Far West
New South Wales · Broken Hill and Far West, Far West and Orana
Live · ABS ERP June 2025
The median age is 43, higher than the middle New South Wales area (40, Census 2021).
Far West has 6 schools (5 government, 1 non-government; ACARA School Profile 2025) and 10 NQS-rated childcare services (ACECQA register). Population is 2,302 (ABS ERP June 2025).
Far West at a glance
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Boundaries: ABS Suburbs & Localities 2021. School pins are ACARA's published locations. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors, © CARTO. Open the full NSW map →
How the Family-Fit score is built69/100
Family-Fit score
Method published in fullStrong for families - strongest on childcare & early years, weakest on socio-economic profile.
- Schools in the area · 20% of the score
- 60/100
- Childcare & early years · 15% of the score
- 100/100
- Everyday amenities · 15% of the score
- 89/100
- Getting around · 15% of the score
- 100/100
- Housing affordability · 15% of the score
- 51/100
- Families already here · 10% of the score
- 47/100
- Socio-economic profile · 10% of the score
- 11/100
NSW median 70/100
6 schools in this SA2 · average government-school ICSEA 763
NSW median 90/100
10 NQS-rated services nearby
NSW median 78/100
12 parks · no GP mapped (not counted) · 2 supermarkets · 7 playgrounds
NSW median 50/100
3 train stations in this SA2 (no train-time data for NSW yet)
NSW median 38/100
Paying over 30% of income on housing: 23.5% of mortgage-holding households, 18.7% of renting households
NSW median 67/100
18.1% of residents are children aged 0–14 · 31.9% of families are couples with children
NSW median 56/100
SEIFA IRSAD decile 2 of 10 nationally
The grey marker on each bar is the median across the 612 New South Wales areas we publish a score for (state median overall: 64/100). It is context, not a pass mark.
How this score is calculated
Each published figure for the Far West SA2 is mapped onto 0–100 by fixed thresholds, then weighted. Inputs with no data here are dropped and the rest rescaled - never scored as zero. Every threshold and weight →
School results, crime and flood or bushfire overlays are not graded into this score. Limits of the score →
What families notice
What families notice
- This address is zoned to Wilcannia Central School (government, no fees).
- 12 parks mapped inside this SA2 (OpenStreetMap).
- 6 schools sit inside this SA2 - more choice than most areas this size.
- We don't yet have official crime data for NSW (only NSW and VIC) - that's a data gap on our side, not a claim this area is safe.
- We don't yet have property or rent figures for this area - check a real-estate portal directly for current prices.
- This area's SEIFA index is lower than most of NSW - a relative socio-economic measure, not a safety or quality rating.
Living in Far West: family snapshot
Living in Far West
A smaller suburb. Many childcare options nearby - 10 NQS-rated services. Mostly detached family homes.
Far West compared with New South Wales10 measures
| Measure | Far West | NSW average | Against NSW |
|---|---|---|---|
| Children aged 0 to 4 | 5.4% | 5.8% | About the same |
| Children aged 5 to 14 | 12.8% | 12.4% | About the same |
| Couple families with children | 31.9% | 44.5% | Lower |
| One-parent families | 22.9% | 15.9% | Higher |
| Homes owned outright | 44.6% | 31.9% | Higher |
| Homes owned with a mortgage | 11.0% | 33.7% | Lower |
| Homes rented | 32.7% | 32.5% | About the same |
| Separate houses | 93.4% | 67.4% | Higher |
| Flats and apartments | 0.9% | 20.3% | Lower |
| Born overseas | 4.0% | 29.3% | Lower |
Source: ABS Census 2021. The NSW figure is the population-weighted average of the 641 NSW areas with a published value. "Higher" and "Lower" describe the number only.
About this area and its boundary
Far West is a locality in the Broken Hill and Far West area of New South Wales. This profile draws on ABS population and Census figures, the ACARA school register and ACECQA childcare ratings for the Far West SA2.
2,302 residents - 18.1% are children under 15, median age 43.
This profile uses the ABS Far West statistical area (SA2) - the level Australian government data is published at. SA2 boundaries don’t always match suburb boundaries. It covers the gazetted suburbs of Broken Hill, Wilcannia, Menindee, Ivanhoe, White Cliffs, Tibooburra, Wanaaring and Packsaddle and 8 more localities, drawn separately on the map above.
Property market
No free house sale price or 3-bedroom house rent is published for this area. 32.7% of homes are rented, against 32.5% across New South Wales.
