Bondi is reported to be derived from the Aboriginal word boondi meaning water breaking over rocks.

The whole Bondi area was part of an 1809 land grant of 0.81 square kilometres (200 acres) to road-builder William Roberts.

[5] In 1851, Edward Smith Hall, editor of the Sydney Monitor, purchased the land for £200.

In the 1880s, Malcolm Campbell built Scarba, a two-storey, Italianate house in Wellington Street.

This lasted until 1986, after which Scarba House became part of the Bondi Centre, which included a retirement village and various other welfare services.

Building styles are varied, with examples from the Victorian period (1840–1890), Federation (1890–1915), Inter-War (1915–1940) and contemporary.

Trams entered onto Campbell Parade via the underpass at a point where Bondi Road was too steep.

Initially services ran from the junction at Albion Street in Waverley to Randwick only, this was later extended to Coogee in 1907.

The most common other countries of birth were England 8.9%, South Africa 3.0%, Brazil 2.7%, New Zealand 2.4% and the United States of America 2.1%.

[14] Bondi is represented in one of the most popular sporting competitions across Australia, the National Rugby League competition, by the local team the Sydney Roosters, officially the Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club (ESDRLFC) and Bondi United in the South Sydney District Junior Rugby Football League competition.