City of Parramatta

This article is about the local government area. For the locality, see Parramatta, New South Wales.

City of Parramatta New South Wales
Location in Metropolitan Sydney
Coordinates
Population	178,226 (2011 census) (23rd)
• Density	2,921.74/km2 (7,567.3/sq mi)
Established	1938
Area	61 km2 (23.6 sq mi)
Time zone	AEST (UTC+10)
• Summer (DST)	AEDT (UTC+11)
Lord Mayor	Paul Garrard
Council seat	Parramatta
Region	Metropolitan Sydney
State electorate(s)	Parramatta Epping Granville Baulkham Hills Riverstone
Federal Division(s)	Parramatta Bennelong Greenway Mitchell
Website	City of Parramatta
LGAs around City of Parramatta: Blacktown The Hills Hornsby Holroyd City of Parramatta Ryde Fairfield Bankstown Auburn

The City of Parramatta is a local government area in the western region of Sydney, situated on the Cumberland Plain, 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 61 square kilometres (24 sq mi) and is the eleventh most populous (166,858 as the 2011 Census) local government area in New South Wales, and the twenty–third most populous local government area in Australia. The City houses the Parramatta central business district, the second largest employment destination for the metropolitan area after the Sydney CBD.

The area was formed in 1861 as the Municipality of Parramatta and became The Borough of Parramatta in 1867, eventually becoming the City of Parramatta in 1938. In 1948 Ermington-Rydalmere, Dundas, Granville and Parramatta councils were amalgamated.

The Lord Mayor of the City of Parramatta is Cr. Paul Garrard.

Suburbs in the local government area

Suburbs in the City of Parramatta are:

• Baulkham Hills (shared with The Hills Shire)
• Camellia
• Carlingford (shared with Hornsby Shire and The Hills Shire)
• Chester Hill (shared with City of Bankstown)
• Clyde
• Constitution Hill
• Dundas
• Dundas Valley
• Eastwood (shared with Hornsby Shire and City of Ryde)
• Epping (shared with Hornsby Shire and City of Ryde)
• Ermington
• Granville (shared with City of Holroyd)
• Guildford (shared with City of Fairfield and City of Holroyd)
• Harris Park (shared with City of Holroyd)
• Kingsdene
• Merrylands (shared with City of Holroyd)
• North Parramatta (shared with The Hills Shire)
• Northmead (shared with The Hills Shire)
• Oatlands (shared with The Hills Shire)
• Old Toongabbie
• Parramatta (shared with City of Holroyd)
• Pendle Hill (shared with City of Holroyd)
• Rosehill
• Rydalmere
• Sefton (shared with City of Bankstown)
• South Granville
• Telopea
• Toongabbie (shared with City of Blacktown and City of Holroyd)
• Winston Hills
• Wentworthville (shared with City of Holroyd)
• Westmead (shared with City of Holroyd)

Demographics

At the 2011 Census, there were 166,858 people in the Parramatta local government area, of these 50.1% were male and 49.9% were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 0.8% of the population. The median age of people in the City of Parramatta was 33 years; notably below the national median of 37 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 18.9% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 11.8% of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 52.3% were married and 9.9% were either divorced or separated.

Population growth in the City of Parramatta between the 2001 Census and the 2006 Census was 3.62% and in the subsequent five years to the 2011 Census, population growth was 12.50%. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same periods, being 5.78% and 8.32% respectively, population growth in the Parramatta local government area was significantly higher than the national average. The median weekly income for residents within the City of Parramatta was on with par with the national average.

At the 2011 Census, the Parramatta local government area was linguistically diverse, with a significantly higher than average proportion (52.5%) where two or more languages are spoken (national average was 20.4%); and a significantly lower proportion (43.4%) where English only was spoken at home (national average was 76.8%). The proportion of residents who stated a religious affiliation with Islam and Hinduism was in excess of four times and six times the national average respectively.

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

Council

See also: List of mayors and lord mayors of Parramatta

File:ParramattaTownHallfixedperspective.jpg

Parramatta's historic Town Hall

City of Parramatta Sign, Pennant Hills Road, Carlingford

Current composition and election method

Parramatta City Council is composed of fifteen Councillors elected proportionally as five separate wards, each electing three Councillors. All Councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office. The Lord Mayor is elected by the Councillors at the first meeting of the Council. The most recent election was held on 8 September 2012, and the makeup of the Council is as follows:

Party		Councillors
	Liberal Party of Australia	7
	Australian Labor Party	5
	Lorraine Wearne Independents	2
	Woodville Independents	1
	Total	15

The current Council, elected in 2012, in order of election by ward, is:

Ward	Councillor		Party	Notes
Arthur Phillip Ward		Bakous Makari	Liberal	Deputy Mayor
		Julia Finn	Labor
		Andrew Wilson	Lorraine Wearne Independents
Caroline Chisholm Ward		Scott Lloyd	Liberal
		Shahadat Chowdhury	Labor
		Bob Dwyer	Liberal
Elizabeth McArthur Ward		John Chedid	Liberal
		James Shaw	Labor
		John Hugh	Liberal
Lachlan Macquarie Ward		Jean Pierre Abood	Liberal
		Lorraine Wearne	Lorraine Wearne Independents
		Pierre Esber	Labor
Woodville Ward		Steven Issa	Liberal
		Paul Garrard	Woodville Independents	Mayor
		Glenn Elmore	Labor

Sister cities

• Beersheba, Israel
• Cebu City, Philippines

External links

• Parramatta City Council website
• Parramatta Economic Development Strategy 2011–2016