Homes and households
Source: ABS Census 2021. Where the shares do not add to 100%, the rest is "other" or "not stated".
Housing cost pressuremortgage and rent against income
Housing cost pressure
In Far West, 18.7% of renting households spend more than 30% of their income on rent, and 23.5% of households with a mortgage spend more than 30% on repayments - the ABS's stretched-household threshold (Census 2021).
ABS published figures, not our calculation.
- Mortgage over 30% of income
- 23.5%
- Rent over 30% of income
- 18.7%
NSW avg 17.3%
Share of households WITH a mortgage whose repayments take more than 30% of income. That's 19 of 58 households with a stated repayment.
NSW avg 35.5%
Share of RENTING households whose rent takes more than 30% of income. That's 45 of 188 households with a stated rent.
The two figures cover different households (mortgage-holding vs renting), so never add them. How the ABS counts these → Grey marker: NSW average (622 for mortgage and 622 for rent). Census 2021 - housing costs have moved since. Not financial advice.
What's being built herenew homes approved, year by year
What's being built here
3 new homes were approved in Far West in the year to June 2025. Councils approved 15 new dwellings here across the 4 years to June 2025 - an approval is permission to build, not a home that exists yet.
Approved in the year to June 2025
Middle NSW area: 37
Separate houses
Private sector, over the 2 of these 6 years where the breakdown is published
Townhouses & apartments
Private sector, over the 2 of these 6 years where the breakdown is published
The ABS did not publish a figure for every year between 2020 and 2025 here, so we draw no line - a chart with a hole closed up would misstate the shape of the change.
Counts are for the whole Far West statistical area. What these counts include → Dashed line: the median of 599New South Wales areas.
Schools and childcare
6 schools are located in the area, and the centre of the area is zoned to Wilcannia Central School. 10 childcare services are on the national register, 10 rated Meeting the National Quality Standard or above.
Wilcannia Central School
The government school your child can attend for free by living in Far West.
This is the zoned government school for the centre of Far West (NSW catchment data) - addresses elsewhere in the suburb may be zoned to a different school.
See the catchment on the mapThe government Year 7 zone for the centre of Far West (NSW catchment data) - addresses elsewhere in the suburb may be zoned to a different school.
Fee-paying schools can’t be enrolled in by zone - they’re shown for context, not as the area’s school quality.
We show school intake context and catchments, not exam results. We don’t publish a school ranking.
All school zones in the Central Darling council area →
To look beyond Far West, every New South Wales school is on the Australian schools and catchment zones map.
Find the school zone for an address in Far West
Type a street address in Victoria, NSW or Queensland. We show the government primary and secondary school zones it is in, from the official zone maps.
Your address goes from your browser straight to OpenStreetMap's address search to find it on the map. We never see it or store it. Address search © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Schools in Far West
- Students
- 65
- ICSEA
- 673
- Students
- 74
- ICSEA
- 760
- Students
- 29
- ICSEA
- 747
- Students
- 25
- ICSEA
- 740
- Students
- 17
- ICSEA
- 873
- Students
- 4
- ICSEA
- not published
ICSEA reflects student intake context, not teaching quality (1000 = national average). Source: ACARA School Profile 2025. All NSW schools →
Childcare: 10 services
National Quality Standard ratings from the ACECQA register, refreshed Oct 2026. Services are matched by suburb name.
Childcare services, ratings and fees10 services
- Exceeding NQSRainbow Pre-School - Broken HillCentre-Based Care · 59 places · Broken HillRated Apr 2026
- Exceeding NQSBroken Hill Public School PreschoolCentre-Based Care · 20 places · Broken HillRated May 2026
- Exceeding NQSWilcannia Central School Barlu Kurli PreschoolCentre-Based Care · 20 places · WilcanniaRated Sep 2025
- Meeting NQSBusy Kids Child CareCentre-Based Care · 80 places · Broken HillRated Dec 2025
- Meeting NQSHappy Day Preschool and Long Day CareCentre-Based Care · 71 places · Broken HillRated Jul 2026
- Meeting NQSPCYC- Out Of School Hours Broken HillCentre-Based Care · 45 places · Broken HillRated Nov 2025
- Meeting NQSEXPLORERS EL PTY LTDCentre-Based Care · 24 places · Broken HillRated Oct 2022 · over 3 years old, check for a more recent assessment
- Meeting NQSSilverlea Long Day CareCentre-Based Care · 22 places · Broken HillRated Sep 2026
- Meeting NQSAlma Public School Bugdlie PreschoolCentre-Based Care · 20 places · Broken HillRated Dec 2023
- Meeting NQSMenindee Children's CentreCentre-Based Care · 20 places · MenindeeRated Apr 2021 · over 3 years old, check for a more recent assessment
Verify locations before visiting. A rating over 3 years old is flagged. What the NQS ratings mean → Childcare places per child, by suburb →
Who lives here
Fewer people born overseas than New South Wales overall: 4.0% of residents, against 29.3% statewide.
