Inner-city Sydney suburb roughly 1–2 km south of the CBD, gentrifying fast while retaining deep Aboriginal history — Redfern became a hub for Aboriginal people entering the labour force from the 1930s and is still the heart of Aboriginal Sydney, with 3.2% of residents identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander at the 2021 census. Its population was 13,072 at the 2021 census, down from 14,616 in 2016. Parts of Redfern have been gentrified while a large public housing estate shared with Waterloo — flats, terraces and high-rise blocks — remains, and agents have long tracked prices climbing 'as gentrification shifts suburb to hip'. Housing is apartment-dominated: 68.1% of residences were flats at the 2021 census, with 28.6% semi-detached, terrace or townhouse stock. The heritage Eveleigh Railway Workshops on its southern fringe have been reborn as the South Eveleigh technology precinct.
At a Glance
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Region | Inner City |
| Council (LGA) | City of Sydney |
| Postcode | 2016 |
| Distance to Sydney CBD | Roughly 5–10 minutes by train from Redfern station: Central is the next stop citybound on most services and Town Hall one or two stops… |
| Median house price | $2,297,660 (median house value, Aug 2026, up 7.2% over the preceding 12 months — buyer's agent suburb data); an early-2026 aggregator put the median house price at $2,150,000 (auspropertyinsights) (mid-2026) |
| Median unit price | $1,245,000 (median apartment price, early 2026, auspropertyinsights), consistent with unit-focused trackers around $1.21M (atlaso Redfern… |
| Typical rent | $700/week |
| Price growth | House values rose ~7.2% over the 12 months to Aug 2026 (buyer's agent data); properties sell in about 26 days on average and the market is… |
Transport
Redfern railway station is a heritage-listed major suburban interchange on the Main Suburban line, one of the busiest stations outside the CBD. The original 'Redfern' station, opened on 26 September 1855 just north of Cleveland Street, was Sydney's first railway terminus; the present station — designed by John Whitton and originally named Eveleigh when opened in 1876 — was renamed Redfern on 21 October 1906 and added to the NSW State Heritage Register in 1999. Multiple Sydney Trains services converge there before entering the CBD — the T1 Western, T2 Inner West & Leppington, T8 Airport & South and T9 Northern lines stop at Redfern (the former T3 Bankstown line served it until the line's 2024 metro conversion). The station has no connecting bus interchange; bus stops further afield in Redfern Street serve routes to Railway Square, and Regent Street stops serve routes to Marrickville, Mascot and Banksmeadow.
Schools
Redfern Public School — NSW government primary school in the suburb (Mapcarta school directory). Alexandria Park Community School — NSW government K–12 community school serving the Waterloo/Redfern area and a major feeder for local high-school-age students. Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Primary School sits just outside the suburb on the Waterloo side. The suburb is also home to small independent Aboriginal and alternative schools, including Redfern Jarjum College and Warakirri College, and Sydney Girls High School is a short distance away in Surry Hills.
Universities
The University of Sydney's Darlington campus lies in the adjoining suburb, immediately across from Redfern within easy walking distance of the station.
Shopping & Amenities
The Redfern Street village strip holds the suburb's everyday shops, cafes and pubs, and the eateries of Surry Hills and Newtown are on its doorstep. The big drawcard is South Eveleigh, on the site of the historic Eveleigh Railway Workshops, which Mirvac transformed into a dining, retail and workplace precinct described as a world-class technology and innovation hub (Mirvac; South Eveleigh). The neighbouring Eveleigh creative hub includes Carriageworks, the multi-arts centre housed in the old railway workshop buildings (area guides).
Parks & Outdoors
Redfern Park, off Redfern Street, is the suburb's main open space, and Prince Alfred Park sits just to the north on the Surry Hills/Chippendale edge with lawns, playgrounds and a heated outdoor swimming pool (park guides). The old Eveleigh Rail Yards — the heritage Locomotive Workshops and Carriageworks site — form a striking industrial-heritage landscape at the suburb's southern end, now woven into the South Eveleigh precinct.
Property Market
The median house price in Redfern was around $2,297,660 (median house value, Aug 2026, up 7.2% over the preceding 12 months — buyer's agent suburb data); an early-2026 aggregator put the median house price at $2,150,000 (auspropertyinsights) (mid-2026). See our full Sydney property price map for how the suburb compares across the city. Gentrifying inner-city market with a mix of apartments, terraces and remaining social housing — at the 2021 census 68.1% of residences were flats and 28.6% were terrace/semi-detached. Unit-heavy stock plus new supply around South Eveleigh and the Waterloo renewal keeps prices well below eastern-suburbs rivals, but house values are climbing quickly as gentrification continues.
New Developments
South Eveleigh — Mirvac's transformation of the former Australian Technology Park/Eveleigh Railway Workshops into a technology and innovation precinct, largely completed by 2021 and planned to host about 18,000 workers, anchoring Sydney's Tech Central with tenants including CSIRO, Data61 and the Cicada Innovations deep-tech incubator (Mirvac; South Eveleigh; Rubberdesk). Waterloo estate renewal — the NSW Government's staged redevelopment of the Waterloo public housing estate (part of the Central to Eveleigh renewal area), progressively replacing old towers and walk-ups with new mixed-tenure housing. Redfern North Eveleigh — a State Significant Precinct where the NSW Government worked with Transport for NSW on the renewal of the North Eveleigh West site (NSW Planning).
Jobs & Local Economy
Technology and startups are the fastest-growing local employment base, concentrated around South Eveleigh within the Tech Central precinct — anchors include CSIRO/Data61 and Cicada Innovations (Rubberdesk; South Eveleigh tenants list). The adjacent universities (USyd, UTS), hospitals and the retail/hospitality strips of Redfern Street, Surry Hills and Newtown provide the other main local employment, and many residents commute about 5–10 minutes by train into the Sydney CBD.
Nearby Suburbs
Waterloo, Chippendale, Darlington, Alexandria, Surry Hills
Sources & method
Researched 4 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:
Corrections are welcome — if something here is out of date or wrong, tell us and we will fix it.
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