Karrinyup, Western Australia

The name Karrinyup was originally derived from the word Careniup, a Noongar name for a nearby swamp, an Aboriginal word apparently meaning "the place where bush kangaroos graze". It may also mean "the place where spiders are".^[2] In the 1840s, Samuel Moore took up a grant of 780 acres (3.2 km²) in the northern part of the suburb. Moore's grant, Swan Location 92 was surveyed by P Chauncey in 1844 and Chauncey recorded a large swamp just to the east of Karrinyup as Careniup Swamp.^[3]

In 1929, the foundation committee developing the Lake Karrinyup Country Club golf course opted to change the spelling.^[4]

While the area had been subdivided by Charles Stoneman in 1904 and roads built, the country club remained the only significant feature in the area, and rapid growth did not begin until 1957, with the part south of Karrinyup Road developing first. At this stage, the only access to the area from Perth was via Wanneroo Road and Balcatta Beach Road. The building of the Mitchell Freeway to Karrinyup Road in 1983-84 facilitated the growth of Karrinyup and nearby Stirling as a regional hub.

Karrinyup is bounded by North Beach Road to the north (Reid Highway is located just a few hundred metres further north), Marmion Avenue to the west, Newborough Street to the south and Huntriss Road and the country club to the east. About one-third of Karrinyup's land area is reserve or bushland, or part of the suburb's two golf courses. Karrinyup Road links Marmion Avenue and West Coast Highway to Mitchell Freeway through the suburb.^[5]

At the 2016 Australian census, Karrinyup had a population of 9,283.^[6] Most of the houses in Karrinyup are relatively modern, though the prolonged period of development has resulted in a range of styles from various eras. Many of the homes within the suburb are of two storeys and the vast majority are of brick and tile construction.

The Karrinyup Shopping Centre contains a bus station, community centre and library as well as two major department stores. It was built in 1973 with 54,587 m² of retail accommodation with undercover and open-air parking. A major renovation was completed in 2021 when it expanded to 109,000 m² of retail space including cinemas and a new dining precinct, making Karrinyup Shopping Centre the largest in suburban Perth. Apartment towers in the north-east of the complex are expected to be finished by 2027. The complex is owned by the superannuation fund UniSuper and managed by GPT.^[7]

Karrinyup has two golf courses, Hamersley (public) and Lake Karrinyup (private). Open spaces exist at Lake Karrinyup and at the south-west of the suburb. Karrinyup contains three state primary schools (Karrinyup, Deanmore and Newborough) and a private college, St Mary's Anglican Girls' School, founded in 1921 at West Perth and relocated to Karrinyup in 1961.

Karrinyup is served by the Karrinyup bus station, located at the shopping centre, with Transperth bus routes 422, 423, 424 and 425 providing a link to Stirling railway station.^[8] A Transperth depot in the suburb is to be upgraded to operate electric buses in 2026.^[9]

Karrinyup is a reasonably affluent suburb with many "mortgage belt" families and socially liberal voters. It consistently supports the Liberal Party at both federal and state elections, although the part south of Karrinyup Road leans more towards the Australian Labor Party.

• Peter Dowding, former Premier of Western Australia (1988 to 1990)
• Dennis Lillee, former Australian cricketer^[18]
• Emma Matthews, soprano
• Jeff Newman, former television presenter
• Tim Winton, novelist and National Living Treasure, grew up in Gwelup Street^[19][20]