Lyons
ACT · 1 school · 3 childcare services
3,310 residents - 16.7% are children under 15, median age 36, the largest overseas-born community is Nepal (5.7%).
Family-Fit score
Our method is published belowMixed for families - strongest on socio-economic profile, weakest on childcare & early years.
- Schools in the area · 20% of the score
- 55/100
- Childcare & early years · 15% of the score
- 30/100
- Everyday amenities · 15% of the score
- 58/100
- Housing affordability · 15% of the score
- 77/100
- Families already here · 10% of the score
- 58/100
- Socio-economic profile · 10% of the score
- 78/100
ACT median 55/100
1 school in this SA2 · average government-school ICSEA 1116
ACT median 40/100
3 NQS-rated services nearby
ACT median 58/100
4 parks · 0 GPs · 2 supermarkets · 5 playgrounds
ACT median 70/100
Paying over 30% of income on housing: 6.8% of mortgage-holding households, 20.5% of renting households
ACT median 75/100
16.7% of residents are children aged 0–14 · 41.4% of families are couples with children
ACT median 89/100
SEIFA IRSAD decile 8 of 10 nationally
The grey marker on each bar is the median across the 76 Australian Capital Territory areas we publish a score for (state median overall: 62/100). It is context, not a pass mark.
Not scored here (no published data for this area, so it is left out rather than counted as zero): Getting around. The remaining inputs were rescaled to 100.
How this score is calculated
Every input is a free, already-published government figure for the Lyons 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 ACT map →
Why “Lyons (ACT)”? The ABS divides the larger suburb of Lyons into several statistical areas (SA2s); this profile covers one part of it. Other parts are listed further down. SA2 boundaries don’t always match suburb boundaries. It covers the gazetted suburb of Lyons, drawn separately on the map above.
Lyons is a locality in the Woden Valley area of Australian Capital Territory. This profile draws on ABS population and Census figures, the ACARA school register and ACECQA childcare ratings for the Lyons (ACT) SA2.
Living in Lyons
A smaller suburb. Strong Nepal communities here (2021 Census). 3 NQS-rated childcare services nearby.
What families notice
- Ranks in the top 30% for socio-economic advantage in ACT (ABS SEIFA - not a safety or school-quality measure).
- At least one nearby government school has an above-average ICSEA intake profile (1116 vs. 1000 national average).
- We don't have official school-zoning data for ACT yet (only VIC and NSW) - confirm zoning directly with the school or department.
- We don't yet have official crime data for ACT (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.
Schools, childcare & safety
Live data for the Lyons (ACT) SA2 - ACARA schools register, ACECQA childcare ratings.
Government schools in Lyons
Free government schools your child may attend. Exact school zones aren’t mapped for ACT yet, so we can’t confirm which one is yours.
A picture of students’ family backgrounds (ICSEA) - not a ranking or a quality score.
We show school intake context and catchments, not exam results. We don’t publish a school ranking.
Schools in Lyons (ACT)
- Primary · Government · Years K-2Enrolment91ICSEA1116
ICSEA reflects student intake context, not teaching quality (1000 = national average). All ACT schools →
Childcare & early learning
- Meeting NQSLyons Early Learning CentreCentre-Based Care · 77 places · LyonsRated Dec 2022 · over 3 years old, check for a more recent assessment
- Meeting NQSLyons OSHCCentre-Based Care · 65 places · LyonsRated Jun 2023 · over 3 years old, check for a more recent assessment
- Meeting NQSLyons Early Childhood School Preschool UnitCentre-Based Care · 45 places · LyonsRated Feb 2025
- Centre-based day care
- $15.77/hr
- Outside school hours care
- $12.97/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 Woden Valley 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
Official recorded-incident data is only published on this site for NSW and VIC so far - that's a coverage gap on our side, not a claim that Lyons is safe. More on safety →
Ages of people here
11% of people here are school-age children (5–14) - fewer than the Australian Capital Territory average of 12.4%, and 5.7% are under 5. The median age is 36.
- 0–4 years · before school
- 5.7%
- 5–14 years · school age
- 11%
- 15–19 years · teens
- 4.7%
- 20–34 years
- 25.5%
- 35–54 years
- 27%
- 55–64 years
- 9%
- 65 years and over
- 17.1%
ACT avg 5.9%
ACT avg 12.4%
ACT avg 5.8%
ACT avg 24.7%
ACT avg 27.6%
ACT avg 10%
ACT avg 13.7%
Share of all residents of Lyons (ACT) (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 Australian Capital Territory average, population-weighted across the 125 SA2s in the state and shown for context only - it is not a target or a pass mark.
Households and families
55% of families here have children living at home - fewer than the Australian Capital Territory average of 59%. The largest overseas-born communities are Nepal (5.7%), United Kingdom (4%) and India (3.3%). 43% 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
- 41.4%
- One-parent family
- 13.7%
- Couple, no children
- 41.9%
ACT avg 44.8%
ACT avg 13.8%
ACT avg 39.8%
What people live in
Share of occupied private dwellings. Other and unstated structures are not shown.
- Separate house
- 51.8%
- Semi-detached / townhouse
- 20.3%
- Flat or apartment
- 28%
ACT avg 65.8%
ACT avg 16.9%
ACT avg 17.1%
Owned or rented
Share of occupied private dwellings. Other and unstated tenures are not shown.
- Owned outright
- 26.2%
- Owned with a mortgage
- 25.4%
- Rented
- 42.7%
ACT avg 26.9%
ACT avg 41.3%
ACT avg 30.2%
Figures describe Lyons (ACT) (ABS Statistical Area 2) at the 2021 Census. The grey marker on each bar is the Australian Capital Territory average, population-weighted across the 125 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 Lyons (ACT)
Top 5 overseas birthplaces shown · 83.7% born in Australia or a country not in the top five.
