The suburb of La Perouse is located at the southern extent of Randwick City and is bounded by an extensive foreshore area. Anzac Parade provides the main access to La Perouse. The suburb includes the large foreshore area of Botany Bay National Park, the NSW Golf Course and historical military fortifications including Bare Island fort. There is a small residential area in the west of the La Perouse which is a mix of low- and medium-density housing. A small commercial area, containing mostly restaurants, is located at the end of Anzac Parade, taking advantage of the scenic location.
A large area of La Perouse is open space, including the regionally significant Botany Bay National Park and historic military installations including the Bare Island fort. These features and the picturesque beaches attract large numbers of tourists to the suburb.
La Perouse has a higher proportion of larger households (4+ people) and family households, more children and teenagers and people aged 60-69 years. There were fewer older people (70+). Indigenous people accounted for more than one-third of the La Perouse population. The majority of people speak English at home, and do not have a second language.
History of La Perouse
Aboriginal people were the first to live at Phillip Bay and La Perouse and their presence was recorded by Europeans in 1812 by a French expedition. In 1883 a camp was established under the Aborigines Protection Board. Through time the settlement was run by a variety of church and welfare groups. At the end of the 1920s the reserve was moved back from the unstable sand to around the Elaroo Avenue area. The area is now owned by Aboriginal people, as is Yarra Bay house and the headland between Frenchmans and Yarra Bay.
To Europeans, the area around La Perouse developed (as many seaside suburbs did) through outdoor pastimes and weekend visitors, especially after the tramline was built in around 1900. However, the pioneers of Sydney made their presence felt in the area through military installations from an early date. The Macquarie Watch tower was built in the 1820s to watch for smugglers and convicts, and Bare Island fort was built in 1885 against possible attack by the Russians. In the Depression of the 1920s and 1930s, the area was home to many unemployed people who built make-shift houses there; to the north there was the mostly white Happy Valley and Hill 60 and to the south Frog Hollow which mostly housed Aborigines.