Five Dock is located 10 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Canada Bay.

From the heart of the shopping centre, it is approximately 7.5 kilometres (4.7 mi) to the Sydney central business district, measured in a straight line from the General Post Office in Martin Place.

[citation needed] All of the sources referenced are in agreement that it was derived from the shape of the bay along the Parramatta River.

However, Eric Russell's Drummoyne: a western suburbs' history from 1794 states that one was lost with the construction of the 1881 Gladesville Bridge, but "the others remain in 1982".

A few streets take their name from local residents, including Mackaness Close and Langsworth Way.

[7] Significant or attractive features of the church include its interior carpentry, the pipe organ (which dates from 1891 and was built by W. Davidson) and its stained glass.

The foundation stone of Five Dock Public School was laid in the grounds of St Albans church in 1858,[9] and it opened in 1861.

Like many suburbs in the inner-west of Sydney, Five Dock has some well-preserved examples of Australian Federation architecture and California Bungalow style residences.

[11] Despite the preponderance of houses, post-World War II development has involved a high proportion of apartment construction.

An example is the 'Pendium' development in Garfield Street, which includes 102 apartments, a refurbished supermarket and the local library.

One of these foreshore stretches constitutes a small section of the Bay Run, a popular 7 km walking and cycling track which passes through several other suburbs along its way around Iron Cove.

A large section of Barnwell Park Golf Course, which is owned by Canada Bay Council, is located in Five Dock.

Also located at Timbrell Park is an all abilities playground, Livvi's Place - an initiative of the City of Canada Bay, Touched by Olivia Foundation and Leighton Contractors.

In 2010, Livvi's Place in Five Dock was named as the best play space in the country by Parks and Leisure Australia.

The park also contains a number of recreational facilities, including a large skate boarding area, a bowling club, tennis courts, an oval (used for junior rugby league matches and cricket), childcare facilities and an off-leash area for dogs.

Originally constructed in 1979, the park's skate boarding and bmx area was extremely popular during the 1980s but gradually fell into disrepair.

As of 2020, bus routes that run through or begin/terminate include: Five Dock is a future rapid transit station that will be built as part of the Sydney Metro West project, connecting Westmead to the CBD.

63.1% of people were born in Australia; the next most common countries of birth were Italy 7.1%, China (excluding Special Administrative Regions and Taiwan) 3.7%, England 2.7%, New Zealand 1.8%, and Ireland 1.0%.

This Italian influence is reflected in several ways, for instance in the style of the suburb's restaurants, cafes and delis.

[24] In the state parliament, Five Dock is in the Electoral district of Drummoyne, which is similar to the federal division but excludes the areas of Burwood and Strathfield.

Its current member since 2023 is Stephanie Di Pasqua, who is also a councillor on the City of Canada Bay Council.