Cattai, NSW 2756

Rural riverside suburb on the Hawkesbury River at Sydney's far north-western fringe, about 44 km north-west of the Sydney CBD and 30 km north-west of Parramatta. Cattai is bounded to the north-west by the Hawkesbury River and is traversed by Cattai Creek; rather than suburban blocks it is largely small-acreage hobby farms and rural holdings, places that were originally little more than a few properties on the banks of the river until Sydney's westward spread turned them into outer suburbs. The suburb holds the heritage-listed Cattai Estate — the Georgian homestead built between 1804 and 1821 by First Fleet assistant surgeon and magistrate Thomas Arndell, with 1860s additions — within Cattai National Park at the junction of Cattai Creek and the river, plus a historic public school dating from 1886. It had 1,077 residents at the 2021 census (median age 40) and remains a quiet, semi-rural river community prized for acreage, river frontage and open space.

At a Glance

Transport

Cattai has no railway station — the nearest is Windsor on the T1 Richmond line, roughly a 10–15 minute drive south-west of the suburb. Public transport is otherwise limited to low-frequency through-bus routes operated by Busways, which lists Cattai among the suburbs served by route 679 (Maraylya to Windsor via McGraths Hill) and route 672 (Wisemans Ferry to Windsor via Pitt Town & Oakville loop), plus school-coach services that travel through Cattai and Maraylya; residents are overwhelmingly car-dependent (Busways; Galston High School bus timetable).

Schools

Cattai Public School — NSW government primary school (K–6) in the suburb, a historic rural school founded in 1886 that now operates with modern classrooms and facilities. There is no secondary school inside Cattai or in the immediately surrounding rural suburbs (Maraylya and Pitt Town to the south hold only primary schools); secondary students travel to nearby centres such as Oakville's Arndell Anglican College or high schools in the Windsor/South Windsor and Galston areas, with dedicated school coaches running through Cattai. Note that Arndell Anglican College was founded in 1990 on Threlkeld Drive in Cattai but relocated to Oakville in 1994.

Shopping & Amenities

Cattai has no shopping centre, supermarket or main street — retail is limited to scattered local businesses such as Cattai Joinery, and Cattai's post office (opened 1906) closed in 1994. Everyday groceries and services mean driving to the small Boundary Road village strip in neighbouring Maraylya or to the Windsor town centre. The suburb's main commercial facility is Riverside Oaks Golf Resort, an 18-hole championship course, accommodation and function venue at 74 O'Briens Road.

Parks & Outdoors

Cattai's north-western boundary follows the Hawkesbury River, giving much of the suburb river frontage, and Cattai Creek runs through it to the river. Cattai National Park sits in the suburb at the junction of the creek and the river: the park has two parts — the popular Cattai Farm area flanked by the Hawkesbury River and the quieter Mitchell Park area — and encompasses the heritage-listed Cattai Estate, including Thomas Arndell's early-19th-century Georgian cottage and homestead, with river lookouts, picnic areas and bush tracks. Riverside Oaks Golf Resort (74 O'Briens Road) is the suburb's largest recreational facility, and the river itself supports boating and fishing from the Cattai foreshore.

Property Market

The median house price in Cattai was around ~$2.14M (median house price, buyer's-agent data, Aug 2026, down 9.2% over 12 months); property.com.au put the 5+ bedroom median at ~$2.96M on just 8 sales in the preceding 12 months (mid-2026). See our full Sydney property price map for how the suburb compares across the city. Sales are very thin — this is an acreage suburb of large rural holdings and riverfront properties, so every median sits on a tiny sample and tracker estimates swing widely: buyer's-agent data recorded a ~$2.14M median house price in Aug 2026 (down 9.2% y/y), property.com.au put the 5+ bedroom median at ~$2.96M on 8 sales, and auspropertyfinder's acreage-segment median was ~$2.78M with a ~$655/week rent. Housing is almost entirely detached houses on large lots with no unit market, and holdings range from hobby farms to substantial riverfront acreages, so figures of roughly $2.0M–2.9M should be read as indicative rather than precise.

New Developments

Development in Cattai is minimal — the suburb remains rural, low-density acreage with no residential estate releases, and no significant development applications were identified in research. Planning activity centres on heritage and conservation: Cattai Estate is listed on the NSW State Heritage Register, and Cattai National Park protects the suburb's river and creek frontage from urban encroachment.

Jobs & Local Economy

Local employment is modest: farming and hobby-acreage, small local businesses such as Cattai Joinery, and hospitality, events and course maintenance at Riverside Oaks Golf Resort. Many residents commute out of the suburb to employment and retail centres such as Windsor, Norwest and the Rouse Hill area (Aussie Towns).

Nearby Suburbs

Ebenezer, South Maroota, Canoelands, Glenorie, Maraylya, Pitt Town, Wilberforce

Sources & method

Researched 5 September 2026 from named public sources — census and government records, transport authorities, council and planning documents — plus published sales data. Where sources disagree on a figure, the guide says so rather than picking one.

Sources cited in this guide:

• Transport for NSW
• NSW Government

Corrections are welcome — if something here is out of date or wrong, tell us and we will fix it.

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