Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is part of the South West Land Division of Western Australia, with most of the metropolitan area on the Swan Coastal Plain between the Indian Ocean and the Darling Scarp. The city has expanded outward from the original British settlements on the Swan River, upon which the city’s central business district and port of Fremantle are situated. Perth is located on the traditional lands of the Whadjuk Noongar people, where Aboriginal Australians have lived for at least 45,000 years.
HISTORY
Captain James Stirling founded Perth in 1829 as the administrative center of the Swan River Colony. It was named after the city of Perth in Scotland, due to the influence of Stirling’s patron Sir George Murray, who had connections with the area. It gained city status in 1856, although the Perth City Council currently governs only a small area around the central business district. The city’s population increased substantially as a result of the Western Australian gold rushes in the late 19th century. It has grown steadily since World War II due to a high net migration rate. Post-war immigrants were predominantly from the British Isles and Southern Europe, while more recent arrivals see a growing population of Asian descent. Several mining booms in other parts of Western Australia in the late 20th and early 21st centuries saw Perth become the regional headquarters for large mining operations.
Perth contains a number of important public buildings as well as cultural and heritage sites. Notable government buildings include Parliament House, Government House, the Supreme Court Buildings and the Perth Mint. The city is served by Fremantle Harbour and Perth Airport. It was a naval base for the Allies during World War II and today, the Royal Australian Navy‘s Fleet Base West is located on Garden Island. All five of Western Australia’s universities are based in Perth.
The city has been ranked as one of the world’s most liveable cities and was classified by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network in 2020 as a Beta global city.
As of 2021, Perth is divided into 30 local government areas and consists of more than 350 suburbs. The metropolitan boundaries stretch 123 kilometres (76 mi) from Two Rocks in the north to Singleton in the south, and 62 kilometers (39 mi) east inland to The Lakes. Outside of the central business district, important urban centers within the metropolitan area include Armadale, Fremantle, Joondalup, Midland, and Rockingham. Most of those were originally established as separate settlements and retained a distinct identity after being subsumed into the wider metropolitan area. Mandurah, Western Australia’s second-largest city, forms a conurbation with Perth along the coast, though for most purposes it is still considered a separate city.
The name Perth was selected in recognition of Perth, Scotland, as the birthplace of the Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, and Member for Perthshire in the British House of Commons, Sir George Murray. It was included in Stirling’s proclamation of the colony, read in Fremantle on 18 June 1829, which ended “Given under my hand and Seal at Perth this 18th Day of June 1829. James Stirling Lieutenant Governor”. The only contemporary information on the source of the name comes from Charles Fremantle‘s diary entry for 12 August 1829, which records that they “named the town Perth according to the wishes of Sir George Murray”.
There is no equivalent Noongar terminology for the Perth metropolitan area, it is sited primarily on Whadjuk country, which extends approximately north to Two Rocks, south to Mandurah, and east as far as York. Boorloo in East Perth, and means “big swamp”, which describes the whole chain of lakes where the CBD and Northbridge are sited. However, Boorloo is also used to denote the central business district, the local government area, or the capital city in general.
The Dutch Captain Willem de Vlamingh and his crew made the first documented sighting of the present-day Perth region by Europeans on 10 January 1697. They initially explored the area on foot, reaching what is now central Perth, having traveled up the Swan River. They named the river Swarte Swaene-Revier after the black swans of the area. Other Europeans made subsequent sightings and undertook further voyages of exploration of the area between this date and 1829, but as in the case of the observations made by Vlamingh, they adjudged the area inhospitable and unsuitable for the agriculture that would be needed to sustain a European-style settlement.
CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT
The central business district of Perth is bounded by the Swan River to the south and east, with Kings Park on the western end and the railway reserve as the northern border. A state and federally-funded project named Perth City Link sank a section of the railway line to allow easy pedestrian access between Northbridge and the CBD. The Perth Arena is an entertainment and sporting arena in the city link area that has received several architectural awards from institutions such as the Design Institute of Australia, the Australian Institute of Architects, and Colorbond. St Georges Terrace is the area’s prominent street, with a large amount of office space in the CBD. Hay Street and Murray Street have most of the retail and entertainment facilities. The city’s tallest building is Central Park, the twelfth tallest building in Australia. The CBD until 2012 was the center of a mining-induced boom, with several commercial and residential projects being built, including Brookfield Place, a 244 m (801 ft) office building for Anglo-Australian mining company BHP.
