Inner West Council

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.^[5] Alternative mergers were also proposed, such as one between Auburn, Burwood and Canada Bay,^[5] or between Burwood, Canada Bay, Strathfield and Ashfield.^[6] 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.^[7] On 12 May 2016, Ashfield Council, Marrickville Council and the Municipality of Leichhardt merged to form the Inner West Council.^[1]

The Inner West Council was the first local authority in Sydney to end Australia Day celebrations, from 2020.^[8]

Suburbs in the Inner West Council area are:^[12]

At the 2021 census, there were 182,818 people in the Inner West local government area; of these 48.8 per cent were male and 51.2 per cent were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 1.2 per cent of the population; significantly below the NSW and Australian averages of 3.4 and 3.2 per cent respectively. The median age of people in Inner West Council was 38 years; same as the national median of 38 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 14.6 per cent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 14.1 per cent of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 37.1 per cent were married and 10.7 per cent were either divorced or separated.^[2]

At the 2021 census, the proportion of residents in the Inner West local government area who stated their ancestry as Australian or from Britain or Ireland was about 68 per cent of all residents. In excess of 49 per cent of all residents in Inner West Council nominated a no religious affiliation at the 2021 census, which was in excess of the national average of 38.4 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 (42.9 per cent) where two or more languages are spoken (the national average was 31.8 per cent); and a lower proportion (69.8 per cent) where English only was spoken at home (national average was 72.0 per cent).^[2]

The demographics of renters leaving the council area, possibly due to the Australian rental crisis, is of interest.^[13][14][15] In 2016 there were 14,085 people aged 20-24, which dropped to 13,582 by 2024. In 2016 there were 20,091 people aged 25-29, which dropped to 19,933 by 2024.^[16]

More information Selected historical census data for Inner West Council local government area, Census year ...

Selected historical census data for Inner West Council local government area[a]
Census year			2021[2]	2016[17]	2011[18]	2006[19]	2001[20]
Population		Estimated residents on census night	182,818	182,043	263,560	168,323	155,456
		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	2,162	2,034	1,585	624	636
		% of ATSI population to residents	1.2%	1.1%	0.6	0.4%	0.4%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses		English	29.9%	21.0%	16.6%	-	-
		Australian	24.4%	16.7%	15.7	-	-
		Irish	13.7%	9.8%	7.5%	-	-
		Scottish	9.6%	6.5%	-	-	-
		Chinese	8.5%	5.9%	10.3%	-	-
Language, top responses (other than English)		Mandarin	3.3%	3.6%	5.9%	6.2%	4.0%
		Greek	2.7%	2.9%	2.7%	-	3.2%
		Italian	2.2%	2.8%	5.7%	7.6%	9.0%
		Vietnamese	2.0%	2.0%	-	-	-
		Cantonese	1.9%	1.9%	4.3%	5.6%	5.3%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses		No religion, so described	49.7%	40.4%	23.6%	15.5%	12.7%
		Catholic	20.5%	22.4%	31.9%	36.2%	38.8%
		Not stated	5.4%	10.7%	-	-	-
		Anglican	5.8%	7.1%	9.6%	10.0%	12.1%
		Eastern Orthodox	4.2%	4.2%	4.8%	5.0%	5.5%[b]
Median weekly incomes
Personal income		Median weekly personal income	$1,207	$957	$723	$534	-
		% of Australian median income		144.6%
Family income		Median weekly family income	$3,155	$2,498	$1,985	$1,456	-
		% of Australian median income		144.1%
Household income		Median weekly household income	$2,340	$2,048	$1,662	$1,191	-
		% of Australian median income		142.4%

Close

The Inner West Council comprises fifteen Councillors elected proportionally, with three Councillors elected in five wards. On 9 September 2017, the previous composition of the council was elected for a fixed three-year term of office (which was extended for twelve months in 2020 to December 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic);^[21][1][12] the mayor is appointed biennially and deputy mayor annually by the councillors at the first meeting of the council.

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. Since 2021, all Council meetings have been held at the Ashfield Service Centre.^[50]

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.^[51]

• Local government areas of New South Wales