density terrace and cottage housing. It also retains much of the transport and land-use patterns from this era, with narrow roads winding between residential and business premises.
For its first hundred years, Leichhardt a working-class community with many employed on the wharves or industrial areas. By the 1950s, the growth of new Sydney suburbs and the attractiveness of the car drew higher-income people to other places, and Leichhardt was one of the lowest income communities in Sydney, with cheap houses in many suburbs.
It was thus affordable to post-war immigrants, and culturally more familiar than suburbia, so became an early centre for the Italian and Greek communities. By the 1970’s, Leichhardt was one of the most multi-cultural areas of Australia.
From the 1970s, another transition took place. Led by the Baby-boomer generation, well-educated young people started replacing the original working-class Australian population, who were dying out, buying and restoring the old houses, planting trees, opening restaurants and cafes, and generally introducing a bohemian spirit.
The key geographic feature that has shaped the Leichhardt community from that time is its location, nested into the arc of the globally-oriented knowledge-based and high-tech industries that stretch from the airport through the Sydney CBD and North Sydney up to Macquarie Park in Ryde.
During the end of the twentieth century, a booming CBD continued as a magnet drawing in workers, many of who wanted to live close by. Leichhardt’s population changed in consequence, with more highly-paid professionals replacing blue-collar workers, and migrants from Anglo countries replacing those from Mediterranean places.
In 2006, the Census data shows, the Leichhardt community is characterised by its young, prosperous community. The two major groups in the community are the baby-boomer, typically long-term resident home-owners in their fifties, and the younger Gen X city-workers, who typically rent and leave when in their mid-thirties, and the small dwellings become too restrictive for their growing families.
Leichhardt Today - a Community Portrait
Leichhardt’s Community Portrait is a 35-page profile of the social and economic characteristics of the residents based on the 2006 and 2001 Censuses.
You can download a PDF of the whole Community Portrait here - Leichhardt Community Portrait - 366 KB, or click on "read more" at the end of the relevan.jpg)
t section for more on that topic.
The sections are:
Population and Growth
Leichhardt has an unusual ‘Christmas Tree’ shaped age-profile, with large proportions of 25-40 year-olds but relatively few aged or young residents.
Over 2001 to 2006, the retiring (55–69 years) age group grew most, as a proportion of Leichhardt's residents, gaining another 2.6% of the population, with the pre-school (0–4 years) group also growing, up by 1.9%.
Offsetting this were declines in the relative size of other life stages, such as the young adult (18–24 years) group, down by 2.9%, and the birthing age (25–39 years) group down by 1.0%.
Generation X, aged 30–44 in 2006, was the largest generation. Their population share increased by 0.7% since 2001 to 36.0%, while their numbers fell by 5,121. Their gender ratio was biased towards women, with 1.07 females per male.
Baby-boomers, aged 45 to 59 in 2006, made up the second largest generation in Leichhardt with 9,685 residents, 21% of the population. Their numbers decreased by 3,662 while their share of the population decreased by 0.6% over 2001–2006. There were 1.10 females per male.
In Leichhardt, the average number of children borne by all women aged 15+ was 0.9, and the average borne by women who had borne children was 2.1. Across Sydney, the averages were noticeably higher at 1.6 and 2.5. Read more - Population and Growth - 68 KB.
Households and Families
Households in Leichhardt tend to be small, matching the smaller dwellings. Of the 20,155 households, 6,300 or 31% were single-person households, compared with just 23% across Sydney. There were also some 1,300 other non-family households, mainly group houses with two occupants.
Of the 12,248 family households, over half have just two members, while a quarter had three members. Under a quarter had four or more members, compared with four-in-ten across Sydney.
Leichhardt has more couples without children and fewer couples with children than Sydney’s average. However, since 2001, the proportion of couples with children has increased by 5%. Compared with Sydney, relatively more residents were never married (10% more) and divorced (3% more), while fewer were married (11% fewer) and widowed (2% fewer). Read more - Households and Families - 83 KB.
Housing
There were 21,993 occupied private dwellings in Leichhardt, an increase of 310 since 2001. These were about 7,600 cottages, 8,100 attached houses (eg semi’s) and 6,000 units.
Between the 2001 to 2006 Censuses, there was a loss of around 350 occupied houses offset by an increase of 470 townhouses / semis and over 300 flats or units.
Overall, 24% of Leichhardt's occupied dwellings were fully owned, which was 7% less than Sydney, indicating fewer long-term residents. Another 32% of dwellings were being purchased, quite similar to Sydney. Most of the remaining dwellings were rented (41%), which was 10% higher than Sydney.
The average monthly mortgage paid by the 6,422 households who were paying off their home in 2006 was about $2,390, which was 22% more than Sydney. The average rent paid by the 8,316 households renting in Leichhardt in 2006 was $353 a week, which was 30% more than the Sydney average.
For more on housing, tenure, housing costs, broadband connection, and vehicles per dwelling: read more - Housing - 67 KB.
Community Capital
In 2006, 42% of Leichhardt's residents had lived in the same house for at least 5 years, compared with 51% in Sydney, and another 30% had been in their home for 1 to 5 years (27% for Sydney). Overall, if staying in the same home over a year is the indicator, local stability was lower than Sydney.
The new residents to the locality last year were mainly from New South Wales (4,613 people or 9.5% of Leichhardt's residents), with 1,202 from overseas and 727 from other states. Some 3,700 residents came from overseas within the previous five years.
In Leichhardt, 7,102 residents said that they did voluntary work for a group or organisation in the past year (17%), which was 2% higher than Sydney's average. There were 14 women volunteers for every 10 men.
