We rely on them to keep Sydney running. But they can barely afford to live here

Dozens of inner-Sydney suburbs are entirely devoid of emergency workers as soaring housing costs push a growing number of those employed in frontline jobs to outer metropolitan areas and beyond.

There are 33 suburbs in Sydney’s north shore, eastern suburbs and inner west with no residents who work as police officers, firefighters or paramedics, Herald analysis of local area employment data reveals.

The neighbourhoods without emergency workers, which included Double Bay, Rushcutters Bay, Birchgrove, Kirribilli and Castlecrag, have a combined population of 90,000 people. Most are adjacent to Sydney Harbour and all have very high property values.

The analysis of 2021 census figures also shows a disproportionate share of other essential workers including police, paramedics, firefighters, school teachers and nurses reside in outer Sydney suburbs where property is more affordable.

The five Greater Sydney suburbs with the most police were an average of 45 kilometres from the central business district. In contrast, the five most popular Sydney suburbs for solicitors were less than four kilometres from the CBD, on average.

Among primary school teachers, the five most popular Sydney suburbs were an average of 37km from the CBD while for paramedics the average was 50km.

Research by Sydney University academics Catherine Gilbert, Zahra Nasreen and Nicole Gurran shows the concentration of essential workers living within 15km of Sydney CBD has fallen consistently during the past decade. Between 2016 and 2021, the greatest net losses of essential worker residents were from the eastern suburbs (down 11 per cent), Parramatta (down 9 per cent) and inner west (down 8 per cent). Only 11 per cent of police who work in the City of Sydney council area also lived there.

Meanwhile, the share of essential workers living in outer metropolitan suburbs and those beyond the Sydney basin, especially Central Coast and Illawarra, has grown substantially.

Gilbert, the lead author, said the long-standing exodus of essential workers from inner-city areas is now evident in middle-ring suburbs.

“We’ve seen net losses of key workers from places like Parramatta, which historically would have been seen as a more affordable place to live,” she said.

“Given very tight rental markets and rising house and unit prices, I would suspect that we’ll see a continuation of this trend.”

Gilbert’s research found no council areas across the Sydney metropolitan region had a median unit price that was affordable to an early career registered nurse. There were only two council areas where the median price for a strata-titled dwelling was affordable for an early career police constable.

The proportion of essential workers in the private rental sector has increased as a result, particularly among those under 40 years of age.

These trends are reflected in typical commute times for essential workers; 36 per cent of police and 39 per cent of firefighters commuted more than 30km to work in 2021, well above the average for all workers at 16.6 per cent.

Brett Simpson, a career ambulance officer and president of the Australian Paramedics Association, said high housing costs meant a growing number of emergency workers faced the exhausting combination of 12-14 hour shifts and very long commutes.

Brett Simpson, president of the Australian Paramedics Association, says long commutes are a challenge for many ambulance officers.Credit: Nikki Short

“Having fatigued paramedics, treating patients under emergency conditions is a recipe for disaster as far as we’re concerned,” he said.

Simpson said many stationed in Sydney’s southern suburbs commute from the Illawarra, with some travelling from the Jervis Bay region.

Gilbert said the housing affordability crunch affecting Sydney’s essential workers has long-term implications.

“These really long commutes, plus the nature of the work that key workers perform, really exacerbates burnout, and we know that that’s a big factor in people choosing to leave the profession,” she said. “That’s going to be a huge problem for the functionality of those services across the inner city.”

Gilbert’s study concludes that the growing geographical mismatch between work and home for essential workers will likely result in greater worker stress and fatigue and ultimately affect the quality of services.

Last month the NSW government announced it would build 400 new build-to-rent dwellings over the next three years for nurses, paramedics, teachers, allied health care workers, police officers and firefighters. These units will be offered at a discount to market rents.

Premier Chris Minns warned NSW “would grind to a halt” without its essential workers, but many can’t afford a place to live in Sydney, close to where they work. “This has to change,” he said.

Trade unions, business groups and social housing advocates welcomed the boost for essential worker housing; peak body Business Sydney called it a “good start”.

But Sydney University housing expert, Professor Nicole Gurran, said governments should “be bolder” in addressing affordability.

“It’s a no-brainer for the state government to go back to providing subsidised, secure accommodation for workers in essential public services,” she said.

Herald analysis revealed two residential clusters for emergency workers in Sydney. One is at Glenmore Park, near Penrith, 57km by road from the CBD. More police officers live there than any other Sydney suburb. It is also the equal-most popular neighbourhood for ambulance officers.

Sydney’s other emergency services residential hub is at Engadine, 37km south of the CBD by road. It was equal-top for ambulance officers, second most popular for police and second most popular for firefighters.

“My career as a paramedic has predominantly been in the south-east of Sydney, and we joke among ourselves that Engadine has to be one of the safest suburbs in the city, given the number of paramedics, cops and fireys that live in that enclave,” says Simpson.

The suburb of Cronulla, 26km south of the CBD, has the most firefighters of any Sydney suburb.

The most popular suburb for both primary and high school teachers was Baulkham Hills, which is 30km from the CBD. The nearby suburb of Blacktown (34km from the CBD) has the most registered nurses working in medical practice, rehabilitation and community health.

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