Redfern: Gentrified Terraces, Public Housing and Sydney's Indigenous Heart

Redfern is a suburb of 11,300 people at the crossroads of old Sydney and new. The median age is 36. Household incomes sit at $2,150 per week. The workforce is 83% white collar, with 50.3% working as professionals in science and tech (22.7%), health (12.5%) and education (9.7%). Redfern has 131 hip venues and 11 nightclubs, earning a hip score of 83 out of 100. The 12-minute commute to the CBD by public transport is one of the shortest in Sydney.

But the statistics hide deep contrasts. Public housing makes up 16.4% of dwellings, by far the highest in any suburb in this study. Homelessness runs at 2.4%. The safety score is just 6.4 out of 100. The suburb is 56.2% Australian-born, with 13.2% Asian and 8.4% Northern and Western European residents. Redfern was historically the centre of urban Indigenous life in Sydney, and its identity is still shaped by that heritage alongside waves of gentrification. The suburb is 60.9% non-religious, and residents stay 4.3 years on average.

The starkest divide in Redfern runs along the public housing corridor. The Morehead Street pocket records a median age of 61 and household incomes of just $435 per week. Only 41% of residents are Australian-born, while 29.7% are Asian. One block away, the Morehead Street and Walker Street area has the lowest Australian-born share in the suburb at 30.3%, with 47.2% Asian residents, a median age of 66 and incomes of $406 per week. These are the large social housing towers that define Redfern's southern edge.

The Elizabeth Street and Kettle Street pocket is similar. The median age is 61, incomes sit at $457 per week, and 12.4% of residents are Asian. Cooper Street and Elizabeth Street records incomes of $414 per week with a median age of 52. These are pockets where elderly public housing residents, many from non-English-speaking backgrounds, live alongside the gentrifying streets around them.

The gentrified core runs along Bourke Street. The Bourke Street area near Charles Street is 69.1% Australian-born with incomes of $2,339 per week. Further north, Bourke Street near Maddison Street records 54.7% Australian-born, 12.3% Asian and 12.5% Northern and Western European, with incomes of $3,263 per week. These are the renovated terraces that sell for well over $2 million.

The Baptist Street corridor is more mixed. Baptist Street near Boronia Street is 54.4% Australian-born with 25.1% Asian and incomes of $2,924 per week. But Baptist Street near Bourke Street jumps to 73.8% Australian-born with just 2.7% Asian and incomes of $3,227. The transition from public housing to private ownership happens block by block.

The new-build precinct around Gibbons Street has the suburb's largest microburb (777 people), where only 49.1% are Australian-born, 21.0% are Asian and 3.9% are South Asian. This is the recently developed high-rise zone near Redfern Station, attracting young renters with a median age of 31.

Redfern votes strongly left. Left-wing voting is at 68.7% versus 21.0% on the right. The conservatism score is 16.2%. The gentrifying professional class, the public housing tenants and the inner-city renters all tend to vote Labor or Greens, though for different reasons. The result is a suburb that trends progressive on both social and economic issues. Redfern sits within the federal seat of Sydney, one of the safest left-leaning electorates in the country.