Lakemba
NSW · 6 schools · zoned Hampden Park Public School · 11 childcare services
17,756 residents - 24.8% are children under 15, median age 32, the largest overseas-born community is Bangladesh (15.0%).
Family-Fit score
Our method is published belowMixed for families - strongest on childcare & early years, weakest on socio-economic profile.
- Schools in the area · 20% of the score
- 69/100
- Childcare & early years · 15% of the score
- 100/100
- Everyday amenities · 15% of the score
- 88/100
- Getting around · 15% of the score
- 50/100
- Housing affordability · 15% of the score
- 11/100
- Families already here · 10% of the score
- 99/100
- Socio-economic profile · 10% of the score
- 0/100
NSW median 70/100
6 schools in this SA2 · average government-school ICSEA 944
NSW median 90/100
11 NQS-rated services nearby
NSW median 67/100
12 parks · 2 GPs · 5 supermarkets · 7 playgrounds
NSW median 50/100
1 train station in this SA2 (no train-time data for NSW yet)
NSW median 38/100
Paying over 30% of income on housing: 29.2% of mortgage-holding households, 46.1% of renting households
NSW median 67/100
24.8% of residents are children aged 0–14 · 60.7% of families are couples with children
NSW median 56/100
SEIFA IRSAD decile 1 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: 63/100). It is context, not a pass mark.
How this score is calculated
Every input is a free, already-published government figure for the Lakemba SA2, mapped onto 0–100 by the fixed thresholds written below, then weighted. Inputs with no published data for this area are dropped and the rest rescaled - never scored as zero. We publish this method in full; the point of the score is that you can check it.
Read the bars, not just the number. Two inputs - school intake profile and SEIFA - both partly reflect how wealthy an area is, so they tend to move together. That is a real limitation of the score, which is why the breakdown is shown next to it.
What is deliberately not in it. School results (NAPLAN or VCE), crime, and flood or bushfire overlays are not graded into this score. Those appear elsewhere on this page as the official figures themselves, described in words - never reduced to a grade.
Sources: ACARA school register, ACECQA National Quality Standard register, OpenStreetMap, state GTFS timetables, ABS Census 2021, ABS SEIFA 2021 and the ABS housing affordability indicators. Where each dataset comes from →
Boundaries: ABS Suburbs & Localities 2021. School pins are ACARA's published locations. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors, © CARTO. Open the full NSW map →
This profile uses the ABS Lakemba statistical area (SA2) - the level Australian government data is published at. SA2 boundaries don’t always match suburb boundaries. It covers the gazetted suburb of Lakemba, drawn separately on the map above.
Lakemba is a locality in the Canterbury area of New South Wales. This profile draws on ABS population and Census figures, the ACARA school register and ACECQA childcare ratings for the Lakemba SA2.
Living in Lakemba
A mid-sized suburb particularly popular with young families. Strong Bangladesh and India communities here (2021 Census). Many childcare options nearby - 11 NQS-rated services. Mostly apartments and units.
What families notice
- This address is zoned to Hampden Park Public School (government, no fees).
- 12 parks mapped inside this SA2 (OpenStreetMap).
- 6 schools sit inside this SA2 - more choice than most areas this size.
- About 46% of renters here spend over 30% of income on rent - above the standard affordability guideline (ABS Census 2021).
- This area's SEIFA index is lower than most of NSW - a relative socio-economic measure, not a safety or quality rating.
Schools, childcare & safety
Live data for the Lakemba SA2 - ACARA schools register, ACECQA childcare ratings, police-recorded incidents.
Hampden Park Public School
The government school your child can attend for free by living in Lakemba.
This is the zoned government school for the centre of Lakemba (NSW catchment data) - addresses elsewhere in the suburb may be zoned to a different school.
See the catchment on the mapFee-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.
