Balga, Western Australia

Balga is a suburb of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, 13 kilometres (8 mi) north of Perth city's central business district (CBD). Its local government area is the City of Stirling.

Balga
Perth, Western Australia
Balga
Coordinates31.859°S 115.839°E / -31.859; 115.839
Established1954
Postcode(s)6061
Area5.2 km2 (2.0 sq mi)
Location13 km (8 mi) N of Perth
LGA(s)City of Stirling
State electorate(s)Girrawheen
Federal Division(s)Stirling
Suburbs around Balga:
Warwick Girrawheen Koondoola
Hamersley Balga Mirrabooka
Balcatta Westminster Mirrabooka

The name "Balga" was adopted in 1954 and is the Noongar (Aboriginal) word for the indigenous grass tree Xanthorrhoea preissii.[1] It was designed by the State Housing Commission along with Nollamara and Westminster as part of the "Mirrabooka Project", and the laying of streets and building of homes commenced in the 1960s.

Geography

Balga is 13 kilometres (8 mi) north of Perth, and is bounded by Wanneroo Road to the west, Reid Highway to the south, Mirrabooka Avenue to the east and Beach Road to the north.[2]

Demographics

At the 2011 census, Balga had a population of 10,701.[3]

Balga residents had a median age of 31, and median incomes were well below average for the Perth metropolitan area and the region — $490 per week compared with $669 per week in Perth, and $685 in the Perth North West statistical region. The population of Balga was more ethnically diverse than the Perth average, with 49.1% born in Australia and significant minorities from Sudan, Italy, Macedonia, Vietnam and Burma identified in the 2011 census. At the 2011 census, 3.72% of residents identified as Indigenous Australians.

Education

Balga contains a state high school, Balga Senior High School which opened in 1970; three state primary schools, Balga (1965), North Balga (1968) and Warriapendi (1970); one special school, the Gladys Newton School; and one private school, Majella Catholic Primary School (1971). Additionally, a campus of North Metropolitan TAFE (formerly known as Polytechnic West) is in the southeast of the suburb.

Balga Senior High School includes an Intensive English Centre for newly arrived refugee students, a program for teenage parents, a sports-based education program for indigenous students, and an emphasis on literacy, numeracy, health and careers through all levels of the school. It is one of the few high schools in Western Australia not to offer a Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) program, although several students each year complete a university preparation course conducted by Edith Cowan University.

Transport

The suburb is served by a number of Transperth bus routes operated by Swan Transit (374-375, 385-389) and Path Transit (371 and 376). The 374 (Mirrabooka-Darch-Whitfords) and 375 (Mirrabooka-Alexander Heights) covers Marangaroo Drive and inner portions of the Suburb, the 389 (Perth–Wanneroo) covers Wanneroo Road, and the 386 (Perth–Kingsway City Shopping Centre, Madeley), 385(Perth to Kingsway City Shopping Centre, Madeley)(limited stops), 371 (Warwick Station to Mirrabooka Station via Treen St) routes along with various routes from Mirrabooka bus station, 376 covers eastern end of the suburb and 449 covers for the northern end.

gollark: Most people don't do that.
gollark: They are a bit more expensive than consoles.
gollark: And computer, actually.
gollark: Why consoles?
gollark: I mean, probably trying to keep a monopoly by putting up unfair barriers to competitors, yes, but probably not monopolies.

References
  1. Western Australian Land Information Authority. "History of metropolitan suburb names – B". Retrieved 3 August 2009.
  2. Department of Land Information. StreetSmart Perth Street Directory (54th ed.). West Australian Newspapers Ltd. pp. Map 282, 312. ISBN 978-0-909439-67-5.
  3. Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "State Suburbs: Balga". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
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