Kensington is a residential suburb 3 km from Perth's central business district. Kensington is located within the City of South Perth local government area. Kensington was named after the former , which was most likely named after William Samuel Cox's Kensington Park Racecourse, in Melbourne. The suburb is bounded by Canning Highway to the west, Berwick Street to the north, Kent Street to the east, and Hayman Road and South Terrace to the south.