The western suburbs (also known as the golden triangle) [1] are an informally defined group of suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, located west of the city's central business district and north of the Swan River. The western suburbs are well known for high incomes, high house prices, riverfront mansions, private schools and proximity to ocean beaches.
Local governments/councils in the western suburbs:
Local governments/councils partially in the western suburbs:
The western suburbs contains some unusually small local governments. The Shire of Peppermint Grove is the smallest one in Australia, at 1.1 square kilometres (0.42 sq mi). [2] The Towns of Cottesloe, Claremont and Mosman Park are also quite small, at 3.9 km2 (1.5 sq mi), 4.9 km2 (1.9 sq mi) and 4.3 km2 (1.7 sq mi) respectively.
Due to the small size of some local councils, some provide shared services such as libraries and rubbish collection as it's impractical to do so individually. The councils of Cottesloe, Mosman Park and Peppermint Grove jointly fund and manage The Grove Library. In addition, the councils of Claremont, Nedlands and Subiaco, as well as the aforementioned councils form the Western Suburbs Library Group, which have a shared catalogue and membership database. [3] The councils of Cambridge, Claremont, Cottesloe, Mosman Park, Peppermint Grove and Subiaco provide a shared rubbish collection service, under the Western Metropolitan Regional Council. [4]
Proposals to merge local governments in the western suburbs are generally met with opposition from residents. [2] Most recently in 2014, when the Barnett Government released the Local Government Advisory Board report on metropolitan local government reform recommending the amalgamation of Claremont, Cottesloe, Mosman Park, Nedlands and Peppermint Grove into a new council tentatively named the City of Riversea, and the absorption of Cambridge and a small part of Stirling into Subiaco, as part of a wider plan to reduce the number of councils in Perth from 30 to 16, [5] [6] the councils involved opposed the mergers, with the Shire of Peppermint Grove even spending ratepayer funds on launching legal action. [7] [8] In 2015, the proposal was scrapped.
The state electoral districts of Churchlands, [9] Cottesloe [10] and Nedlands [11] cover the western suburbs. These electoral districts were some of the safest seats in the state for the Liberal Party.
The Division of Curtin covers the western suburbs. [12] Kate Chaney is the division’s current federal politician.
Suburbs of the western suburbs, with local government in brackets:
Of these suburbs, nine were in Perth's top ten most expensive suburbs as of 2021. Those suburbs, starting from the most expensive, were Peppermint Grove, Dalkeith, Cottesloe, City Beach, Nedlands, Claremont, Swanbourne, Floreat and Mosman Park. [13] As of 2021, all of the western suburbs had a median house price above $1,000,000 (save for Karrakatta, for which there was no data). [13] At the top end, Peppermint Grove had a median price of $2,995,000, while Wembley Downs had the lowest median price of $1,117,500. [13]
The western suburbs have two local newspapers: the local print edition of Seven West Media's PerthNow [14] and The Post , which is independent. [15]
Private schools in the western suburbs include Christ Church Grammar School, Hale School, Iona Presentation College, John XXIII College, Methodist Ladies' College, Newman College, Presbyterian Ladies' College, Scotch College and St Hilda's Anglican School for Girls. These schools are some of the most prestigious, high achieving and expensive schools in Western Australia. [16] [17]
There is currently a shortage of public high schools in the western suburbs. In 2000, Hollywood Senior High School and Swanbourne Senior High School were merged to form Shenton College, and in 2005, City Beach Senior High School was shut down. This meant that the only comprehensive high schools in the western suburbs after 2005 were Churchlands Senior High School and Shenton College. In the 2010s, the student enrolment at these schools increased rapidly. As of 2021, these two schools have the highest number of students of any school in Western Australia, at 2,797 and 2,404 respectively. [18] Churchlands had a record of 34 transportable classrooms in 2018. [19] In 2020, Bob Hawke College opened to alleviate some of the pressure on these two schools. The school is planned to have a capacity of 2,000 students in 2025. [20]
The only other public high school in the western suburbs is Perth Modern School, which is the state's only fully-selective public high school, and has students from all over Perth.
There are 137 local government areas (LGAs) in Western Australia, which comprise 27 cities, 102 shires, and 8 towns that manage their own affairs to the extent permitted by the Local Government Act 1995. The Local Government Act 1995 also makes provision for regional local governments (referred to as "regional councils", established by two or more local governments for a particular purpose.
The City of Nedlands is a local government area in the inner western suburbs of the Western Australian capital city of Perth, about 7 kilometres (4 mi) west of Perth's central business district. The city is situated within the western suburbs of the metropolitan area—known colloquially as the “golden triangle” for the concentration of wealth and high housing values.
Claremont is a western suburb of Perth, Western Australia, on the north bank of the Swan River.
Cottesloe is a western suburb of Perth, Western Australia, within the Town of Cottesloe. Cottesloe was named for Thomas Fremantle, 1st Baron Cottesloe, a prominent Tory politician and the brother of Admiral Sir Charles Fremantle for whom the city of Fremantle was named. The nearby suburb of Swanbourne was named for the Fremantle family seat, Swanbourne House, in Swanbourne, Buckinghamshire.
