Mount Lawley, WA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Mount Lawley is a leafy inner-northern suburb of Perth, bordered to the east by the Swan River. Long before the colony, the Yabbaru Bibbulman Noongar people camped, fished and gathered at the nearby Boodjamooling wetland, now the parkland of Hyde Park. The suburb grew from the Mount Lawley Estate, subdivided around the turn of the twentieth century and formally proclaimed in 1901. It was named after Sir Arthur Lawley, Governor of Western Australia in the early 1900s; his wife, Lady Annie Lawley, is said to have agreed to the honour on the condition that no licensed hotels be built in the suburb. Today Mount Lawley is known for its Beaufort Street cafe strip, the Art Deco Astor Theatre, and the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, whose graduates include Heath Ledger and Hugh Jackman.
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Mount Lawley is more socio-economically advantaged than about 95% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1102, 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.
Mount Lawley at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 11,328
- Median age
- 38
- Median weekly household income
- $2,108
- SEIFA score
- 1102
- Coordinates
- -31.9311, 115.8752
Mount Lawley demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Mount Lawley 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 young adults (25–44) at 33%, 37% of homes are rented, and 33% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 1,514 | 13% |
| Youth (15–24) | 1,444 | 13% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 3,740 | 33% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 2,747 | 24% |
| Seniors (65+) | 1,872 | 17% |
Share of the 11,317 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 1,379 | 29% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 1,481 | 32% |
| Rented | 1,712 | 37% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 2,461 | 53% |
| Townhouses & semis | 922 | 20% |
| Flats & apartments | 1,291 | 28% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 4,682 occupied private dwellings in Mount Lawley.
- Median weekly rent
- $350
- Median monthly mortgage
- $2,200
- Average household size
- 2.2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $3,162
- Median weekly personal income
- $1,127
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 3,600 (33%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 1,896 (18%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 91 (1%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 7,230 (76%)
- Labour-force participation
- 70.1%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.1%
- Employed full-time
- 3,961
- Employed part-time
- 2,334
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 Mount Lawley
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Mount Lawley is January (average daytime high around 31.2°C) and the coolest is July (around 15.5°C). The area receives roughly 739 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 31.2°C | 17.4°C | 23 mm |
| Feb | 30.6°C | 17.5°C | 24 mm |
| Mar | 27.8°C | 16.5°C | 43 mm |
| Apr | 23.3°C | 13.6°C | 45 mm |
| May | 19.2°C | 10.8°C | 81 mm |
| Jun | 16.5°C | 9.2°C | 103 mm |
| Jul | 15.5°C | 8.7°C | 140 mm |
| Aug | 16.2°C | 8.3°C | 122 mm |
| Sep | 18.2°C | 9.2°C | 69 mm |
| Oct | 21.3°C | 10.9°C | 49 mm |
| Nov | 25.5°C | 13.3°C | 30 mm |
| Dec | 29.4°C | 15.8°C | 10 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
Common questions about Mount Lawley
Where is Mount Lawley?
Mount Lawley is a suburb of Western Australia, Australia.
What is the population of Mount Lawley?
At the 2021 Census, Mount Lawley had a population of about 11,328.
Is Mount Lawley an advantaged area?
Mount Lawley has an ABS SEIFA score of 1102, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 95 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 95% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Mount Lawley?
Mount Lawley has average daytime highs of about 22.9°C and overnight lows of about 12.6°C, with roughly 739 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
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