Maroubra in a local Aboriginal word meaning windy place. In 1861, the first house was built in the area
by Humphrey McKeon. A number of other settlers arrived on the land in the 1870s
to work on the wool scouring works located at the northern end of the bay. Maroubra is a beachside suburb in
south-eastern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Maroubra is
located 10 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district in the
local government area of the City of Randwick. Maroubra is part of the Eastern
Suburbs region.
The Maroubra Junction shopping centre is one of the main shopping areas in
Randwick City and is located on Anzac Parade and Maroubra Road. Recently multi
storey housing development has occurred above the ground level commercial areas
in Maroubra Junction. A site specific development control plan has been
prepared to establish design objectives and provide performance criteria for
future development. Bus services operate along Anzac Parade, these bus services
are the only form of public transport available to the suburb.
Anzac Parade leads directly from the city to Maroubra Junction via the
University of New South Wales (near Prince of Wales Hospital at Randwick). If
traffic is heavy on Anzac Parade (particularly during peak hour and special
events at the football stadiums) then Wentworth Avenue allows access to the
highway system (M5, Eastern Distributor and the airport). Anzac Parade is a major public transport
corridor. Regular bus services run from the junction to the city, railway,
Eastgardens, airport, university and hospital. Less regular services depart
from Maroubra Beach to the city and the railway. Trams previously ran from Maroubra Beach to
Railway Square and Circular Quay, but the system was closed in 1961.
Maroubra is the largest suburb in Randwick City (in both size and
population) and also contains the largest town centre (Maroubra Junction), the
Bowen Library and multi-purpose centre and the largest Council park (Heffron
Park). The Maroubra population is similar to the Randwick City average, with
higher proportions of 20-34 year olds and fewer children and older people.
Maroubra had slightly more family households, married people and widowed
people. There was a lower proportion of flats in Maroubra overall than the
Randwick City average, with flats mainly occurring in the eastern coastal
section of the suburb and in Maroubra Junction. More people spoke a language,
other than English, at home than the average with the most popular languages
being Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin), Greek and Indonesian.
With its development as family area, there are plenty of state schools and
church operated schools. Maroubra Junction Public School, The French School, South
Sydney High School, Our Lady of the Annunciation School, Maroubra Montessori
School, St Mary and St Joseph Primary School are some of the established
schools in Maroubra. Nearby Maroubra is
the University of New South Wales.