Peppermint Grove is an affluent western suburb of Perth, Western Australia on the north bank of the Swan River at Freshwater Bay. Its local government area, the smallest in the country, is the Shire of Peppermint Grove. The suburb was named after the Swan River peppermint trees lining many streets. The suburb has long been associated with Western Australia's wealthiest and oldest families. Their prosperity is reflected in the many historical houses in the area, such as The Cliffe and the Federation Queen Anne style St Just. Colin Barnett, a former Premier of Western Australia, dubbed the suburb "Monaco of WA" due to its small size and concentration of wealth. It is also known as millionaire’s row and had the highest income of any suburb in Australia in 2022.
Subiaco is an inner-western suburb of Perth, the capital of Western Australia. It is approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) west of Perth's central business district, in the City of Subiaco local government area. Historically a working-class suburb containing a mixture of industrial and commercial land uses, since the 1990s the area has been one of Australia's most celebrated urban redevelopment projects. It remains a predominantly low-rise, urban village neighbourhood centred around Subiaco train station and Rokeby Road.
Shenton College is a public co-educational senior high school, located in Shenton Park, an inner western suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Like many WA high schools, it is a partially selective school with out-of-area students accepted on a number of criteria. It is one of the largest schools in Western Australia, with 2,839 enrolled students as of 10 May 2024.
Swanbourne is a western coastal suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Nedlands. It is an affluent, upper middle class residential area with older Federation style homes, many being renovated. The suburb was established in the late 19th century. New housing estates have been built recently through the redevelopment of areas such as the Swanbourne Senior High School, Swanbourne Primary School and Lakeway Drive-In Cinema sites.
The Division of Curtin is an Australian electoral division in Western Australia.
The Division of Fremantle is an electoral division of the Australian House of Representatives in Western Australia.
Jolimont is a small western suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Subiaco, although a small portion of the suburb is administered by the Town of Cambridge west of the CBD. The suburb is believed to be named after the Melbourne suburb of Jolimont, which was in turn named after "Jolimont" - the residence of Governor La Trobe. Its postcode is 6014.
Stirling Highway is, for most of its length, a four-lane single carriageway and major arterial road between Perth, Western Australia and the port city of Fremantle in Western Australia on the northern side of the Swan River. The speed limit is 60 km/h (37 mph). East of Crawley, it continues as Mounts Bay Road which links Crawley and the nearby University of Western Australia to the Perth central business district.
Cottesloe is a Legislative Assembly electorate in the state of Western Australia. Cottesloe is named for the western Perth suburb of Cottesloe, which falls within its borders. Its previous member, Colin Barnett, was the 29th Premier of Western Australia. The current member, David Honey, was elected in a by-election after Barnett resigned in 2018.
Nedlands is a Legislative Assembly electorate in the state of Western Australia. Nedlands is named for the inner western Perth suburb of Nedlands, which falls within its borders.
AmpFest - Clash of the Bands is an initiative of a West Australian Youth Advisory Council (YAC) and has been held in May each year since 2003 by five Councils, in the western suburbs of Perth, comprising the City of Nedlands, the Town of Claremont, the Town of Mosman Park, the City of Subiaco and the City of Vincent. The Town of Cambridge was one of the original organising Councils but withdrew and was replaced by the City of Nedlands. The project is designed to provide young Perth bands with an opportunity to further their skills in the music industry and provide them with a platform to play their music in a public arena, as well as provide other young people with the opportunity to attend free, local, live, all-ages entertainment.
The Town of Cottesloe is a local government area in the western suburbs of Perth, the capital of Western Australia. It covers the suburb of the same name as well as a tiny portion of the suburb of Claremont. Cottesloe is located 11 kilometres (7 mi) west of Perth's central business district, covers an area of 3.9 square kilometres (1.5 sq mi), maintains 45.7 km of roads and had a population of approximately 7,500 as at the 2016 Census. Cottesloe is served by Swanbourne, Victoria Street, Grant Street and Cottesloe train stations, all operated through the Fremantle Railway Line. Various bus routes operate along Stirling Highway, enabling transport through the suburb's western and eastern precincts with Perth and Fremantle. All services are operated by the Public Transport Authority. The Town of Cottesloe's inclusion of walk and cycle paths enable it to be a walkable precinct.
The Shire of Peppermint Grove is a local government area in Perth, Western Australia, 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) southwest of the Perth central business district. At 1.1 km2 (0.42 sq mi), it is the smallest local government area in Australia; it contains only the eponymous suburb, Peppermint Grove. The council comprises seven elected councillors, with no ward divisions.
Sunset Coast is the name given to the coastal section of the northern metropolitan area of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia. While the name is not in extensive use locally, with its many white sand beaches Sunset Coast has been a centrepiece of Western Australian tourism planning since the 1990s and is used in interstate and overseas marketing of the region.
Post Newspapers comprises the four editions of a community newspaper covering a group of western suburbs in Perth, Western Australia.
The Perth metropolitan region or the Perth metropolitan area is the administrative area and geographical extent of the Western Australian capital city of Perth and its conurbation.