Kardinya, WA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Kardinya is a low-density residential suburb about 13 kilometres south-south-west of central Perth, in the City of Melville. Before European settlement the area was part of the country of the Beeliar group of the Whadjuk Noongar people. It drew little interest when the Swan River Colony was founded in 1829, as it lay far from the rivers that served as the colony's early highways. From 1870 a cluster of lots here was granted to Pensioner Guards — British army veterans — and worked as piggeries, poultry farms and vineyards. Much of the surrounding land was set aside for the University of Western Australia and later planted as the Somerville Pine Plantation. First called Ellis, the suburb was renamed Kardinya in 1961; the name is of Aboriginal origin, said to mean either 'sunrise' or 'place of the racehorse goanna'. Housing spread from the late 1960s, and the suburb now centres on Kardinya Park shopping centre, with Murdoch University just beyond its south-eastern edge.
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Kardinya is more socio-economically advantaged than about 85% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1055, where about 1000 is the national average).
A socio-economic measure from ABS Census data — not a measure of how good a suburb is to live in or visit. How we calculate this.
Is Kardinya a good place to live?
There’s no single answer — it depends on what matters to you. So instead of one mystery number, we break it down: a transparent score on each part of life we can back with public data, and an honest “not yet” on the parts we can’t.
Around the national middle
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Kardinya from public data. It sits alongside — and reconciles with — the socio-economic Suburb Score above; it is a transparent read, not a complete verdict.
Socio-economic advantage
85/100Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (85/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
21/100Less affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $390 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 21% of suburbs we can compare. Housing data only, no valuations. · ABS Census 2021
Not yet scored
We’d rather leave these open than publish a number we can’t stand behind. Here’s where each one stands.
- Amenities & accessNot scored yet — our OpenStreetMap amenity mapping is still rolling out across suburbs.
- Green spaceNot scored yet — our OpenStreetMap green-space mapping is still rolling out across suburbs.
- TransportNot scored yet — our OpenStreetMap public-transport mapping is still rolling out across suburbs.
- SchoolsNot scored yet — school performance (ACARA / ICSEA) needs a data-reuse licence cleared before we can publish it.
- SafetyNot scored yet — Australia has no single open crime dataset and safety data carries defamation and legal care, so it is gated pending a go/no-go and will be data-only when added.
- CommunityNot scored yet — we won't reduce community to a number from a proxy. We'd rather leave it open than publish an invented value judgement.
A transparent read on public data, not a verdict — and not a measure of any person or community. See our methodology for how each component is worked out and why some aren’t scored yet.
Kardinya at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 9,137
- Median age
- 42
- Median weekly household income
- $1,927
- SEIFA score
- 1055
- Local government area
- Melville
- Coordinates
- -32.0668, 115.8155
Map of Kardinya
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Kardinya
What it costs to live in Kardinya and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $390
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $2,003
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 77%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 20%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Kardinya demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Kardinya demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Kardinya using the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census; every percentage is a share of a clearly stated Census count, so each one traces back to the source. At a glance, the largest age group is mid-life (45–64) at 27% and 38% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 1,273 | 14% |
| Youth (15–24) | 1,191 | 13% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 2,355 | 26% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 2,458 | 27% |
| Seniors (65+) | 1,863 | 20% |
Share of the 9,140 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 1,493 | 43% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 1,181 | 34% |
| Rented | 708 | 20% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 2,978 | 86% |
| Townhouses & semis | 352 | 10% |
| Flats & apartments | 121 | 4% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 3,454 occupied private dwellings in Kardinya.
- Average household size
- 2.6 people
- Median weekly family income
- $2,255
- Median weekly personal income
- $808
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 3,369 (38%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 2,321 (26%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 65 (1%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 5,064 (67%)
- Labour-force participation
- 64.8%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.5%
- Employed full-time
- 2,762
- Employed part-time
- 1,852
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021 (General Community Profile, by Suburb and Locality). © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. How we group bands and derive each share is set out on our methodology page.
Weather and climate in Kardinya
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Kardinya is February (average daytime high around 29.9°C) and the coolest is August (around 17.6°C). The area receives roughly 624 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 29.8°C | 18.9°C | 23 mm |
| Feb | 29.9°C | 19°C | 20 mm |
| Mar | 28.2°C | 18.1°C | 40 mm |
| Apr | 24.2°C | 14.9°C | 42 mm |
| May | 20.7°C | 12°C | 78 mm |
| Jun | 18.2°C | 10.5°C | 99 mm |
| Jul | 17.2°C | 10.4°C | 112 mm |
| Aug | 17.6°C | 9.7°C | 97 mm |
| Sep | 19.1°C | 10.7°C | 47 mm |
| Oct | 21.6°C | 12.5°C | 37 mm |
| Nov | 25°C | 14.9°C | 21 mm |
| Dec | 28.1°C | 17.4°C | 8 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
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Common questions about Kardinya
Is Kardinya a good place to live?
There's no single answer, so we score what the public data can back. On socio-economic advantage and housing affordability, Kardinya rates 64/100 overall (Around the national middle). Public transport, schools and safety aren't scored yet — see our methodology for why.
What is the median rent in Kardinya?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Kardinya was $390, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $2,003. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Kardinya?
Kardinya is a suburb of Western Australia, Australia, in the Melville local government area.
What is the population of Kardinya?
At the 2021 Census, Kardinya had a population of about 9,137.
Is Kardinya an advantaged area?
Kardinya has an ABS SEIFA score of 1055, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 85 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 85% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Kardinya?
Kardinya has average daytime highs of about 23.3°C and overnight lows of about 14.1°C, with roughly 624 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
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