- Nepal · growing since 2016
- 5.7%
- United Kingdom · established by 2016
- 4%
- India · established by 2016
- 3.3%
- China · established by 2016
- 1.7%
- Philippines · established by 2016
- 1.6%
ACT avg 0.9%
ACT avg 3.5%
ACT avg 3.8%
ACT avg 2.6%
ACT avg 0.7%
- Co-located communities
- Lyons (ACT) is home to established Nepal, United Kingdom and India communities - each is 2% or more of residents born overseas here, not a ranking of one against another.
- Settlement pattern
- Of overseas-born residents who stated when they arrived, 34.7% arrived in the last 5 years (2016–2021) (ACT avg 19.2%) and 32.7% arrived before 2001 (ACT avg 43.4%).
- English at home
- Of residents who speak a language other than English at home and stated their English proficiency, 9.4% report speaking English “not well” or “not at all” (ACT avg 9.9%) - a self-reported ABS figure across all languages combined, not a judgement of any one community.
Figures describe Lyons (ACT) (ABS Statistical Area 2) at the 2021 Census. The grey marker on each bar is the Australian Capital Territory average, population-weighted across the 125 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 8 of 10
- Where this sits in ACT
- top 30% of Australian Capital Territory 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 Lyons (ACT) 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, Lyons (ACT) has seen more residents born overseas and more residents speaking another language at home.
- People counted
- +539 people since 2011
- Median age
- −1 year since 2011
- Children aged 0–14
- +0.4 pts since 2011
- Born overseas
- +3.2 pts since 2011
- Speak another language at home
- +6.1 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 Australian Capital Territory - up to 76, 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.
Lifestyle & getting around
Everything mapped inside the Lyons (ACT) 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 ACT area so a number means something.
Everyday essentials
Supermarkets
Middle ACT area: 1
GPs & clinics
Middle ACT area: 0
Parks
Middle ACT area: 7
Playgrounds
Middle ACT area: 4
Train stations
Middle ACT area: 0
Libraries
Middle ACT area: 0
Community & recreation
Places of worship
Middle ACT area: 0
Community centres
Middle ACT area: 0
Swimming pools
Middle ACT area: 0
Sports centres
Middle ACT area: 0
Getting out of the area
-
Train to the city
Not publishedAustralian Capital Territory 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
MappedCanberra Hospital · 2.6 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 Lyons (ACT) 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 ACT area” is the median count across the 125 Australian Capital Territory 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 Lyons, in one place. Every line is an official published record for the Lyons (ACT) area - we don't rate, score or rank any of them, and a line we can't answer says so.
-
Flooding
Not publishedNo free statewide flood overlay is published for ACT yet, so we show none. Check the local council's planning maps.
-
Bushfire
Not publishedWe hold official bushfire mapping for Victoria and New South Wales only - nothing is published here for ACT yet. Check the state fire service's mapping.
-
Heritage controls
Not publishedWe hold official heritage overlay mapping for Victoria and New South Wales only - nothing is published here for ACT yet. Check the local council's planning scheme and the state heritage register.
-
Traffic noise
Freeway or highway presentTuggeranong Parkway
1 named road through this area carries OpenStreetMap's highest classification - a freeway, motorway or major highway, whatever the road is called locally, alongside 9 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 publishedWe hold official aircraft-noise mapping for Victoria and New South Wales only - nothing is published here for ACT yet. Check the airport's noise contours and the local planning scheme.
-
Land contamination checks
Not mappedWe hold official contaminated-land overlay mapping for Victoria only - nothing is published here for ACT yet. Check the state environment authority's contaminated land register and the local planning scheme.
-
Acid sulfate soils
Not publishedWe hold acid sulfate soil mapping for Victoria and New South Wales only - nothing is published here for ACT yet. Coastal and estuarine land is where these soils occur; check the state's soil mapping and the local planning scheme.
-
Recorded crime
Not publishedACT does not release the suburb-level incident counts we republish for New South Wales and Victoria, so we show none here.
-
Social housing
Census figure5.5% rented from a state or territory housing authority · 0.4% from a community housing provider
Share of occupied private dwellings here with a stated tenure (Census 2021). The middle ACT area is 4.8% public and 0.4% community, across 108 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 Lyons (ACT) 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
9 new homes were approved in Lyons (ACT) in the year to June 2025. Councils approved 61 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 ACT area: 8
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 Lyons (ACT) 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 58Australian Capital Territory areas with a complete series - a typical area, for context, not a target or a pass mark.
Housing cost pressure
In Lyons, 20.5% of renting households spend more than 30% of their income on rent, and 6.8% 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
- 6.8%
- Rent over 30% of income
- 20.5%
ACT avg 9.4%
Share of households WITH a mortgage whose repayments take more than 30% of income. That's 23 of 309 households with a stated repayment.
ACT avg 23%
Share of RENTING households whose rent takes more than 30% of income. That's 116 of 531 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 ACT average, weighted by household base across the SA2s in the state that report each figure (103 for mortgage and 100 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?
+1Reading the streams: overseas arrivals were the dominant force - more came from abroad than the suburb grew on its own.
Other SA2s in Woden Valley
The next zoom out - sorted by 1-year growth
- 01Phillip+8.8%7,135 ppl
- 02Chifley+1.8%2,785 ppl
- 03Isaacs+1.4%2,402 ppl
- 04O'Malley+1.2%977 ppl
- 05Torrens+1.2%2,470 ppl
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