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Inner West Council is a local government area located in the inner western region of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The council makes up the eastern part of this wider region, and was formed on 12 May 2016 from the merger of the former Ashfield, Leichhardt and Marrickville councils.[3][4]

Inner West Council New South Wales
Location in Metropolitan Sydney
Population	182,043 (2016 census)[1] (30th) 200,811 (2019 est.)[2]
• Density	5,200/km2 (13,470/sq mi)
Established	12 May 2016 (2016-05-12)
Area	35 km2 (13.5 sq mi)[3]
Mayor	Darcy Byrne
Council seat	Ashfield, Leichhardt & Petersham
Region	Inner West
State electorate(s)	Balmain, Canterbury Strathfield Summer Hill Newtown
Federal division(s)	Barton, Grayndler Reid Sydney Watson
Website	Inner West Council
LGAs around Inner West Council: Canada Bay Parramatta River Parramatta River Burwood Inner West Council City of Sydney Canterbury-Bankstown Bayside Bayside

The Council comprises an area of 35 square kilometres (14 sq mi) and as at the 2016 census had an estimated population of 182,043.[1]

The mayor of Inner West Council is Darcy Byrne, elected by the councillors on 29 December 2021. An election on 4 December resulted in a Labor majority.[5][6]

History

In the early 2010s, the New South Wales Government explored merging various local government areas to create larger councils within Sydney. In 2013, the Independent Local Government Review Panel (ILGRP) initially proposed a merger of the six inner west councils - Burwood, Strathfield, Canada Bay, Ashfield, Leichhardt and Marrickville, into a single council that would govern almost all of the inner west region.[7] Alternative mergers were also proposed, such as one between Auburn, Burwood and Canada Bay,[7] or between Burwood, Canada Bay, Strathfield and Ashfield.[8] The final proposal in the 2015 review of local government boundaries recommended that the Municipality of Ashfield, the Municipality of Leichhardt and the Marrickville Council merge to form a new council with an area of 35 square kilometres (14 sq mi) and support a population of approximately 186,000.[9] On 12 May 2016, Ashfield Council, Marrickville Council and the Municipality of Leichhardt merged to form the Inner West Council.[3]

Proposed de-amalgamation

In December 2021, a majority of voters in Inner West Council voted in favour of reversing the 2016 merger and separating the three pre-existing councils of Ashfield, Leichhardt and Marrickville.[10] The final declared results were: 62.49% YES and 37.51% NO.[10]

In 2022, the council began preparing a business case for de-amalgamation.[10]

Suburbs and localities in the local government area

Suburbs in the Inner West Council area are:[11]

Demographics

At the 2016 census, there were 182,043 people in the Inner West local government area; of these 48.7 per cent were male and 51.3 per cent were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 1.1 per cent of the population; significantly below the NSW and Australian averages of 2.9 and 2.8 per cent respectively. The median age of people in Inner West Council was 36 years; slightly lower than the national median of 38 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 15.3 per cent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 12.25 per cent of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 38.7 per cent were married and 10.8 per cent were either divorced or separated.[1]

At the 2016 census, the proportion of residents in the Inner West local government area who stated their ancestry as Australian or from Britain and Ireland exceeded 54 per cent of all residents. In excess of 51 per cent of all residents in Inner West Council nominated a no religious affiliation at the 2016 census, which was in excess of the national average of 40 per cent. Meanwhile, as at the census date, compared to the national average, households in the Inner West local government area had a higher than average proportion (31.4 per cent) where two or more languages are spoken (national average was 22.2 per cent); and a lower proportion (64.4 per cent) where English only was spoken at home (national average was 72.7 per cent).[1]

Selected historical census data for Inner West Council local government area
Census year			2016[1]	2011[12]	2006[12]	2001[12]
Population		Estimated residents on census night	182,043	169,799	160,276	159,974
		LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales	14th
		% of New South Wales population	2.43%
		% of Australian population	0.78%
		Estimated ATSI population on census night	2,034
		% of ATSI population to residents	1.1%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses		English	21.0%
		Australian	16.7%
		Irish	9.8%
		Scottish	6.5%
		Chinese	5.9%
Language, top responses (other than English)		Mandarin	3.6%
		Greek	2.9%
		Italian	2.8%
		Vietnamese	2.0%
		Cantonese	1.9%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses		No religion, so described	40.4%
		Catholic	22.4%
		Not stated	10.7%
		Anglican	7.1%
		Eastern Orthodox	4.2%
Median weekly incomes
Personal income		Median weekly personal income	A$957
		% of Australian median income	144.6%
Family income		Median weekly family income	A$2,498
		% of Australian median income	144.1%
Household income		Median weekly household income	A$2,048
		% of Australian median income	142.4%

Council

The Inner West Council comprises fifteen Councillors elected proportionally, with three Councillors elected in five wards. On 9 September 2017, the current council was elected for a fixed three-year term of office (which was extended for twelve months in 2020 and to December 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic);[13][3][11] The mayor is appointed biennially and deputy mayor annually by the councillors at the first meeting of the council.

