It is located four kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area (LGA) of the City of Randwick.

The principal landmarks of the suburb are the main campus of the University of New South Wales, National Institute of Dramatic Art and the Australian Golf Club.

Prior to European settlement, the area was inhabited by the Cadigal people, one of the salt-water clans of the Darug language group.

The 1828 census showed some 50–60 clans of Cadigal people living by the Lachlan swamps of Kensington and surrounding areas.

It did not compete with nearby Randwick Racecourse because it held midweek meetings, pony racing and related sports like polo.

The factory closed in 1989 and was slowly converted into a residential neighbourhood by the Mirvac Group and Westfield in a joint venture known as Raleigh Park.

It is a large stone building in the Gothic style and features an attic storey and a prominent central tower.

('Paddy') Ryan, the popular Catholic controversialist Dr Leslie Rumble,[12] the former athlete Jim Carlton, the retired missionary Francis Xavier Gsell and the editor Fr Paul Stenhouse.

Adjacent to the monastery is the Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Convent, a brick building in Federation Gothic style, which was built in 1897.

It is now the base for OLSH Provincial House and St Joseph's Aged Care Facility, while Our Lady of the Sacred Heart College is situated next door.

The line down Crown Street closed in 1957, the remainder stayed open until 1961[15] to allow access to Dowling St Depot, (the current site of the Supa Centa Moore Park – Shopping Centre).

Originally, Kensington was quite rugged, consisting of hills, deep gullies and 768 acres (3.1 km²) of swamps, crossed by the Lachlan Stream.

[citation needed] Evidence of the swamps can be seen in the south-west corner of the Royal Randwick Racecourse and the ponds of Centennial Park.

[21] Banksia, Bottlebrush, Waratah, Wattles and Eucalypt are some of the approximately four hundred native plants found in Kensington.

Randwick City Council has recorded approximately two hundred and fifty species of indigenous native vertebrates.

49.4% of people were born in Australia; the next most common countries of birth were China (excluding Special Administrative Regions and Taiwan) 6.1%, India 2.9%, Indonesia 2.9%, England 2.8%, and Malaysia 1.8%.