Ages of people here
Share of residents in each age band, in years. Source: ABS Census 2021.
How the area is changingCensus 2011 to 2021
Each line is drawn on its own scale, so compare the numbers, not the heights. Source: ABS Census 2011, 2016 and 2021; Travel Zone Projections 2024 (TZP24), Transport for NSW forecast, published for the council area, not the suburb.
Census trends against the middle NSW areafull charts
Which way this area is moving
The 2011, 2016 and 2021 Censuses for Far West, counted on today's boundaries.
Since 2011, Far West has grown older, with a smaller share of children and fewer residents born overseas.
- People counted
- −396 people since 2011
- Median age
- +4 years since 2011
- Children aged 0–14
- −2.0 pts since 2011
- Born overseas
- −2.0 pts since 2011
- Speak another language at home
- −0.5 pts since 2011
Usual residents counted on Census night.
Half the residents are older than this, half younger.
Share of all residents. The clearest signal of families arriving or moving on.
Share of all residents born outside Australia.
Share of residents who stated a language, speaking one other than English at home.
The dashed line is the median across the New South Wales areas we profile. How the three Censuses line up →
How many people will live around hereofficial forecast
How many people will live around here
The rest of this page looks backwards. This is the one number that looks forward - and it is the state government's own, not ours. Travel Zone Projections 2024 (Transport for NSW) projects the Central Darling council area, which contains Far West along with its neighbouring suburbs, to shrink to 2,090 people by 2041: 90 fewer people than the 2,180 counted in 2021.
This is the council area, not Far West. Central Darling is a whole local government area covering many suburbs, and neither state publishes a projection for a single suburb. Growth is never spread evenly across a council - a greenfield estate and an established street inside the same council will move very differently - so read this as the direction of the wider area a suburb sits in, not as a forecast for its own streets. Only the years the publisher itself lists are plotted: nothing is filled in between them, and nothing is carried past 2041. A projection is an assumption about the future, not a measurement of it, and it will be revised - this one was released 2024. These figures sit on the projection's own series, so they are not directly comparable with the ABS resident-population and Census counts elsewhere on this page, which use different geographies and different years.
Where this year's population change came from-0.40% in a year
Where did the loss come from?
-10Reading the streams: overseas arrivals were the dominant force - more came from abroad than the suburb grew on its own.
Ages against the state average, band by band
Ages of people here
12.8% of people here are school-age children (5–14) - about the New South Wales average of 12.4%, and 5.4% are under 5. The median age is 43.
- 0–4 years · before school
- 5.4%
- 5–14 years · school age
- 12.8%
- 15–19 years · teens
- 5.6%
- 20–34 years
- 16.9%
- 35–54 years
- 25.1%
- 55–64 years
- 14.1%
- 65 years and over
- 19.8%
NSW avg 5.8%
NSW avg 12.4%
NSW avg 5.7%
NSW avg 20.3%
NSW avg 26.3%
NSW avg 11.9%
NSW avg 17.6%
Share of all residents of Far West (ABS Statistical Area 2) at the 2021 Census; the grey marker is the New South Wales average. How the bands and averages work →
Households and families
Households and families
55% of families here have children living at home - fewer than the New South Wales average of 60%. The largest overseas-born communities are United Kingdom (0.9%), New Zealand (0.8%) and Germany (0.4%). 33% of homes are rented.
Family make-up
Share of all families in the area. A small "other family" group the ABS also counts is not shown.
- Couple with children
- 31.9%
- One-parent family
- 22.9%
- Couple, no children
- 44.2%
NSW avg 44.5%
NSW avg 15.9%
NSW avg 37.9%
What people live in
Share of occupied private dwellings. Other and unstated structures are not shown.
- Separate house
- 93.4%
- Semi-detached / townhouse
- 3.4%
- Flat or apartment
- 0.9%
NSW avg 67.4%
NSW avg 11.6%
NSW avg 20.3%
Owned or rented
Share of occupied private dwellings. Other and unstated tenures are not shown.