Officeholders

Mayor	Term	Notes
Richard Pearson (Administrator)	12 May 2016 – 21 September 2017	[4]
Darcy Byrne (ALP)	21 September 2017 – 7 September 2021	[14][15] Mayor of Leichhardt 2012–2014, 2015–2016.
Rochelle Porteous (GRN)	7 September 2021 – 29 December 2021	[16][17][18] Mayor of Leichhardt 2011–2012, 2014–2015.
Darcy Byrne (ALP)	29 December 2021 – present	[19]
Deputy Mayor	Term	Notes
Julie Passas (Lib)	21 September 2017 – 11 September 2018	[14] Ashfield East Ward Councillor 2012–2016.
Victor Macri (Ind)	11 September 2018 – 10 September 2019	[20] Mayor of Marrickville 2012–2013.
Vittoria Raciti (Lib)	10 September 2019 – 22 September 2020	[21] Ashfield North East Ward Councillor 2012–2016.
Victor Macri (Ind)	22 September 2020 – 7 September 2021	[22] Marrickville Ward Councillor 2017–2021.
Pauline Lockie (Ind)	7 September 2021 – 29 December 2021	[16]
Jessica D'Arienzo (ALP)	29 December 2021 – 13 September 2022	[19]
Philippa Scott (ALP)	13 September 2022 – present	[23]
General Manager/CEO[24]	Term	Notes
Vanessa Chan	12 May 2016 – 1 September 2016	General Manager of Ashfield Council 2010–2016[4][25]
Rik Hart	9 September 2016 – 20 February 2019	General Manager of Warringah Council 2007–2016[26]
Michael Deegan	20 February 2019 – 19 October 2020	[27][28]
Elizabeth Richardson (acting)	19 October 2020 – 30 October 2020	[29]
Brian Barrett (acting)	30 October 2020 – 9 April 2021	General Manager of Marrickville Council 2013–2016[30][31]
Elizabeth Richardson (acting)	9 April 2021 – 3 May 2021	[32]
Peter Gainsford	3 May 2021 – present	General Manager of the City of Canada Bay 2018–2021[33]

Current composition

The most recent election was held on 4 December 2021, and the makeup of the council by order of election, is as follows:[34]

Party		Councillors
	Australian Labor Party	8
	Greens NSW	5
	Independents	2
	Total	15

Ward	Councillor		Party	Notes
Ashfield – Djarrawunang (Magpie) Ward[35][36][37]		Dylan Griffiths	Greens
		Mark Drury	Labor	Elected 2017; Ashfield South Ward Councillor 2006–2016.
		Jessica D'Arienzo	Labor	Deputy Mayor 2021–2022.[19]
Balmain – Baludarri (Leather Jacket) Ward[38][36][37]		Kobi Shetty	Greens
		Darcy Byrne	Labor	Elected 2017; Mayor 2017–2021, 2021–present;[14][15][19]
		John Stamolis	Independent	Elected 2017; Leichhardt Balmain Ward Councillor 2014–2016.
Leichhardt – Gulgadya (Grass Tree) Ward[39][36][37]		Marghanita Da Cruz	Greens	Elected 2017
		Philippa Scott	Labor	Deputy Mayor 2022–present[23]
		Timothy Stephens	Labor
Marrickville – Midjuburi (Lillypilly) Ward[40][36][37]		Mat Howard	Labor
		Justine Langford	Greens
		Zoi Tsardoulias	Labor
Stanmore – Damun (Port Jackson Fig) Ward[41][36][37]		Liz Atkins	Greens
		Chloe Smith	Labor
		Pauline Lockie	Independent	Elected 2017; Deputy Mayor 2021.[16]

Independents Victor Macri and Vittoria Raciti, the latter of whom formerly sat as a Liberal, both requested recounts in their respective wards.[5] The NSW Electoral Commission denied these requests.[6]

Town halls

The Inner West Council owns and maintains the three seats of the three pre-merger councils, being Ashfield Town Hall, Petersham Town Hall and Leichhardt Town Hall. In addition, the Council also owns the Marrickville, Balmain and St Peters town halls, which were the seats of municipal councils that had existed prior to their merger into the immediate predecessor councils.[42]

Culture

Inner West Library Service

The Inner West Library Service consists of a network of 8 libraries located within the Inner West Council boundaries. After the Inner West Council amalgamation, a new library management system was launched on 1 March 2019, with a soft launch in late February allowing members to borrow from all libraries in the service.[43][44][45]

The libraries of the Inner West Library Service include:[46]

• Ashfield Library
• Balmain Library
• Emmanuel Tsardoulias Community Dulwich Hill Library
• Haberfield Library
• Leichhardt Library
• Marrickville Library
• Stanmore Library
• St Peters/Sydenham Library

See also

• Local government areas of New South Wales

References

External links

Official website

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