Lurnea was originally home to the Cabrogal people who spoke the Darug language. Following British settlement of the area in the 1800s, it was given the colloquial name Hillview as the suburb had nice views of the surrounding Liverpool area, and this name persisted until after World War I when the land was converted into a soldier settlement which provided the soldiers with enough room for a house and a small farm. It was renamed Lurnea which means "a resting place". Lurnea Post Office opened on 15 February 1921. A street was also named after the old name of the suburb – Hillview Parade.[2] In the 1970s the area was redeveloped again into a residential suburb for a small number of veterans from the Vietnam War. It also became home to several Vietnamese refugee families of the aforementioned war.[3]
Hoxton Park Road runs along the northern edge of Lurnea providing access to Liverpool as well as suburbs to the west of Lurnea such as Hoxton Park. It also has relatively easy access to the M5 South Western Motorway to the city and the Westlink M7 to the northwest of Sydney. Lurnea is well serviced by Transit Systems bus routes with five services passing through the suburb and another three along Hoxton Park Road on the northern edge.[4]
Lurnea High School is a co-educationalsecondary school. It is a public high school that caters for around 650 students from year 7 through to year 12. An Intensive English Centre and Hearing Impaired Unit are also established at Lurnea High. The school was first opened in 1965.
Lurnea Public School is a primary public school. It caters for about 475 students from kindergarten through to year 6. The school was first opened in 1960
St Francis Xavier Primary School is a co-educational primary catholic school.
Lurnea's population at the 2016 Australian census was 9,311, with 49.8% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were Iraq 8.0%, Lebanon 6.0%, Vietnam 2.8%, Fiji 2.4% and New Zealand 1.9%. 36.0% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Arabic 28.0%, Vietnamese 3.7%, Hindi 2.7%, Spanish 2.2% and Serbian 2.0%. The most common responses for religion in Lurnea (State Suburbs) were Islam 25.0%, Catholic 20.9%, Not stated 10.7%, No Religion, so described 9.5% and Anglican 7.5%. In Lurnea (State Suburbs), Christianity was the largest religious group reported overall (47.8%) (this figure excludes not stated responses). The median household income of $1068 per week is slightly higher than the national average ($1027) while the rent and mortgage repayments are also slightly higher than average.[1]
