Bidwill takes its name from John Carne Bidwill appointed as botanist in charge at the Botanic Gardens in 1847. Prior to settlement and colonisation of Australia, Bidwill and the surrounding area was inhabited by the Darug tribe. Bidwill was dominated by the development of public housing in the 1960s and 1970s. In recent times, Bidwill has been associated with social and economic problems. These have resulted in an increase of crime and such trouble as riots.
Commercial areas
Bidwill is primarily a residential suburb with extremely limited commercial activity. It is quite close to the suburbs of Mount Druitt and St Marys, which have larger shopping centres, banking facilities and railway stations. Limited commercial facilities such as supermarkets and service stations are available at Emerton and Plumpton rather than in Bidwill itself. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, there used to be a service station on Carlisle avenue. It was located in front of where a small supermarket complex existed at Bidwill in the 1980s and 1990s, but failed due to competition from larger facilities nearby. There have been ongoing attempts to reopen the shopping complex.
Transport
On the day of the 2016 Census, the methods of travel to work for employed people were Car 74.5% and public transport 12.4%. Public transport through this area is provided by Busways. By road Bidwill is adjacent to the Westlink M7 motorway which can provide very easy access to the Great Western Highway and the M4 Motorway, providing road access to the western sections of the city and eastward to the Sydney CBD. This suburb is linked by several private bus companies to the train stations located at Mount Druitt and St Marys. Cycleways running through Bidwill run from Poppondetta Park to Mt Druitt and the M7 cycleway, which in turn connects to the cycleways on the M4 and M2 Motorways.
Education
Bidwill Primary School and the Bidwill campus of Chifley College share a campus with a pre-school. Combined, these separate organisations provide care and education from pre-school to Year 12. Upon completing year 10 at the Bidwill campus, students continuing public education can either move on to located in Mount Druitt, or continue their final years at Bidwill Campus. In 2016 in Bidwill 38.4% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 27.7% were in primary school, 20.6% in secondary school and 9.4% in a tertiary or technical institution..
Population
According to the 2016 census of Population, there were 4,280 people in Bidwill.
65.3% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were New Zealand 3.6% and Samoa 2.8%,.
66.3% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Samoan 4.9%, Tongan 2.7% and Arabic 2.3%.
The most common responses for religion were No Religion 24.6%, Catholic 21.9% and Anglican 15.6%.
Housing
Housing is very heavily dominated by public housing built throughout the 1960s and 1970s, with large numbers of freestanding fibro houses and extensive terrace-style complexes. The houses are gradually transferring to private ownership and as this continues these government-built premises are being replaced with privately built, modern homes, similar to those being built in other areas of Sydney. Most local housing is owned by either the Department of Housing or Aboriginal Housing Office. Of occupied private dwellings in Bidwill, 64.6% were separate houses and 33.6% were semi-detached.
