Freshwater
QLD 4870 · Cairns
2,142 (2021) → 2,184 est. (2025)
Based on transport, liveability & education. Safety is scored separately below.
Freshwater is a suburb in Cairns, QLD 4870, about 1396km from Brisbane CBD. Recent property sales in Freshwater are too limited to report a reliable median price. The suburb has 1 school, a transport score of 0/100, and is a short drive from the coast. Freshwater has an overall score of 38/100, based on transport, liveability and education, plus a separate residential safety score of 18/100.
Demographics
Age distribution
Housing tenure
- Owned
- Mortgage
- Rented
Commute to work
- Car
- Public transport
- Walk/cycle
- Work from home
Top countries of birth: England (5.28%), New Zealand (2.29%), Japan (1.68%), PNG (1.21%), Germany (1.07%)
Top languages: Japan (2.47%), German (1.59%), Thai (0.42%), Afrikaans (0.37%), Australian Indigenous Languages (0.37%)
Source: ABS Census 2021
Residential Safety
Small population (under 3,000) — crime rates may be volatile due to low sample size.
QLDdoesn't publish crime data at the suburb level. The rates shown are the Cairns local-government-area average applied to this suburb, so other suburbs in the same LGA share the same figures.
Recorded residential incidents (latest year), with rate per 100,000 residents:
Residential incidents over time
Sum of the five residential categories above — not all recorded crime.
Area crime context
An independent score — crime data quality varies by state, so safety is shown separately and is not part of the overall score.
Source: Queensland Police Service (LGA-level) · Updated 2025
Schools
Average ICSEA of schools within 10km 984 (below the national average of 1000).
In suburb
- Freshwater State SchoolPrimary · GovernmentICSEA 1060
Nearby (within 10km)
- Freshwater Christian CollegeCombined · Independent · 1.2kmICSEA 1042
- Peace Lutheran CollegeCombined · Independent · 2.4kmICSEA 1060
- St Andrew's Catholic College Redlynch ValleyCombined · Catholic · 2.9kmICSEA 1067
- Redlynch State CollegeCombined · Government · 3.5kmICSEA 1008
- Whitfield State SchoolPrimary · Government · 3.6kmICSEA 969
- Edge Hill State SchoolPrimary · Government · 3.9kmICSEA 1020
- Caravonica State SchoolPrimary · Government · 3.9kmICSEA 1009
- Machans Beach State SchoolPrimary · Government · 4.8kmICSEA 947
- Mother of Good Counsel SchoolPrimary · Catholic · 4.9kmICSEA 1091
- Holy Spirit College - Manoora CampusSecondary · Catholic · 5km
- St Francis Xavier's SchoolPrimary · Catholic · 5.4kmICSEA 979
- Cairns West State SchoolPrimary · Government · 5.5kmICSEA 759
Source: ACARA 2023
Transport
Source: TfNSW GTFS
Liveability
Amenities within 2–3km
Counted within a short distance of the suburb centre (so nearby facilities count), with the in-boundary count shown beneath.
Source: Bureau of Meteorology · OpenStreetMap
Nearby suburbs in Cairns
Compare Freshwater with another suburb
Compare two suburbs
Frequently asked questions about Freshwater
Is Freshwater safe?
Freshwater has a residential safety score of 18/100, based on residential crime (break-ins, theft from dwellings, vehicle theft, domestic assault and robbery) per resident relative to the NSW median. Its total recorded incident rate is 11,851 per 100,000 across all categories.
How far is Freshwater from Brisbane CBD?
Freshwater is about 1396.4 km from Brisbane CBD.
What schools are in Freshwater?
Freshwater has 1 school, with an average ICSEA of 1060 (the national average is 1000). Schools are listed factually, not ranked.
What is public transport like in Freshwater?
Freshwater has a transport score of 0/100.