Perth, like the rest of Australia, is governed by three levels of government: local, state, and federal.
GOVERNANCE
The Perth metropolitan area is divided into thirty local government bodies, including the City of Perth which administers Perth’s central business district. The outer extent of the administrative region of Perth comprises the City of Wanneroo and the City of Swan to the north, the Shire of Mundaring, the City of Kalamunda and the City of Armadale to the east, the Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale to the southeast and the City of Rockingham to the southwest, and including the islands of Rottnest Island and Garden Island off the west coast.
Perth houses the Parliament of Western Australia and the Governor of Western Australia. As of the 2008 state election, 42 of the Legislative Assembly‘s 59 seats and 18 of the Legislative Council‘s 36 seats are based in Perth’s metropolitan area.
The state’s highest court, the Supreme Court, is located in Perth, along with the District and Family Courts. The Magistrates’ Court has six metropolitan locations.
By virtue of its population and role as the administrative center for business and government, Perth dominates the Western Australian economy, despite the major mining, petroleum, and agricultural export industries being located elsewhere in the state. Perth’s function as the state’s capital city, its economic base, and its population size have also created development opportunities for many other businesses oriented to local or more diversified markets. Perth’s economy has been changing in favor of the service industries since the 1950s. Although one of the major sets of services it provides is related to the resources industry and, to a lesser extent, agriculture, most people in Perth are not connected to either; they have jobs that provide services to other people in Perth.
As a result of Perth’s relative geographical isolation, it has never had the necessary conditions to develop significant manufacturing industries other than those serving the immediate needs of its residents, mining, agriculture, and some specialized areas, such as, in recent times, niche shipbuilding and maintenance. It was simply cheaper to import all the needed manufactured goods from either the eastern states or overseas.
Perth has also become a hub of technology-focused startups since the early 2000s that provide a pool of highly skilled jobs to the Perth community. Companies such as Appbot, Agworld, Touchgram, and Healthengine all hail from Perth and have made headlines internationally. Programs like StartupWA and incubators such as Spacecubed and Vocus Upstart are all focused on creating a thriving startup culture in Perth and growing the next generation of Perth-based employers.
EDUCATION
Students may attend either public schools, run by the state government’s Department of Education, or private schools, usually associated with a religion.
The Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) is the credential given to students who have completed Years 11 and 12 of their secondary schooling.
In 2012 the minimum requirements for students to receive their WACE changed.
The University of Western Australia, located in Crawley
Perth is home to four public universities: the University of Western Australia, Curtin University, Murdoch University, and Edith Cowan University. There is also one private university, the University of Notre Dame Australia, and a local campus of the Melbourne-based University of Divinity.
The University of Western Australia, which was founded in 1911, is renowned as one of Australia’s leading research institutions. The university’s monumental neo-classical architecture, most of which is carved from white limestone, is a notable tourist destination in the city. It is the only university in the state to be a member of the Group of Eight, as well as the Sandstone universities. It is also the state’s only university to have produced a Nobel Laureate: Barry Marshall, who graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine, and Bachelor of Surgery in 1975 and was awarded a joint Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine in 2005 with Robin Warren.
Curtin University, previously known as Western Australian Institute of Technology (1966-1986) and Curtin University of Technology (1986-2010), is Western Australia’s largest university by student population.
Murdoch University was founded in 1973 and incorporates Western Australia’s only veterinary school and, until its controversial closure in 2020, Australia’s only theology program to be completely integrated into a secular university.
Edith Cowan University was established in 1991 from the existing Western Australian College of Advanced Education which itself was formed on 11 December 1981 from the existing Teachers’ Colleges at Claremont, Nedlands, Churchlands, and Mount Lawley after Graylands had merged into Claremont, Churchlands and Mount Lawley in 1979. It incorporates the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.
The University of Notre Dame Australia was established in 1990. Notre Dame was established as a Catholic university with its lead campus in Fremantle and a large campus in Sydney. Its campus is in the west end of Fremantle, using historic port buildings built in the 1890s, giving Notre Dame a distinct European university atmosphere.
The Melbourne-based University of Divinity established a campus in Perth in 2022 through its admission of Wollaston College, the theological college of the Anglican Diocese of Perth, as a collegiate college of the University.
