Socio-economic characteristics underscore the ongoing transition of the region from blue-collar to white-collar, highlighting the increasing demands of a young, educated population for professional qualifications.
The evolution of Liverpool as an economic powerhouse – and its desire to be acknowledged as the third CBD in the metropolitan area – has its foundations on the increasing capacity of its health and medical research precinct to world-class standards.
These credentials together with the city’s expansion in the fields of information technology and business and professional services, plus the multi-million dollar investments in commercial and industrial projects – plus the benefits of the Badgerys Creek airport – are dramatically changing the perception of the city.
The extension to Liverpool of the Sydney Metro City & Southwest project from Chatswood Bankstown would be a significant public transport plus for the city.
Recent announcements to meet the increasing demand for tertiary education will further enhance Liverpool’s position, in the health, medical and other professional fields.
More than 7000 resident students leave Liverpool to study each year because no major university campus exists in the city.
By design or coincidence two universities released plans to solve the problem on the same day, May 2.
Western Sydney University (WSU) announced it would beef up its presence in Liverpool – first flagged in May 2015 – and the University of Wollongong (UOW) said it would establish its South Western Sydney Campus in the city.
These projects will build on the presence of University of NSW South Western Sydney Clinical School in Liverpool established 27 years ago.
Liverpool Hospital, the largest in NSW and one of the leading trauma centres in Australia and a key catalyst for growth in the health and allied industries sector in NSW, is a principal teaching hospital of the university
The facility is within a world-class health and education precinct, a cluster of innovative organisations in the Liverpool CBD including the Ingham Institute of Applied Medical Research, a Clinical Skills and Simulation Centre, South West Private Hospital and South Western Sydney TAFE.
In the Liverpool CBD, more than 5000 jobs currently relate to the provision of health services and education.
Western Sydney University has unveiled plans for its new Higher Education Centre in a move designed to significantly expand higher education opportunities for residents, help transform the city's knowledge economy and drive business development in the region.
The state-of-the-art centre, which will open in 2017 in a purpose-built, 3000-square-metre facility based in Macquarie Street in the CBD, will provide a suite of undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the areas of business, information technology and health.
Approximately 1000 students expected at the centre, also, WSU will offer a range of diploma courses leading to direct entry to the second-year of a degree.
The university's Launch Pad Centre will be embedded within the helping to drive business development and foster an entrepreneurial culture across the city.
The University of Wollongong will open its South Western Sydney Campus in 2017, initially occupying two floors in the Liverpool City Council’s Moore Street building before moving into larger premises in Liverpool’s new Civic Place development, expected to be completed in 2019.
The campus will offer programs from the faculties of law, humanities and the arts, business, engineering and information sciences, science, medicine and health as well as university entry and vocational training programs through UOW College.
The university plans to grow the campus from modest beginnings to more than 7000 students by 2030.
Along with the new campus, the university announced the establishment, expected in 2019, of the Western Sydney Nursing Education and Research Centre (WeSNER) to train the next generation of nurses and encourage them to study, train and work in the Liverpool area.
Liverpool Mayor, Ned Mannoun, described the university’s announcement as “a huge boost for our city, its people, and a wise investment for the university.
“Liverpool is one of the fastest growing regions in Sydney, as well as one of the youngest. Liverpool is home to a vibrant, diverse and young community where 45 per cent of the population is less than 30 years old.
"As the Airport City [Badgerys Creek airport is within the Liverpool LGA], Liverpool is seeing unprecedented development and growth across all sectors, including education and research," he said.
The airport is expected to drive new opportunities for medical tourism, health business events and building and construction of specialist medical and health facilities and the manufacture and distribution of pharmaceutical products, according to council’s Health and Wellbeing in Sydney’s Great South West publication.
