It is part of the Whitfords precinct, and is located 21 km north-northwest of Perth's central business district via Mitchell Freeway and Hepburn Avenue.

[2][3] The Metropolitan Region Scheme, designed in 1955, had proposed that Whitford Beach, just beyond modern Hillarys's north, would be the limit of coastal settlement, and in 1962, a highway from Fremantle to Sorrento was suggested by the Government.

[4] In 1967, a road to Whitford Beach was built after a major Catholic school, Sacred Heart College, relocated from inner-suburban Highgate into the region.

[5] In preparation for Australia's defence of the 1987 America's Cup at Fremantle, the State Government commissioned the building of Hillarys Boat Harbour, the first major marina in the north metropolitan area.

Hillarys Boat Harbour, a large marina development which contains the Sorrento Quay retail development,[9] was built in 1987 and includes the Aquarium of Western Australia (formerly Underwater World) and numerous shops and eating spots, as well as helicopter flights[10] and a ferry terminal offering whale watching cruises during key breeding months, and ferry services to Rottnest Island.

This was the first time that the oysters had been commercially grown in WA, in an industry which is expected to grow and provide an economic boost and employment opportunities for Indigenous people in the Pilbara region.

[15] Hillarys is a reasonably affluent suburb with many "mortgage belt" families, and is one of the strongest bases in the northern suburban region for the Liberal Party at both federal and state elections.