Colleges of TAFE provide trade and vocational training, including certificate- and diploma-level courses. TAFE began as a system of technical colleges and schools under the Education Department, from which they were separated in the 1980s and ultimately formed into regional colleges. Two are in the Perth metropolitan area: North Metropolitan TAFE (formerly Central Institute of Technology and West Coast Institute of Training); and South Metropolitan TAFE (formerly Polytechnic West and Challenger Institute of Technology).
MEDIA
The main newspapers for Perth are The West Australian and The Sunday Times. Localized free community papers cater to each local government area. The local business paper is Western Australian Business News.
Radio stations are on AM, FM and DAB+ frequencies. ABC stations include ABC News (585AM), 720 ABC Perth, Radio National (810AM), Classic FM (97.7FM) and Triple J (99.3FM). The six local commercial stations are 882 6PR and 1080 6IX on AM; Triple M Perth (92.9FM), Nova 93.7, Mix94.5, and 96FM on FM. DAB+ has mostly the same as both AM and FM plus national stations from ABC/SBS, Radar Radio, and Novanation, along with local stations My Perth Digital, Hot Country Perth, and 98five Christian radio. Major community radio stations include RTRFM (92.1FM), Sonshine FM (98.5FM), SportFM (91.3FM), and Curtin FM (100.1FM).
Perth is served by thirty digital free-to-air television channels:
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A number of annual cultural events are held in Perth. Held annually since 1953, Perth Festival is Australia’s longest-running annual cultural festival and includes the Perth Writers Festival, the Winter Arts Festival, and Fringe World. Perth also hosts annual music festivals including Listen Out, Origin, and St Jerome’s Laneway Festival. The Perth International Comedy Festival features a variety of local and international comedic talent, with performances held at the Astor Theatre and nearby venues in Mount Lawley, and regular night food markets throughout the summer months across Perth and its surrounding suburbs. Sculpture by the Sea showcases a range of local and international sculptors’ creations along Cottesloe Beach. There is also a wide variety of public art and sculptures on display across the city, throughout the year.
The Perth Cultural Centre is home to many of the city’s major arts, cultural and educational institutions, including the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Western Australian Museum, State Library of Western Australia, State Records Office, and Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA). The State Theatre Centre of Western Australia is also located there and is the home of the Black Swan State Theatre Company and the Perth Theatre Company. Other performing arts companies based in Perth include the West Australian Ballet, the West Australian Opera, and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, all of which present regular programs. The Western Australian Youth Orchestras provide young musicians with performance opportunities in orchestral and other musical ensembles.
TOURISM
The Fremantle West End Heritage area is home to hundreds of Victorian and Edwardian-era buildings.
Tourism is an important part of Perth’s economy, with approximately 2.8 million domestic visitors and 0.7 million international visitors in the year ending March 2012. Tourist attractions are generally focused around the city center, Fremantle, the coast, and the Swan River. In addition to the Perth Cultural Centre, there are dozens of museums across the city. The Scitech Discovery Centre in West Perth is an interactive science museum, with regularly changing exhibitions on a large range of science and technology-based subjects. Scitech also conducts live science demonstration shows and operates the adjacent Horizon planetarium. The Western Australian Maritime Museum in Fremantle displays maritime objects from all eras. It houses Australia II, the yacht that won the 1983 America’s Cup, as well as a former Royal Australian Navy submarine. Also in Fremantle is the Army Museum of Western Australia, situated within a historic artillery barracks. The museum consists of several galleries that reflect the Army’s involvement in Western Australia and the military service of Western Australians. The museum holds numerous items of significance, including three Victoria Crosses. Aviation history is represented by the Aviation Heritage Museum in Bull Creek, with its significant collection of aircraft, including a Lancaster bomber and a Catalina of the type operated from the Swan River during WWII.
There are many heritage sites in Perth’s CBD, Fremantle, and other parts of the metropolitan areas. Some of the oldest remaining buildings, dating back to the 1830s, include the Round House in Fremantle, the Old Mill in South Perth, and the Old Court House in the city center. Registers of important buildings are maintained by the Heritage Council of Western Australia and local governments. A late heritage building is the Perth Mint. Yagan Square connects Northbridge and the Perth CBD, with a 45-meter-high digital tower and the 9-meter statue “Wirin” designed by Noongar artist Tjyllyungoo. Elizabeth Quay is also a notable attraction in Perth, featuring Swan Bells, a panoramic view of Swan River, and the sculpture Spanda by artist Christian de Vietri.
Queen Elizabeth II as Head of the Commonwealth Nations, visited Perth which hosted the 2011 edition of their meetings.