- Owned outright
- 44.6%
- Owned with a mortgage
- 11%
- Rented
- 32.7%
NSW avg 31.9%
NSW avg 33.7%
NSW avg 32.5%
Figures describe Far West (ABS Statistical Area 2) at the 2021 Census; the grey marker is the New South Wales average. How these are counted →
Birthplaces, languages and communities
Who lives in Far West
Top 5 overseas birthplaces shown · 97.2% born in Australia or a country not in the top five.
- United Kingdom · established by 2016
- 0.9%
- New Zealand · growing since 2016
- 0.8%
- Germany · growing since 2016
- 0.4%
- Fiji · growing since 2016
- 0.4%
- Ireland · growing since 2016
- 0.3%
NSW avg 3.2%
NSW avg 1.1%
NSW avg 0.1%
NSW avg 0.2%
NSW avg 0.1%
- Nearby
- Barmera, Waikerie and Peterborough - Mount Remarkable also have an established United Kingdom community.
- Settlement pattern
- Of overseas-born residents who stated when they arrived, 5.7% arrived in the last 5 years (2016–2021) (NSW avg 16.2%) and 65.9% arrived before 2001 (NSW avg 52%).
- English at home
- Of residents who speak a language other than English at home and stated their English proficiency, 0% report speaking English “not well” or “not at all” (NSW avg 13.5%) - a self-reported ABS figure across all languages combined, not a judgement of any one community.
Figures describe Far West (ABS Statistical Area 2) at the 2021 Census. The ABS publishes only the five largest communities per area, so a missing name did not rank in the top five. How these are counted →
Socio-economic index (SEIFA)decile 2 of 10
- Decile (1 lowest, 10 highest)
- Decile 2 of 10
- Where this sits in NSW
- bottom 20% of New South Wales areas
A relative comparison of the whole area against all of Australia - not a safety, liveability, or school-quality measure. What IRSAD measures → Source: ABS SEIFA 2021, IRSAD index (SA2).
Getting around and lifestyle
2 supermarkets and 12 parks are mapped in the area, and the nearest emergency department is White Cliffs Health Service, 43.9 km away in a straight line.
Mapped inside the Far West boundary. A zero can mean "not mapped" rather than "not there". Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Train to the city and nearest emergency department
Train to the city
Not publishedNew South Wales publishes its timetable data behind a free developer account we have not yet set up, so we show no travel time here. This is a gap on our side, not a statement about the transport in this area.
Nearest emergency department
MappedWhite Cliffs Health Service · 43.9 km
Straight-line distance from the middle of this area - not a drive time. In an emergency call 000; do not plan around this figure.
Community and recreation
Out with a baby
Public-toilet facilities recorded on the National Public Toilet Map - not every place in the area that will let you change a baby.
About this data
Counts of features tagged in OpenStreetMap inside the Far West boundary. “Middle NSW area”: the median of 634 New South Wales areas. How these counts and times are made →
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors · baby-facility counts from the National Public Toilet Map (Continence Foundation of Australia, funded by the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, CC BY 3.0 AU)
Crime & safety in Far West
We don't have an official incident count matched to this specific area yet - that's a data gap on our side, not a claim that Far West is safe. SuburbRadar does not rate suburbs as safe or unsafe. More on crime & safety →
Risks
3 of the 4 planning and hazard records we hold show something in this area: bushfire, heritage controls and traffic noise. 3 more are not published for NSW - treat them as not checked.
Bushfire
Designated Bush Fire Prone LandPresent in this area
Heritage controls
In an official overlayPresent in this area
Traffic noise
Freeway or highway presentBarrier Highway · Myers Street
Each line is the extent of an official record across the whole Far West area - not a risk rating, and a specific address may or may not be affected. Not financial or insurance advice.
All 9 checks and what each one means
Flooding
Not publishedNew South Wales publishes flood planning maps council by council, with no free statewide layer we can republish - check the local council's flood planning map for this area.
Bushfire
Designated Bush Fire Prone LandPresent in this area
Part of this area is mapped as Bush Fire Prone Land by the NSW Rural Fire Service. This designation is drawn broadly around vegetation across most of NSW, so read it as "check the property", not as a measure of how exposed the area is.