Overall 3.5% of residents needed assistance with core activities in daily life – self-care, movement or communication – because of a disability. On the other hand, 10% of residents aged 15+ gave unpaid care to another needing assistance, 3,661 carers in all. Read more - Community Capital - 68 KB.
Education
In 2006, there were 4,745 school students living in Leichhardt, of whom 753 were at pre-school, 2,331 were in primary/infants school, and 1,661 were at high school.
Leichhardt's local high school, Sydney Secondary College (with Leichhardt, Balmain and Glebe campuses), reports enrolments of 1,900 in 2009, up from 1,100 over seven years. It seems to attract a majority of Leichhardt's secondary students, particularly the boys.
Leichhardt residents included 4,208 tertiary students in 2006, of whom 2,875 were at university, 840 at TAFE, and 493 at other tertiary colleges.
71% of Leichhardt residents aged 15+ said they had a tertiary qualification, and the average schooling completed was 11 years 2 months. By comparison, Sydney had 57% with tertiary qualifications and average schooling of 10 years 8 months. Read more - Education - 47 KB.
Incomes
In mid-2006, the average income from all sources of the adults (aged 15+) in Leichhardt was around $1,058 a week, which was $362 higher than the $697 average for Sydney. The average income of local women was $929 and the average of local men was 30% higher than this at $1,206.
Among households, the average income was $1,850 which was 30% more than Sydney's average of $1,420. However, one household in eight received less than $450 a week; these would be largely single pensioners. Non-family households, mainly singles, averaged $1,420 a week.
The average weekly family income in Leichhardt in July 2006 was $2,205, which was 39% or $622 a week higher than the $1,582 average for Sydney. Read more - Incomes - 41 KB.
Employment of Residents
There were 29,348 residents of Leichhardt in the workforce in 2006, 70% of the adult (aged 15+) population (this is called the workforce participation rate). About 68% of the adults were employed, and 2% were unemployed, giving an unemployment rate of 3.2% of the workforce.
Compared with Sydney, Leichhardt's workforce participation rate in 2006 was 9.6% higher and its unemployment rate was 2.1% lower. Since 2001, the participation rate had fallen by 1.8% and the unemployment rate had fallen by 0.9%.
The main industries employing Leichhardt residents in 2006 were:
- professional services, with 16% of workers
- health and social care, 10%
- financial and insurance, 10%
- education and training, 9%
- media and communications, 7%.
Creative industries have long been a characteristic of Leichhardt, but these are difficult to identify in statistics. One indicator is that over 2,000 residents worked in creative / educational occupations in 2006, including 444 designer/illustrators, 246 primary teachers, 219 architects, 117 media producers, 114 secondary teachers and 111 journalists. Overall, 17.66% of Leichhardt's workforce compared to 8% across NSW.
Leichhardt had 60% of workers in the top two occupational bands (20% were managers, including farmers and small business operators, and 40% professionals), compared with 37% for Sydney. The two lowest bands made up 5% of Leichhardt's workers (2% were drivers / machine operators and 3% were labourers), while Sydney had 14% in these occupations. Read more - Employment of Residents - 52 KB.
Community Cultures
In 2006, Leichhardt had 409 Indigenous residents, 0.8% of the residents. Of Leichhardt residents, 64% were born in Australia and 27% were born overseas. The main overseas birthplaces were United Kingdom, New Zealand, Italy, Ireland, the USA and Greece.
In 2006, 78% of Leichhardt's residents spoke English at home, which was 1% fewer than in 2001, and 14% higher than in Sydney. The main non-English languages spoken were Italian (1,653), Greek (720), Spanish (437) and Cantonese (391).
Just over half (54%) of Leichhardt residents said they were Christian in 2006; 27% said no religion, and 13% did not state their religion on the Census form. Another 2% were Buddhists, and less than 1% were Moslem, Jewish or Hindu. Read more - Community Cultures - 68 KB.
Across the Suburbs
You can download a 35-page Community Portrait of any suburb or a 2-page Snapshot of any suburb below.
The Community Analyst compares the characteristics of these suburbs with those of Leichhardt LGA and surrounding Councils. It covers similar topics to the Community Portrait. You can download the sections below.
The Local Economy
The Leichhardt Economic Portrait describes the industries, workforce, and businesses operating in Leichhardt in 2006, using Census data.
Leichhardt's workforce in 2006 was 17,815 adults aged 15+. Some 73% of this workforce were employees, 25% were small-business owner-managers (13% incorporated and 12% unincorporated) and 1.5% worked in a family business.
The largest industries by employment in 2006 were technical services, with 1,396 workers, 9% of the workforce; health & social care, with 747 workers, 10%; and retail trade, with 1,003 workers, 11% of the workforce.
In the Australian Business Register (ABR), 7,107 businesses were registered in Leichhardt in 2006, with 3,945 or 56% being non-employing (eg sole trader, holding company) while 2,100 or 30% employed under 5 people and 1,062 or 15% employed 5 or more.
The most common type of occupation in Leichhardt's workforce in 2006 was professionals of whom 4,960 were counted in the 2006 Census, 28% of the local workforce. The next largest occupation groups were managers (2,778 workers or 16%); clerical / administrative workers (2,384 or 13%); and technicians and trades workers (2,230 workers or 13%).
Overall, the municipality had a positive labour balance with 10,596 more working residents than there were jobs in the local workforce (the working population was 159% of the workforce). The labour balance was most positive amongst residents aged 25–34 years, where the working population was 2.1 times as large as the workforce that age) while working residents aged 75+ years were only 0.8 times as many as the workforce that age. Read more - Local Economy - 341 KB.