Ashcroft, New South Wales
Ashcroft is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 35 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the [City of Liverpool, New South Wales|Liverpool (New South Wales)|City of Liverpool].
History
The suburb was formed as part of the Housing Commission's Green Valley development. It was named Ashcroft after the pioneering family in the district that gave the land for the site of this development. The Ashcroft family was active in establishing meat wholesaling and retailing activities at the Homebush Bay abattoir. E.J. Ashcroft was a butcher at Liverpool in the 1890s. Although named earlier, Ashcroft was officially gazetted on 7 April 1972. Ashcroft Post Office opened on 3 May 1965 and closed in 1985.Demographics
According to the 2021 Census, there were 3,634 people in Ashcroft.- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 4.0% of the population.
- 51.0% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were Vietnam 8.3%, Lebanon 4.9%, and Iraq 4.8%.
- 35.1% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Arabic 21.2%, and Vietnamese 12.6%.
- The most common responses for religion were Islam 23.9% and Catholic 17.7%. The suburb of Ashcroft is somewhat unique in the fact that most of its residents are religious, bucking a trend reflected in the 2021 Census with 15.5% of residents marking themselves with No Religion compared to an average of 38.4% in the nation.
Notable residents
- Mark Latham – former leader of the Australian Labor Party.
- Joseph Gatehau – finalist on the 2006 series of Australian Idol.X-Factor finalist Mahogany, attended Ashcroft High School.
- Brad Fittler – a Rugby league great, a former Ashcroft resident and also attended Ashcroft High School.
- Jason Taylor – former professional rugby league footballer and former coach of the South Sydney Rabbitohs, a former Ashcroft resident and also attended Ashcroft High School.
- Ben Te'o – Rugby league player with South Sydney Rabbitohs attended Ashcroft High School.
- Junior Paulo – Rugby League player for Canberra Raiders attended Ashcroft High School.