Heritage controls
In an official overlayPresent in this area
Part of this area sits inside the heritage layer in the local environmental plan, so changes to buildings there - extensions, demolition, sometimes even paint colours - need planning approval. It applies property by property: most homes in an area with an overlay are not in it, and being in one is a protection as much as a restriction. Almost every NSW area contains some heritage-listed land, so read this as "check the address", not as something that sets this area apart.
Traffic noise
Freeway or highway presentBarrier Highway · Myers Street
2 named roads through this area carry OpenStreetMap's highest classification - a freeway, motorway or major highway, whatever the road is called locally, alongside 40 named main roads. Roads are counted by name, not by mapped segment. Where a home sits relative to them matters far more than the count - a street two blocks back can be quiet.
Aircraft noise
Not mappedNew South Wales maps aircraft-noise contours only where a council or precinct plan writes them in - four councils and the Western Sydney Airport precinct do. Sydney Airport's contours are published federally in its master plan and are not in the state layer, so read this as "nothing mapped here", not as a quiet area.
Land contamination checks
Not mappedNew South Wales records contaminated land in the EPA's searchable register of notified sites rather than in a planning-scheme map layer, so we have no overlay to show for this area. Search the NSW EPA contaminated land record for a specific address - nothing mapped here means we have not checked it, not that the land is clear.
Acid sulfate soils
None mappedNew South Wales classifies acid sulfate soils in the planning instruments of its coastal and estuarine councils only, and none is mapped in this area. These soils form in low-lying coastal sediments, so away from the coast and the estuaries there is nothing to map - read this as outside the mapped zone rather than as a soil test.
Recorded crime
Not publishedNo suburb-level incident record matched this area in the published statistics.
Social housing
Census figure10.4% rented from a state or territory housing authority · 6.8% from a community housing provider
Share of occupied private dwellings here with a stated tenure (Census 2021). The middle NSW area is 1.6% public and 0.7% community, across 624 areas. Listed because families ask; it is a fact about who owns the homes, not a judgement about the people in them.
About this data
Every line is an official published record for the Far West area - we don't rate, score or rank any of them. Where a line is missing, treat it as not checked rather than clear. What each line covers and does not →
Source: NSW Rural Fire Service Bush Fire Prone Land, © State Government of NSW and NSW Rural Fire Service · NSW Planning EPI Heritage, Airport Noise + Acid Sulfate Soils, © State of New South Wales, Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure - CC BY 4.0 · ABS Census 2021 (G37 tenure and landlord type) · © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) - road classification
Nearby suburbs
- Broken Hill 165 km
- Cobar 277 km
- Wentworth-Balranald Region 305 km
- Wentworth (Buronga area) 313 km
- Bourke (Brewarrina area) 326 km
- Hay 377 km
The six closest profiled areas in New South Wales, by distance between area centres.
The suburbs in this area
Everything else on this page is published for Far West as a whole - one ABS statistical area covering 16 separate gazetted suburbs. These are the figures published for each of those suburbs on its own.
| Suburb | Residents Census 2021 | Schools | Median house price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broken Hill | 17,706 | 10 | $255k |
| Wilcannia | 735 | 2 | none published |
| Menindee | 537 | 1 | none published |
| Ivanhoe | 261 | 1 | none published |
| White Cliffs | 156 | 1 | none published |
| Tibooburra | 95 | 1 | $255k |
| Wanaaring | 81 | 1 | $210k |
| Packsaddle | 73 | 0 | $255k |
| Milparinka | 67 | 0 | $255k |
| Silverton | 48 | 0 | $255k |
| Sunset Strip | 42 | 0 | none published |
| Broughams Gate | 34 | 0 | $255k |
| Mutawintji | 30 | 0 | $255k |
| Fowlers Gap | 26 | 0 | $255k |
| Little Topar | 19 | 0 | $255k |
| Scotia | 12 | 0 | none published |
Each row is that suburb's own published figure - nothing here is the wider area's number divided up. Resident counts are the Census 2021 usual-resident count for the gazetted suburb, so they will not add up to the population at the top of this page, which is the ABS's later June 2025 estimate for the whole statistical area: a different measure on a different date. Schools are ACARA-registered schools whose published address falls inside the suburb boundary, which is not the same as the school your address is zoned to. Median house prices in New South Wales are published by postcode, not by suburb (marked *), so suburbs sharing a postcode show the same figure - it describes the postcode, not the individual suburb. Every other figure on this page - crime & safety, overlays, commute, amenities, projections, the Family-Fit score - is published for the whole statistical area and cannot be separated by suburb.
Other areas in Broken Hill and Far Westsorted by growth in one year
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