Australia’s 10 richest postcodes are all located near a port and are home to some of our most prominent billionaires – but a smaller capital city comes as a surprise, official data shows.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has ranked council areas by income, education and employment to determine ‘socioeconomic benefit’.
Sydney was home to six of Australia’s top 10 most favored areas, with three in Perth and one in Darwin, based on data from the 2021 census.
Woollahra, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, was considered the most favored local government area, and its population of 53,496 is among the very best in Australia.
Sydney Harbor’s exclusive council area covers Vaucluse and Point Piper – the home of billionaire Atlassian software co-founders Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar, former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, millionaire and Aussie Home Loans founder John Symond .
Woollahra, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, was considered the most favored local government area. Sydney Harbor’s exclusive council area includes Point Piper (pictured) – the home of billionaire Atlassian co-founders Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar, millionaire former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Aussie Home Loans founder John Symond
Sydney was home to six of Australia’s 10 most favored areas, three of which are in Perth and one in Darwin, based on data from the 2021 census (pictured is a local government map)
Mosman, across the harbor on Sydney’s lower north shore, came in second, hosting 28,329 people.
The Ku-ring-gai council – home to 124,076 residents on Sydney’s upper north coast stretching from Roseville to Wahroonga – came third.
This was despite being further away from the city and bordering Middle Harbor rather than Sydney Harbour.
The Darwin Waterfront Precinct with an artificial wave pool, next to Stokes Hill Wharf, came fourth and is so exclusive that only 293 homes live in luxury apartments.
The rest of Greater Darwin was in the top 13 percent.
The posh part of the Northern Territory capital beat out North Sydney, with a population of 68,950, Waverley in eastern Sydney with a population of 68,605 and Lane Cove on Sydney’s lower north coast with a population of 39,438.
Peppermint Grove, on Perth’s Swan River, was eighth, with its 1,597 residents among the top one percent.
The adjacent Nedlands council area – where billionaires Gina Rinehart and Kerry Stokes have waterfront mansions in Dalkeith – was ninth and is home to 22,132 people.
Cottesloe, where mining magnate Andrew Forrest has a beachfront mansion, rounded out the top 10 with 7,970 people.
The Darwin Waterfront Precinct (pictured) with an artificial wave pool, next to Stokes Hill Wharf, came fourth and is so exclusive that only 293 live in luxury apartments
The Liberal Party has only one federal electorate in one of the most privileged council areas.
Opposition company manager Paul Fletcher is the member for Bradfield, which overlaps with the Ku-ring-gai council.
Eight of the top 10 council areas fell within a teal independent electorate, with Woollahra and Waverley in Wentworth, Mosman in Warringah, North Sydney and Lane Cove in North Sydney, and Peppermint Grove, Nedlands and Cottesloe in Curtin.
Despite representing some of Australia’s hottest postcodes, Independent MPs Zali Steggall (Warringah), Kylea Tink (North Sydney) and Kate Chaney (Curtin) this week signed an open letter with the Australian Council of Social Service calling for to an increase in JobSeeker, now at $693.10 for a single jobless person.
Labor has the Solomon federal electorate in the Darwin Waterfront Precinct.
Cottesloe, where mining magnate Andrew Forrest has a beachfront mansion, rounded out the top 10 with 7,970 people
The ABS ranked local government areas in deciles, with specific council areas of Sydney, Perth, Melbourne and Adelaide, and Canberra falling within the top 10 per cent in terms of socioeconomic benefit.
Melbourne’s wealthiest borough, Stonnington, covering Toorak in the inner east of the city, was in the top two percent and falls within the federal Labor seat of Higgins.
The wealthiest council areas of the Victorian capital also include Melbourne, Monash, Bayside, Banyule, Whitehorse, Manningham, Nilumbik, Yarra, Glen Eira and Port Phillip and the coastal areas of Queenscliffe and the Surf Coast.
Sydney’s Supreme Councils also included the Northern Beaches, Hunters Hills, Willoughby, Hornsby, Inner West, Parramatta, Canada Bay, Ryde, Strathfield, Sutherland, Sydney and the Hills Shire.
In regional New South Wales, the Yass Valley fell into this category.
Adelaide’s Burnside council in the foothills of the Adelaide Hills, Adelaide Hills and Mitcham, Unley and Walkerville near the city were at the highest level for advantage.
So did the Australian Capital Territory, which covered Canberra, and the Perth councils of East Fremantle, Cambridge, Claremont, Melville, Mosman Park, Perth and Subiaco, along with the Shark Bay Western Australian regional council.
Brisbane, a large super-council area covering most of the city and suburbs, was among the top 11 percent.
Noosa on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast was in the top 19 per cent of local government areas, while Gympie, 42 miles (67 km) inland, was in the bottom 15 per cent of council areas.