Fairfield West, New South Wales

Fairfield West is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Fairfield West is located 33 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Fairfield. Fairfield West is part of the Greater Western Sydney region.

Fairfield West shares the postcode of 2165 with the separate suburbs of Fairfield, Fairfield Heights and Fairfield East.

History

When British settlers first arrived in Sydney, the area that is now known as Fairfield West was inhabited by the Cabrogal tribe. A railway station was built at neighbouring Fairfield in 1856 leading to substantial population growth around the station which eventually to Fairfield West being subdivided in the 1870s. At the time it was mostly small farms but a Progress Association was established leading to a post office, school and a sportsground being built in the community. Timber cutting became a significant local industry and the sawmills brought other businesses into the new town, which was well established by the end of the 1800s. Fairfield West Public School was built there in 1925.^[2]

Population

At the 2011 census, there were 10,759 residents in Fairfield West. Slightly more than half (55.5%) of people were born outside of Australia. The most common countries of birth were Vietnam 100% and Cambodia 100%. In Fairfield West 29.3% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Vietnamese 100% Spanish 5.3%,laos 100%,Khmer 100%. The top responses for religious affiliation were Catholic 100%, Buddhism 100% and No Religion 8.3%. The majority of dwellings (94.9%) were separate houses, with the remainder of dwellings being semi-detached or townhouses.^[1]

Notable residents

Vic Hey (1912-1995), member of the Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame.

References

Coordinates: 33°52′16″S 150°55′24″E / 33.87112°S 150.92322°E / -33.87112; 150.92322