Schools in Lakemba
- Combined · Independent · Years K-12Enrolment946ICSEA1041
- Primary · Government · Years K-6Enrolment859ICSEA966
- Secondary · Catholic · Years 7-12Enrolment730ICSEA999
- Primary · Independent · Years K-6Enrolment399ICSEA1049
- Primary · Catholic · Years K-6Enrolment176ICSEA1024
- Special · Government · Years UEnrolment36ICSEA921
ICSEA reflects student intake context, not teaching quality (1000 = national average). All NSW schools →
Childcare & early learning
- Meeting NQSColonial Pre-School and Child Care Centre - LakembaCentre-Based Care · 45 places · LakembaRated Jan 2026
- Meeting NQSLakemba Children's CentreCentre-Based Care · 44 places · LakembaRated May 2026
- Meeting NQSSunny Kids LakembaCentre-Based Care · 44 places · LakembaRated Feb 2025
- Meeting NQSMini Minds MontessoriCentre-Based Care · 40 places · LakembaRated Dec 2022 · over 3 years old, check for a more recent assessment
- Meeting NQSSCECS OSHC St Therese LakembaCentre-Based Care · 40 places · LakembaRated Apr 2021 · over 3 years old, check for a more recent assessment
- Meeting NQSArabic Australian Child Care CentreCentre-Based Care · 39 places · LakembaRated Mar 2021 · over 3 years old, check for a more recent assessment
- Meeting NQSStar Kids Long Day Care and PreschoolCentre-Based Care · 39 places · LakembaRated May 2023 · over 3 years old, check for a more recent assessment
- Meeting NQSStay & Play Early Learning CentreCentre-Based Care · 33 places · LakembaRated Dec 2023
- Meeting NQSKids World Child Care CentreCentre-Based Care · 29 places · LakembaRated Jun 2024
- Meeting NQSKoorana Croydon St Pre SchoolCentre-Based Care · 24 places · LakembaRated Mar 2026
- Working Towards NQSWhizz Kidzz Early Childhood CentreCentre-Based Care · 22 places · LakembaRated Jun 2026
- Centre-based day care
- $13.65/hr
- Outside school hours care
- $11.17/hr
Mean hourly fee across CCS-approved services, December quarter 2025 - Dept of Education. Published at SA3 level (a wider area than this suburb's SA2), so it's an average across Canterbury and surrounds, not this specific service list.
NQS = National Quality Standard, the government benchmark ACECQA rates every service against - from "Working Towards" (below benchmark) up through "Meeting", "Exceeding" and "Excellent". Services matched by suburb name on the ACECQA register - verify locations before visiting. Ratings are reassessed periodically, not on a fixed schedule - a rating over 3 years old is flagged so you know to check for anything more recent.
Safety - recorded incidents
- Incidents, latest year
- 766
- vs previous year
- 0%
- vs 2021
- 854
- Theft 238
- Assault 162
- Against justice procedures 84
- Intimidation, stalking and harassment 79
- Malicious damage to property 74
Police-recorded incident counts (Calendar years; latest = Jan-Dec 2025). These are not population-adjusted and are not a judgement about the suburb - larger, busier areas record more incidents. More on safety →
Ages of people here
15.4% of people here are school-age children (5–14) - more than the New South Wales average of 12.4%, and 9.4% are under 5. The median age is 32.
- 0–4 years · before school
- 9.4%
- 5–14 years · school age
- 15.4%
- 15–19 years · teens
- 4.7%
- 20–34 years
- 26.1%
- 35–54 years
- 25.9%
- 55–64 years
- 8.1%
- 65 years and over
- 10.5%
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 Lakemba (ABS Statistical Area 2) at the 2021 Census. Bands are the ABS’s own age groups, combined only where whole groups sit side by side - nothing is split or estimated inside a group. The seven shares cover everyone, but they don’t total exactly 100%: the ABS adjusts small counts slightly to protect privacy. The grey marker on each bar is the New South Wales average, population-weighted across the 641 SA2s in the state and shown for context only - it is not a target or a pass mark.
Households and families
75% of families here have children living at home - more than the New South Wales average of 60%. The largest overseas-born communities are Bangladesh (15%), India (8.8%) and Pakistan (5.3%). 59% 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
- 60.7%
- One-parent family
- 14.3%
- Couple, no children
- 22.1%
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
- 25.6%
- Semi-detached / townhouse
- 4.1%
- Flat or apartment
- 69.9%
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
- 20.5%
- Owned with a mortgage
- 19%
- Rented
- 59.4%
NSW avg 31.9%
NSW avg 33.7%
NSW avg 32.5%
Figures describe Lakemba (ABS Statistical Area 2) at the 2021 Census. The grey marker on each bar is the New South Wales average, population-weighted across the 641 SA2s in the state and shown for context only - it is not a target or a pass mark. The ABS does not publish every breakdown for smaller areas, so some groups may be missing.
Who lives in Lakemba
Top 5 overseas birthplaces shown · 64.3% born in Australia or a country not in the top five.
- Bangladesh · established by 2016
- 15%
- India · growing since 2016
- 8.8%
- Pakistan · established by 2016
- 5.3%
- Lebanon · established by 2016
- 3.4%
- Vietnam · established by 2016
- 3.2%
NSW avg 0.2%
NSW avg 2.3%
NSW avg 0.1%
NSW avg 0.5%
NSW avg 0.9%
- Co-located communities
- Lakemba is home to established Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Lebanon and Vietnam communities - each is 2% or more of residents born overseas here, not a ranking of one against another.
