Dharruk, New South Wales
# Dharruk, New South Wales

Dharruk (/dærʌk/) is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 46 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Blacktown and is part of the Greater Western Sydney region.

Dharruk is chiefly a residential suburb with almost no industry or commercial activity. The only other significant activity in the suburb is education, with the Mount Druitt campus of Chifley College and Dawson Public School occupying much of the suburb. The boundaries of Dharruk are defined by Carlisle Avenue to the east, Popondetta Road to the west, Jersey Road to the north and Woodstock Avenue to the south.

## History

Dharruk is derived from the name of the Darug people, an Aboriginal tribe associated with the area west of Sydney.

## Population

According to the 2016 census of Population, there were 2,774 people in Dharruk.

* Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 5.1% of the population.
* 61.5% of people were born in Australia. The next most common country of birth was New Zealand at 3.9%.
* 60.1% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Arabic 7.6% and Samoan 3.9%.
* The most common responses for religion were Catholic 28.1%, No Religion 17.1%, Anglican 13.5% and Islam 10.3%.

## Housing

Housing in Dharruk is almost entirely low density in nature and is a mixture of private residential development and former NSW Housing Commission estate; most homes in the suburb were built between the late 1960s and the mid-1970s. The Housing Commission properties were erected in the north eastern portion of the suburb (in the vicinity of Dawson Public School); however, the majority of housing in Dharruk consists of slightly newer homes built by private residential development companies in the 1970s. As elsewhere in NSW, many of the former Housing Commission properties have been transferred to private ownership. The 2016 Australian census indicated that 30% of occupied private dwellings in Dharruk were rented while approximately 65% were owned outright or in conjunction with a mortgage.

## Commercial area

While there are limited commercial and retail outlets within Dharruk, the suburbs of Emerton, Plumpton, and Mount Druitt are all in very close proximity and offer access to a wide range of supermarkets, banks, and department stores.

## Schools

Chifley College's Mount Druitt campus is located within Dharruk. Formerly Mount Druitt High School (established 1969), it is named for Ben Chifley, Australian Prime Minister of Australia from 1945 to 1949. Nearby is Dawson Public School (established 1972).

