Chifley is 13 km south-east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the City of Randwick.

Randwick Council made the area, which had been part of southern Matraville, a separate suburb in 1964.

Its low to medium-density housing has attracted a larger proportion of families with children than many other suburbs in the City of Randwick.

[3] In recent years, much of the original housing stock has been demolished and replaced by larger and taller family homes.

The western edge of Chifley contains a small remnant of Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub, which was once the major flora habitat in this coastal region of Sydney.