It is located 12 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Strathfield.

The present-day suburb of Homebush is bisected by the main suburban railway, Parramatta Road and the M4 Motorway into distinct sections with separate histories of development and present patterns of land use.

[3] In the early 21st century, North Homebush has experienced significant population growth due to high density residential developments.

Homebush Bay (early known as The Flats) is a major inlet on the southern side of the Parramatta River, now surrounded by the separate suburbs of Wentworth Point, Sydney Olympic Park and Rhodes.

One of them, Edward Powell, later returned and established there the Half Way House Inn, on Parramatta Road just west of the creek that now bears his name.

Historian Michael Jones who had been commissioned by Stathfield Council to write the history of that municipality wrote: "Wentworth is popularly credited with having called the area after his 'home in the bush', although Homebush is also a place in Kent".

[6] However, according to local historian David Patrick [7] it was not D'Arcy Wentworth who named "Home Bush" but an earlier grantee on the land – that being the military figure Thomas Laycock.

It would appear that after Laycock became mentally ill, following his direct involvement in suppressing the Castle Hill convict rebellion, D'Arcy Wentworth became his doctor.

A notice that Laycock placed in the newspapers about his property "Home Bush" is from before when Wentworth acquired the land from him.

[9] By contrast, the village and later suburb of Homebush was subdivided from Powell's estate, a separate grant to the south.

It was from the "Underwood Estate" that the "Village of Homebush", located south of the railway and west of Powell's Creek, was subdivided in 1878 for residential development, with a small village "high street" forming on Rochester Street adjacent to the railway station.

[11] After 1885, "Homebush" usually referred to the unincorporated part of the Underwood and Wentworth estates located north of the railway.

This development was subdivided from the larger Underwood Estate, and is today split between the suburbs of Homebush and Strathfield.

The commercial buildings along the village high street are largely preserved from the 19th century and are protected as a heritage conservation area.

Today, the village centre is populated by numerous cafes and restaurants, as well as independent businesses such as a bakery, a flower shop, a newsagency, a butcher, a bank, a post office, a pharmacy, doctors' surgeries and grocery stores.

[17] While there are low-to-medium-rise apartment blocks around the village centre, most of Homebush South is made up of freestanding residences.

Reflecting the age and well-preserved condition of these residential streets, significant parts of the former Village of Homebush are protected as heritage conservation areas, including almost the entirety of Abbotsford Road, which runs east-west across most of the Village, as well as parts of Meredith Street.

The Catholic Seminary of the Good Shepherd, a training institution for priests, is also located in Hommebush South.

It has a total population of 8,966, of which the vast majority (7,797 people) is concentrated in the area south of the M4 motorway and north of the railway.

Although Edward Powell's Half Way House Inn on Parramatta Road had been established early in the life of the colony, the rest of the area was largely used for grazing.

[37] However, this and subsequent subdivision proposals were not successful, and other than the lots adjacent to Parramatta Road, most of the land remained unsold and was sparsely populated.

[40] Some remnants of the former commercial area remain, including the Horse and Jockey Hotel, a heritage-listed pub on the site of the original Half Way House Inn, as well as the imposing former Homebush Cinema, now abandoned.

[41] At least for the time being car sales yards continue to flourish along Parramatta Road but this main artery through North Homebush has now been re-zoned high density residential, with mid- and high-rise apartment blocks proliferating.

The only commercial area along Parramatta Road which remains thriving is in the extreme west of this part of the suburb.

A large portion of this area is occupied by former industrial land, now redeveloped into parklands, office parks and the DFO Homebush shopping centre.

The part of the modern suburb north of the railway remained unincorporated until Homebush Municipality was established in 1906.

The next most common countries of birth were India 19.7%, China 12.6%, South Korea 7.1%, Nepal 5.9% and Sri Lanka 2.7%%.