Waterloo is an inner southern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Waterloo is located three kilometres (1.9 mi) south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney. Waterloo is surrounded by the suburbs of Redfern and Darlington to the north, Eveleigh and Alexandria to the west, Rosebery to the south, and Moore Park, Zetland, and Kensington to the east.

History

thumb|left|Waterloo and the Australian Glass Manufacturers works, from South Dowling Street, 1948-1952

Waterloo took its name from the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, when Allied and Prussian forces under the Duke of Wellington and Blücher defeated the French forces under Napoleon Bonaparte.

In the 1820s, Waterloo began supporting industrial operations including various mills such as the Fisher and Duncan Paper Mill and the Waterloo Flour Mill.

The Paper Mill was a partnership with three partners (Frederick George James Fisher, George Duncan and John Walker. Established in 1818 it is the first mill known to produce paper in Australia. trading as Hutchinson, Terry & Co. William Hutchinson, superintendent of convicts and public works, had been granted of land in 1823 in the Waterloo area what had previously a water powered flour mill developed (c. 1818). Cooper later bought out Levey's share and on his death the Waterloo Estate passed onto his nephew, also named Daniel Cooper, who was the first speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. This part of Waterloo was part of Daniel Cooper's landholding before being subdivided in the 1880s.

A 1981 report stated that McEvoy Street in Waterloo is a major barrier to residential access to Waterloo Oval (which the Housing Commission saw as part of the open space and facilities associated with the Endeavour Estate). The view of the report suggested a route following O'Dea Avenue and Allen Street to link with McEvoy Street/Euston Road as preferred to upgrading McEvoy Street to an arterial road.

Alexandria, Waterloo and Zetland had an interdependence in terms of shopping facilities and pedestrian movement by 1981. There was concern this would be "significantly affected" if Raglan Street were to be closed and the Copeland Street, Erskineville extension to implemented.

Nevertheless, the suburb maintains a large housing commission estate shared with Redfern with around 4,000 tenants. The Waterloo estate is set for a facelift, with the older flats/tower blocks getting redeveloped into large luxury apartment blocks mixing social housing with affordable housing alongside the new Metro station being developed nearby.

New development and redevelopment in this area is encouraged to be sympathetic to the existing heritage style.

left|thumb|Modern apartment developments

Green Square is a district in the south and east of the suburb including the suburbs of Waterloo and Zetland that is being redeveloped. It involves an urban renewal program which has seen many industrial buildings redeveloped or replaced by new residential and commercial developments. The area adjacent to South Dowling Street contains many high-rise apartment buildings with retail space at ground level.

In January 2019, the Government of New South Wales released a redevelopment masterplan of the Waterloo social housing estate. The government's plan outlines a 20-year vision for the area, which is about 4 kilometres from the Sydney CBD. It will include building 6,800 new homes and will comprise 6 high-rise buildings of 33 to 40 storeys.

Transport

Buses

Waterloo is serviced by Transdev John Holland routes to the Sydney CBD. Green Square railway station, on the T8 Airport & South line of the Sydney Trains network, is located in the south-west corner of the suburb. Redfern railway station is located close to the north-west corner of the suburb.

Trains

The to Metro North West & Bankstown Line line includes Waterloo station which opened in August 2024.

Cars

Transport for NSW has proposed the Alexandria to Moore Park Project (A2MP) project to widen McEvoy Street from Sydney Park to Moore Park through Alexandria, New South Wales and Waterloo. The project was "in progress" as of March 2026. The road capacity upgrade was planned to manage large numbers of vehicles exiting WestConnex. In 2017, Roads & Maritime Services claimed traffic would surge, partly due by WestConnex, over 50% in the 4 years to 2021. Traffic forecasts were used to justify more lanes and larger intersections making up the project. It was estimated to cost at least $1 billion. Stage 1 was carried out under WestConnex planning condition E40 b iii.

The NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure Infrastructure Opportunities Plan, published February 26 2026, stated "intersection upgrades at McEvoy Street and Botany Road" were "Funded for delivery" by Transport for NSW, with completion expected in 2026. As of March 2026, planning and design were underway.

Churches

thumb|Parish and Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Waterloo hosts the city campus of Hillsong Church (affiliated with the Assemblies of God). Other churches include Grace City Anglican Church, Shrine and Parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church, Waterloo Congregational Church, South Sydney Uniting Church (earlier known as Mount Lachlan Methodist Church), and Waterloo Salvation Army.

Demographics

At the , Waterloo had a population of 16,379, compared to 14,616 at the .

In 2021, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 2.8% of the population and 37.2% of people were born in Australia. The other most common countries of birth were China 11.5%, England 5.6%, New Zealand 2.6%, Ireland 2.3% and Brazil 1.8%. 45.2% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 12.0% Cantonese 3.0%, Spanish 3.2%, Russian 2.7% and Portuguese 1.6%. The largest religions were Catholicism (16.5% of the population), Buddhism (4.4%) and Anglicanism (4.2%). Furthermore, 50.2% of the population marked no religion, well above the national average. 91.1% of residences were units, well above the rest of Australia (where only 14.2% of residences were units). Furthermore, 72.7% of dwellings were rented, compared to 30.6% in Australia as a whole.