Inner Sydney

Conveyancing in Dawes Point.

Walsh Bay is not one suburb: Pier One, Pier 2/3, Wharf 4/5, Shore 6/7 and Pier 6/7, at 11 to 19 Hickson Road, are in Dawes Point, while Shore 8/9 and Piers 8/9 are in Millers Point.

Those wharves sit under their own chapter of a State planning policy, while the terrace streets behind them, Lower Fort Street, Trinity Avenue and Pottinger Street, are under Sydney LEP 2012 and inside the Millers Point heritage conservation area. So a contract for a wharf apartment and one for a terrace up the hill can attach certificates that name different planning instruments.

Prepared reviews your contract for sale and the documents prescribed to be attached to it against what Dawes Point actually raises. Which planning instrument the certificate names for the address. For a wharf apartment, what the strata records show about the scheme, the heritage fabric and the land underneath. For a terrace, what the heritage listings and clause 6.47 of Sydney LEP 2012 allow. You get answers you can act on before the cooling off period runs out.

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Dawes Point at a glance

Postcode
2000
Council
City of Sydney
Water utility
Sydney Water (confirm by address)
Most common dwelling
Flat or apartment

Authorities for Dawes Point

Check it yourself

Links to government and third-party sites. We do not control what they publish, and the section 10.7 certificate and the documents attached to the contract for the specific property remain the source of truth.

About Dawes Point

NSW Spatial Services maps Dawes Point as the land from the Walsh Bay wharf fingers to Hickson Road under the Harbour Bridge approaches, running south to about Windmill Street and Argyle Street. Lower Fort Street, Trinity Avenue, Pottinger Street and Parbury Lane are its streets, with Hickson Road from number 9C to 19B. Dawes Point Park, the point itself under the Bridge, is outside the suburb: the State Heritage Register and the City of Sydney both give its address as The Rocks. There is no station; Circular Quay, Wynyard and the Barangaroo metro station are the nearest.

Dawesleigh at 37 Lower Fort Street is State Heritage Register item 00522, gazetted 2 April 1999 after a permanent conservation order of 10 July 1987, and its register entry records the Cadigal name for the point as Tar-ra. The Sydney Harbour Bridge, its approaches and viaducts are item 00781, gazetted 25 June 1999, with Trinity Avenue among the listed addresses. The remains of the Dawes Point Battery, begun in 1791, are item 01543, gazetted 10 May 2002, in the park just outside the suburb.

What the market here means for your contract

At the 2021 Census, Dawes Point had 385 residents and 273 private dwellings, with 170 occupied and 91 unoccupied on Census night. Flats or apartments made up 66.5% of occupied private dwellings, semi-detached, row or terrace houses and townhouses 28.8%, and separate houses 2.4%. Of occupied dwellings, 41.2% were owned outright, 19.4% owned with a mortgage and 34.7% rented, and three bedroom homes were the largest group at 54.8%.

The practical effect is that a Dawes Point file is one of two kinds. A wharf apartment is a strata file inside a State Heritage Register listing whose register entry names Transport for NSW as owner, so the strata plan, the by-laws and the title need close reading. A terrace is a heritage file under Sydney LEP 2012, where the conservation area, clause 6.47 and the State listings matter as much as the contract.

Before you sign

In New South Wales you get 5 business days to cool off on an established home, 10 for off the plan, and none at all at auction. If you agree to waive the cooling off period and provide a 66W Certificate then no cooling off applies as well.

That is the whole window. If the property is going to auction, the review has to happen before you raise your hand, and it costs you nothing to have it done. There is no reason to be the person who finds out afterwards.

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Local detail

What we check in Dawes Point

Walsh Bay is a precinct, not a suburb

NSW address data puts Pier One at 11 Hickson Road, Pier 2/3 at 13A, Wharf 4/5 at 15, Shore 6/7 at 17 to 17A and Pier 6/7 at 19 in Dawes Point. Shore 8/9 at 21 to 21A, the Roslyn Packer Theatre at 22 and Piers 8/9 at 23 Hickson Road, along with Towns Place and 1 Pottinger Street, are in Millers Point. The State Heritage Register entry for the Walsh Bay Wharves Precinct gives its address as Hickson Road, Millers Point, and listings often say only Walsh Bay or Sydney. We check the folio and the section 10.7 certificate for the lot rather than the address on the listing.

The wharves have their own planning chapter

Walsh Bay is governed by Chapter 5 of the State planning policy for Eastern Harbour City precincts, which took over the provisions of the former Walsh Bay regional plan from 1 March 2022. The 2020 version of that regional plan divided the precinct into a Walsh Bay Conservation Zone and a Walsh Bay Waterway Zone, required consent to alter buildings or subdivide land, and named the City of Sydney as consent authority. The terrace streets of Dawes Point are under Sydney LEP 2012 instead. We read which instrument the certificate names, and do not assume the council plan applies to a wharf apartment.

A 1999 Act for the wharves

The Walsh Bay Development (Special Provisions) Act 1999, assented to on 31 May 1999, validated the consents for the wharf redevelopment and treats Finger Wharves 1 to 9, their connecting buildings and the Hickson Road bridges as a single heritage item. It also limits certain appeals and allows some enforcement proceedings only by or with the consent of the Minister. Whether each provision still operates needs checking against the current legislation. If you are buying on a wharf, we look at what the Act and the consents behind the building mean for later works and for disputes about them.