- Nearby
- Wiley Park, Punchbowl and Bankstown - South also have an established Bangladesh community.
- Settlement pattern
- Of overseas-born residents who stated when they arrived, 26.7% arrived in the last 5 years (2016–2021) (NSW avg 16.2%) and 29.8% 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, 19.6% 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 Lakemba (ABS Statistical Area 2) at the 2021 Census. The grey marker on each bar is the New South Wales average, population-weighted across the 641 SA2s in the state and shown for context only - it is not a target or a pass mark. The ABS publishes only the five largest communities per suburb, so a name missing from the list didn’t rank in the top five - not that nobody from it lives here. “Established by 2016” means that community was already a comparable share of the population at the 2016 Census; “growing since 2016” means its share has grown substantially since then. Both are facts about population change, not a ranking of one community against another.
Socio-economic index (SEIFA)
- Decile (1 lowest – 10 highest)
- Decile 1 of 10
- Where this sits in NSW
- bottom 10% of New South Wales areas
IRSAD (the Index of Relative Socio-economic Advantage and Disadvantage) ranks this SA2 against every other area in Australia on income, education, occupation and other Census indicators, then groups them into ten equal-sized deciles. It's a relative comparison of the whole area - not a safety, liveability, or school-quality measure, and it says nothing about any individual household.
Which way this area is moving
A single census tells you what Lakemba is like now. Three tell you which way it has been heading. These are the 2011, 2016 and 2021 Censuses counted on today's boundaries.
Since 2011, Lakemba has grown older, with fewer residents speaking another language at home.
- People counted
- +1,583 people since 2011
- Median age
- +2 years since 2011
- Children aged 0–14
- −0.1 pts since 2011
- Born overseas
- +0.9 pts since 2011
- Speak another language at home
- −2.8 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 areas we profile in New South Wales - up to 612, counting only those that report that same measure at all three Censuses, which differs slightly by measure. It is a typical area to read this one against, not a state total, and not a target this suburb is meant to hit. Each chart carries its own axis, drawn to fit its own numbers, so compare the labelled values rather than the steepness of one chart against another. Every figure is an ABS published count, or a share of two of them - there is no index or score here, and a direction is not a verdict: a rising median age or a falling share of children is simply a change, not a better or worse suburb. The three censuses are reported on 2021 SA2 boundaries, so changes are not caused by boundary redraws. ABS adjusts small counts slightly to protect confidentiality, so treat small movements as noise.
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 Canterbury-Bankstown council area, which contains Lakemba along with its neighbouring suburbs, to grow to 442,780 people by 2041: 70,180 more people than the 372,600 counted in 2021.
This is the council area, not Lakemba. Canterbury-Bankstown 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.
Lifestyle & getting around
Everything mapped inside the Lakemba boundary, plus how long it takes to leave it. Counts are of features tagged in OpenStreetMap - we don't score or rank them, and each one is shown next to the middle NSW area so a number means something.
Everyday essentials
Supermarkets
Middle NSW area: 2
GPs & clinics
Middle NSW area: 1
Parks
Middle NSW area: 17
Playgrounds
Middle NSW area: 9
Train stations
Middle NSW area: 0
Libraries
Middle NSW area: 1
Community & recreation
Places of worship
Middle NSW area: 1
Community centres
Middle NSW area: 0
Swimming pools
Middle NSW area: 0
Sports centres
Middle NSW area: 0
Getting out of the area
-
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
MappedCanterbury Hospital · 2 km
Straight-line distance from the middle of this area to the nearest hospital tagged with an emergency department - not a drive time, and not necessarily the closest by road. General emergency departments treat children as well as adults. In an emergency call 000; do not plan around this figure.
Counts are of features tagged in OpenStreetMap inside the Lakemba boundary, not a register of everything that exists - community mapping is uneven, so a zero can mean "not mapped" rather than "not there", and a shop or clinic just over the boundary won't appear here even if it is the one you'd use. “Middle NSW area” is the median count across the 635 New South Wales areas we hold counts for - context, not a target. Areas differ hugely in size, so we never turn these counts into a rate, index or score. Verify anything you're relying on with a local directory or a visit.
Risks & things to check
The checks families run one by one before committing to Lakemba, in one place. Every line is an official published record for the Lakemba area - we don't rate, score or rank any of them, and a line we can't answer says so.
