New Farm Area Guide
New Farm is an inner-city riverside peninsula suburb known for New Farm Park, Brunswick Street and a housing stock dominated by apartments.
Local Context
New Farm sits on a bend of the Brisbane River, and its identity is closely tied to New Farm Park and the Brunswick Street precinct. We could not find an official source giving an exact distance or direction from the CBD, so we have left that figure out rather than guess.
Housing & Property Character
New Farm is a strongly apartment-dominated suburb. Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census figures show flats or apartments at 74.5% of occupied private dwellings, with separate houses at 20.4% and semi-detached, row, terrace or townhouse dwellings at 4.4%. A Traditional Building Character overlay applies to pre-1947 housing pockets across inner Brisbane suburbs including New Farm, protecting Queenslander-style homes from demolition or inappropriate alteration, though the exact streets covered would need a property-specific check.
Getting Around
New Farm has no train station. Three ferry terminals serve the suburb: New Farm Park, Sydney Street and Howard Smith Wharves. Bus routes 196 and 199 also connect New Farm to Fortitude Valley and the city, though it is worth checking Translink’s current timetables before relying on a specific route number.
Schools & Education
New Farm State School operates under an equidistant catchment area, with a maximum enrolment capacity of 745 students. Kelvin Grove State College’s catchment for its Middle and Senior School has been confirmed to include New Farm. As always, the Queensland Government’s EdMap tool is the right way to confirm which school applies to a specific address.
Shopping & Everyday Services
Merthyr Village Shopping Centre on Merthyr Road is anchored by a Coles supermarket alongside around 20 specialty retailers. James Street and Brunswick Street are well known local commercial strips, though we did not find an official Brisbane City Council source formally designating either as a council precinct.
Parks & Recreation
New Farm Park, on Sydney Street, covers around 15 hectares and has operated as a council park since 1914, including a rotunda, several leased facilities and its own ferry terminal and river hub.
Planning & Development
New Farm sits within the New Farm and Teneriffe Hill neighbourhood plan under Brisbane City Plan 2014, which guides land use, building height and character protection across the suburb.
Things to Verify Before Making a Decision
- Whether a heritage or character overlay applies to a specific address, using Brisbane City Council’s City Plan online mapping tool.
- The current state school catchment for a specific address, using the Queensland Government’s EdMap tool.
- Current Translink ferry and bus timetables, since services can change over time.
Thinking About a Property in New Farm?
Tell Narevella what you are looking for, or ask us to research a specific property or address for you.