City of Parramatta Council New South Wales
Location in Metropolitan Sydney 2016–date
Coordinates	33°49′S 151°00′E / 33.817°S 151.000°E / -33.817; 151.000Coordinates: 33°49′S 151°00′E / 33.817°S 151.000°E / -33.817; 151.000
Population	226,149 (2016 census)[1] (12th)
• Density	2,692/km2 (6,970/sq mi)
Established	27 November 1861 (Municipality) 27 October 1938 (City)
Postcode(s)	2153, 2146, 2145, 2152, 2151, 2150, 2142, 2128, 2127, 2122, 2121, 2119, 2118, 2117, 2116, 2115, 2114
Area	84 km2 (32.4 sq mi)
Time zone	AEST (UTC+10)
• Summer (DST)	AEDT (UTC+11)
Lord Mayor	Andrew Wilson
Council seat	Parramatta Town Hall
Region	Metropolitan Sydney
State electorate(s)	Parramatta, Baulkham Hills Epping, Ryde Granville, Seven Hills
Federal Division(s)	Parramatta Bennelong Greenway Mitchell
Website	City of Parramatta Council
LGAs around City of Parramatta Council: Blacktown The Hills Hornsby Cumberland City of Parramatta Council Ryde Cumberland Cumberland Canada Bay & Strathfield

The City of Parramatta Council, is a local government area in encompassing Central Western Sydney as well as parts of neighbouring regions. Parramatta Council is situated between the City of Ryde and Cumberland Council, where the Cumberland Plain meets the Hornsby Plateau, approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) west of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia.

The City occupies an area of 84 square kilometres (32 sq mi) and as at the 2016 census had an estimated population of 226,149.^[1] The City houses the Parramatta central business district, the second largest employment destination for the metropolitan area after the Sydney central business district.

The Lord Mayor of the City of Parramatta Council since 25 September 2017 is The Right Worshipful Andrew Wilson, an independent.^[2]

History[edit]

City of Parramatta boundaries, 1949–2016.

First incorporated on 27 November 1861 as the "Municipality of Parramatta",^[3] the first Mayor was emancipated convict John Williams who arrived in the colony in 1835. The council became known as the "Borough of Parramatta" on 23 December 1867 following the enactment of the Municipalities Act, 1867, and became a Municipality again following the 1906 Local Government Act. On 27 October 1938, the Local Government (City of Parramatta) Act was passed by the Parliament of New South Wales and proclaimed by the Governor, Lord Wakehurst, making the town the "City of Parramatta".^[4][5]

From 1 January 1949 the "City of Parramatta" was re-formed following the passing of the Local Government (Areas) Act 1948, when the councils of Ermington and Rydalmere (incorporated 1891), Dundas (incorporated 1889) and Granville (incorporated 1885) were merged into the council area. In recognition of Parramatta's role Bi-centennial (coinciding with the Australian Bi-centennial), the title of 'Lord Mayor' was granted on 12 December 1988 by Queen Elizabeth II on the recommendation of Premier Nick Greiner. This made Parramatta the third Australian city that was not a capital to receive such an honour, after Newcastle and Wollongong.

2016 Amalgamation[edit]

A 2015 review of local government boundaries by the NSW Government Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal recommended that the City of Parramatta be reformed, adding areas from several adjoining councils. The NSW Government subsequently proposed a merger of parts of Parramatta (Woodville Ward), Auburn and Holroyd and a second merger of parts of the rest of Parramatta and parts of Auburn, The Hills, Hornsby, and Holroyd to form a new council.^[6][7]

On 12 May 2016, Parramatta City Council was abolished by the NSW Government. Parts of Auburn City Council (south of the M4 Western Motorway) and Parramatta City Council (Woodville Ward), and Holroyd City Council merged to form the Cumberland Council as a new local government area and the remainder of the Parramatta City Council, Auburn City Council north of the M4 Western Motorway (including parts of the Sydney Olympic Park), and small parts of Hornsby Shire, Holroyd and The Hills Shire were merged into the reformed "City of Parramatta Council".^[8][9]

Suburbs in the local government area[edit]

Suburbs in the City of Parramatta Council are:^[9]