Strata schemes inside a State listing

The State Heritage Register entry for the Walsh Bay Wharves Precinct, item 00559, gazetted 2 April 1999, lists more than a dozen strata plans inside the listing, together with a Crown lot, and names Transport for NSW as owner. Works to a State listed item generally need approval under the Heritage Act 1977 unless an exemption applies, and here the listing covers the strata plans themselves. We read the strata plan, the by-laws and any strata management statement, check whether the lot is freehold or held under a lease, and ask what heritage approvals sit behind past fit outs.

Terraces inside the Millers Point area

For 14 and 16 Trinity Avenue, a City of Sydney Local Planning Panel report of 12 August 2026 records R1 General Residential zoning under Sydney LEP 2012, the Millers Point heritage conservation area, C35, clause 6.47, and the State Heritage Register listings 00884 and 01682. Clause 6.47 fixes the maximum height for a heritage item at the height of the building on the land when the clause commenced in October 2019. The register entry for 01682 lists Lower Fort Street, Dawes Point, and leaves Walsh Bay to its own listing. If you plan an extension, we read the clause and the certificate for the address before you rely on it.

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Step 1

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Step 2

Same business day review

In before 2pm, back before you need it.

We’ll send you a free legal review to help you understand what matters, what to watch for and what to do next.

Step 3

Your call

Walk away, or have us run the matter through to PEXA settlement for $1,900 incl. GST fixed.

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How we help in Dawes Point

Contract for sale reviews

Before you sign anything, we review the contract for sale and explain the terms, special conditions and risks that could affect your purchase.

Prescribed documents and the 10.7 certificate

The documents attached to the contract carry the section 10.7 planning certificate, the title and plan, the sewerage diagram, easements and restrictions, and for strata the scheme documents and by-laws. We explain what they mean and flag anything that deserves a closer look.

Property conveyancing

Buying or selling, we manage the legal transfer of ownership, prepare the documents and coordinate every party through to settlement.

Settlement and statement of adjustments

We prepare and check settlement figures, including council rates, water rates, strata levies and other adjustments, so nothing is wrong on the day.

Electronic settlement

Land dealings in New South Wales must be lodged electronically, and certificates of title were cancelled in October 2021. We run the whole process securely and keep you informed at each step.

Strata due diligence

Buying an apartment or townhouse means buying into a strata scheme. We review the section 184 certificate, the records, financial statements, by-laws, the capital works fund, maintenance obligations and any known issues.

Easements, covenants and title restrictions

We explain everything affecting the title, including easements, restrictions on the use of land and positive covenants created by a section 88B instrument, caveats, mortgages and other registered interests that could limit what you do with the property.

Transfer duty and land tax clearance

We calculate your duty, prepare the documents and lodge everything with Revenue NSW, and we obtain the land tax clearance certificate so an unpaid charge on the land does not follow you.

See everything we handle across Inner Sydney

Why Prepared

Anyone can offer a free review. What matters is what comes back, and who wrote it.

 

Speed

Same-day contract reviews. While others wait on a callback, you are at the next inspection ready to offer.

Expertise

Your contract is reviewed by experienced Australian property lawyers who understand the local property market. In Dawes Point that means confirming which suburb and which planning instrument the lot is actually in, reading the strata and heritage documents behind a wharf apartment, and applying clause 6.47 to a terrace, not a generic checklist.

Fixed fee

One price for the conveyancing, published before you commit. No hourly billing, no surprises on the invoice, and no charge at all for the review that got you there.

What it costs

Nothing to have it read. One price if you go ahead.

Most conveyancers charge for a review, or ask you to request a quote before they will tell you anything at all. Here is the whole thing, so you can compare without making a phone call.

Free

Contract review

No obligation, as many properties as you need for your first 90 days, then $49 a review. Back in 4 business hours.

$1,900

Full conveyancing, buying

Incl. GST, fixed. Contract through to PEXA settlement, adjustments and duty lodgement.

$300

Selling, and it does not sell

Professional fees only, plus the cost of any searches already ordered. You are not billed for a settlement that never happened.

Government charges, searches and transfer duty are payable in addition and are set by the State, not by us. We tell you the total before you instruct.

Start with the free review

Common questions

Is Walsh Bay in Dawes Point or Millers Point?

Both. Walsh Bay is a precinct name, not a suburb. NSW address data puts Pier One, Pier 2/3, Wharf 4/5, Shore 6/7 and Pier 6/7, at 11 to 19 Hickson Road, in Dawes Point, and Shore 8/9, Piers 8/9 and the Roslyn Packer Theatre, at 21 to 23 Hickson Road, in Millers Point. The folio and the section 10.7 certificate for the lot are the documents to rely on.

Is Dawes Point in a heritage conservation area?

The terrace streets are. A 2026 City of Sydney planning panel report on Trinity Avenue records the Millers Point heritage conservation area, C35, and clause 6.47 of Sydney LEP 2012 applying there, along with the State Heritage Register listings 00884 and 01682. The Walsh Bay wharves are listed separately on the State register as item 00559. Whether a particular address is affected is shown by the register and the section 10.7 certificate for that address.

Is Dawes Point Park in Dawes Point?

No. The park at the point under the Harbour Bridge, also called Dawes Point (Tar-ra) Park, is in The Rocks according to the State Heritage Register and the City of Sydney, which says it is not responsible for the park. The remains of the Dawes Point Battery there are State Heritage Register item 01543. The suburb of Dawes Point is the streets and wharves behind it.

Buying or selling in Dawes Point?

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