-
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
Not designatedNo part of this area is mapped as Bush Fire Prone Land by the NSW Rural Fire Service.
-
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 presentCanterbury Road · Wiley Avenue · King Georges Road
3 named roads through this area carry OpenStreetMap's highest classification - a freeway, motorway or major highway, whatever the road is called locally, alongside 6 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
Classified in the local planPresent in this area
Part of this area is classified for acid sulfate soils in the local environmental plan, which means work disturbing the soil below a set depth needs council consent. Acid sulfate soils are harmless while they stay wet and buried; digging into them - for a pool, footings, a basement or drainage - exposes them to air and produces acid that eats concrete and steel and can kill fish downstream, so excavation may need a management plan. The class describes how close the soils are likely to sit to the surface, not how bad they are. Much of the low-lying land around the coast and its rivers is classified, so read this as "check before you dig", not as something that sets this area apart.
-
Recorded crime
Official counts published766 incidents
Police-recorded criminal incidents in Calendar years; latest = Jan-Dec 2025, unchanged on the prior year. A count, not a rate - busier areas with more shops, stations and visitors record more incidents than quiet ones of the same size. Full breakdown ↑
-
Social housing
Census figure2.0% rented from a state or territory housing authority · 0.7% 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.
Hazard lines republish the extent of an official overlay across the whole Lakemba area - they are not a risk rating, hazard score or insurance assessment, and we compute none. A specific address inside the area may or may not be affected: check the current planning scheme and your insurer. Not financial or insurance advice. The traffic line names the roads mapped inside the area - it is not a noise measurement or a decibel estimate, and we compute neither: what a specific home hears depends on distance, traffic volume, speed, barriers and terrain, which no free dataset publishes. The heritage, aircraft-noise and land-contamination lines are planning controls rather than hazards, and apply property by property - the contamination line flags land an audit must check before it is used for housing or childcare, never land found to be contaminated. The acid-sulfate line covers coastal and estuarine land only, because that is where those soils form - inland, "none mapped" means outside the mapped zone, not a soil test. We don't yet cover EPA notices, mine subsidence, landslide or coastal erosion - where a line is missing, treat it as not checked rather than clear.
What's being built here
12 new homes were approved in Lakemba in the year to June 2025. Councils approved 167 new dwellings here across the 6 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 these 6 years
Townhouses & apartments
Private sector, over these 6 years
An approval is not a building. These are dwellings a council approved; some are never built, and the ones that are usually take years, so this is a signal of what is planned around a suburb, not a count of homes standing in it. It is also not a forecast - nothing here is projected forward. The total covers every dwelling approved, public and private; the houses and apartments figures are the private-sector split the ABS publishes, and the two do not add up to the total wherever public housing was approved. Figures are for the whole Lakemba statistical area, which usually covers more than one suburb, and are counts only - never divided by land area or population, and never combined into a score. The dashed line is the median of the 599New South Wales areas with a complete series - a typical area, for context, not a target or a pass mark.
Property & rent
- Median house price
- $1,625,000
- House price YoY
- +19.9%
- Median 3BR house rent
- $850/wk
Housing cost pressure
In Lakemba, 46.1% of renting households spend more than 30% of their income on rent, and 29.2% of households with a mortgage spend more than 30% on repayments - the ABS's stretched-household threshold (Census 2021).
How many households here are stretched by what they pay for housing. The 30% line is the ABS's own long-standing threshold - these are their published figures, not our calculation.
- Mortgage over 30% of income
- 29.2%
- Rent over 30% of income
- 46.1%
NSW avg 17.3%
Share of households WITH a mortgage whose repayments take more than 30% of income. That's 268 of 817 households with a stated repayment.
NSW avg 35.5%
Share of RENTING households whose rent takes more than 30% of income. That's 1,324 of 2,644 households with a stated rent.
The two figures cover different households - one counts only households paying off a mortgage, the other only households renting - so they are shown separately and must not be added or averaged. Income is the ABS's imputed household income; their published percentage also counts households that did not state a repayment or rent, which is why it does not equal the two counts above divided by each other. The grey marker on each bar is the NSW average, weighted by household base across the SA2s in the state that report each figure (622 for mortgage and 622 for rent), and is context only - not a target. Census 2021 - housing costs have moved since. Not financial advice.
Where did the gain come from?
+135Reading the streams: overseas arrivals were the dominant force - more came from abroad than the suburb grew on its own.
Other SA2s in Canterbury
The next zoom out - sorted by 1-year growth
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