Facilities[edit]

The City of Parramatta Council has a central library, heritage centre and five branch libraries at Carlingford, Constitution Hill, Dundas Valley, Epping and Ermington. It also provides a public swimming pool at Epping and over ten community centres.^[10] The Parramatta Town Hall, completed in 1883, and housing the original Council chamber meeting rooms and function rooms, is heritage-listed.^[11]

Demographics[edit]

This section needs expansion with: 2016 census data. You can help by adding to it. (July 2017)

At the 2016 Census, there were 226,149 people in the City of Parramatta local government area that comprised 84 square kilometres (32 sq mi), of these 50% were male and 50% were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 0.7% of the population. The median age of people in the City of Parramatta was 34 years; notably below the national median of 38 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 18.4% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 12.2% of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 55.4% were married and 9% were either divorced or separated.^[1]
At the 2016 Census, the Parramatta local government area was linguistically diverse, with a significantly higher than average proportion (54.2%) where two or more languages are spoken (national average was 22.2%); and a significantly lower proportion (41.47) where English only was spoken at home (national average was 72.7%). The proportion of residents who stated a religious affiliation with Hinduism was approximately six times the national average, with the median weekly income for residents slightly above the national average.^[1]

Selected historical census data for Parramatta local government area
Census year			2001[12]	2006[13]	2011[14]	2016[1]
Population		Estimated residents on census night	143,143	148,323	166,858	226,149
		LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales		11th	11th	5th
		% of New South Wales population			2.41%	3.02%
		% of Australian population	0.76%	0.75%	0.78%	0.97%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses		Australian	23.9%	22.9%	18.1%	13.1%
		English	21.8%	17.8%	16.8%	13.7%
		Chinese	9.4%	11.2%	13.0%	16.4%
		Lebanese	9.5%	9.7%	9.5%
		Indian	3.4%	5.9%	9.1%	10.1%
Language, top responses (other than English)		Arabic	10.1%	10.7%	10.3%	3.2%
		Mandarin	3.0%	4.7%	5.9%	10.5%
		Cantonese	4.6%	5.0%	5.0%	6.5%
		Korean	2.0%	2.1%	2.7%	5.0%
		Hindi	1.3%	2.0%	2.6%	3.6%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses		Catholic	27.1%	26.0%	23.4%	20.8%
		No religion	10.7%	12.8%	15.0%	24.5%
		Anglican	15.8%	12.9%	10.3%	8.3%
		Islam	7.0%	8.2%	9.7%
		Hinduism	2.8%	5.3%	8.8%	11.3%
Median weekly incomes
Personal income		Median weekly personal income		A$443	A$544	A$722
		% of Australian median income		95.1%	94.3%	109.1%
Family income		Median weekly family income		A$1,043	A$1,451	A$1,933
		% of Australian median income		101.6%	98.0%	111.5%
Household income		Median weekly household income		A$1,172	A$1,288	A$1,759
		% of Australian median income		100.0%	104.4%	122.3%

Council[edit]

Parramatta Town Hall, the seat of the council since 1883.

City of Parramatta Sign, Pennant Hills Road, Carlingford

Between May 2016 and September 2017, the Council was managed by an Administrator appointed by the Government of New South Wales, Amanda Chadwick, until an election for councillors took place on 9 September 2017.^[9] The City of Parramatta Council comprises fifteen Councillors elected proportionally, with three Councillors in each ward. All Councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office. The Lord Mayor is elected for a two-year term, with the Deputy Lord Mayor for one year, by the Councillors at the first meeting of the Council.

Current composition[edit]

The most recent election was held on 9 September 2017, and the makeup of the Council, in order of election by ward, is as follows:

Sister cities[edit]

• 
  Beersheba, Israel
  


• 
  Cebu City, Philippines^[26]


• 
  Jung District, Seoul, South Korea
  


• 
  Phetchaburi, Thailand
  


• 
  Putian, China
  


• 
  Vũng Tàu, Vietnam^[27][28]

See also[edit]

• Local government areas of New South Wales

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• City of Parramatta Council website


• Discover Parramatta


• Riverside Theatre Parramatta