City of Parramatta

First incorporated on 27 November 1861 as the "Municipality of Parramatta",^[2] 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".^[3][4]

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. The Parramatta local government area was further expanded through the transfer of 10.7 km² from the Municipality of Blacktown in 1972^[5] taking in Winston Hills which has not serviced since this time.^[6] 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.^{[citation needed]}

Suburbs in the City of Parramatta are:^[10]

The City of Parramatta Council operates a central library, heritage centre and six branch libraries at Carlingford, Constitution Hill, Dundas Valley, Epping, Ermington and Wentworth Point. It also provides a public swimming pool at Epping, five childcare centres and over ten community centres.^[11][12] The heritage-listed Parramatta Town Hall was completed in 1883 and houses the original council chamber meeting rooms as well as other function rooms.^[13]

The City of Parramatta also operates a new waste collection service, FOGO. It started on 11 November 2024, and is aimed to reduce food scraps in landfill.

At the 2021 Australian census, there were 256,729 people in the City of Parramatta local government area that comprised 84 square kilometres (32 sq mi), 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 35 years; notably below the national median of 38 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 18.2% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 12.5% of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 53.4% were married and 9.5% were either divorced or separated.^[14]

At the 2021 Census, the Parramatta local government area was linguistically diverse, with a significantly higher than average proportion (61.8%) where two or more languages are spoken (national average was 24.8%); and a significantly lower proportion (38.2) where English only was spoken at home (national average was 72%). The most commonly reported religious affiliation was "No Religion", at 29.7%. The proportion of residents who stated a religious affiliation with Hinduism was over four times the national average, with the median weekly income for residents slightly above the national average.^[14]

More information Selected historical census data for Parramatta local government area, Census year ...

Selected historical census data for Parramatta local government area
Census year			2001[15]	2006[16]	2011[17]	2016[14]	2021[1]
Population		Estimated residents on census night	143,143	148,323	166,858	226,149	256,729
		LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales		11th	11th	5th	5th
		% of New South Wales population			2.41%	3.02%	3.18%
		% of Australian population	0.76%	0.75%	0.78%	0.97%	1.00%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses		Australian	23.9%	22.9%	18.1%	13.1%	13.9%
		English	21.8%	17.8%	16.8%	13.7%	14.4%
		Chinese	9.4%	11.2%	13.0%	16.4%	22.3%
		Lebanese	9.5%	9.7%	9.5%	3.6%	3.5%
		Indian	3.4%	5.9%	9.1%	10.1%	11.2%
Language, top responses (other than English)		Arabic	10.1%	10.7%	10.3%	3.2%	3.2%
		Mandarin	3.0%	4.7%	5.9%	10.5%	12.4%
		Cantonese	4.6%	5.0%	5.0%	6.5%	6.4%
		Korean	2.0%	2.1%	2.7%	5.0%	5.2%
		Hindi	1.3%	2.0%	2.6%	3.6%	3.7%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses		Catholic	27.1%	26.0%	23.4%	20.8%	18.9%
		No religion	10.7%	12.8%	15.0%	24.5%	29.7%
		Anglican	15.8%	12.9%	10.3%	8.3%	6.0%
		Islam	7.0%	8.2%	9.7%	4.3%	5.5%
		Hinduism	2.8%	5.3%	8.8%	11.3%	12.9%
Median weekly incomes
Personal income		Median weekly personal income		A$443	A$544	A$722	A$908
		% of Australian median income		95.1%	94.3%	109.1%	112.8%
Family income		Median weekly family income		A$1,043	A$1,451	A$1,933	A$2,298
		% of Australian median income		101.6%	98.0%	111.5%	108.4%
Household income		Median weekly household income		A$1,172	A$1,288	A$1,759	A$2,051
		% of Australian median income		100.0%	104.4%	122.3%	117.5%
Dwelling structure
Dwelling type		Separate house	61.2%	56.2%	52.8%	45.7%	38.9%
		Semi-detached, terrace or townhouse	10.7	12.4%	13.4%	15.2%	13.3%
		Flat or apartment	26.8%	30.7%	33.5%	38.4%	47.3%

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Quick facts Leadership, Lord Mayor ...

City of Parramatta Council
Leadership
Lord Mayor	Martin Zaiter (Liberal)[18]
Deputy Lord Mayor	Charles Chen (Lorraine Wearne Independents) [19]
Structure
Seats	15 councillors
Map of elected councillors by party in each of the 5 wards[20]
Political groups	Liberal (6)   Labor (6)  Community Champions (1)  Greens (1)  Lorraine Wearne Independents (1)
Elections
Voting system	Single transferable vote
Last election	14 September 2024
Next election	16 September 2028
Meeting place
Parramatta Town Hall, the seat of the council since 1883

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Between May 2016 and September 2017, the council was managed by an administrator appointed by the Government of New South Wales, Amanda Chadwick, until the first election for councillors took place on 9 September 2017.^[10] 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.

Officeholders

See also: List of mayors and lord mayors of Parramatta

More information Office-holder, Term ...

Office-holder		Term	Notes
Lord Mayor	Martin Zaiter	14 October 2024 – present	[24]
Deputy Lord Mayor	Cameron Maclean	14 October 2024 - 8 September 2025	[24]
Deputy Lord Mayor	Charles Chen	8 Sept 2025	[19]
CEO[28]		Term	Notes
Greg Dyer		12 May 2016 – 19 January 2018	CEO, Parramatta City Council 3 February 2014 – 12 May 2016[10][29][30][31][32]
Sue Coleman (interim)		19 January 2018 – 10 July 2018	Group Manager City Services
Mark Stapleton		10 July 2018 – 11 March 2019	Director of Property and Significant Assets[33]
Rik Hart (Acting)		11 March 2019 – 16 September 2019	former General Manager, Warringah and Inner West Councils[34]
Brett Newman		16 September 2019 – September 2022	former CEO, Property NSW[35]
Gail Connolly		28 March 2023 – 13 October 2025	former General Manager, Georges River Council[36]
George Bounassif (Acting)		13 October 2025 – present	Executive Director, City Services and Projects[37]

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• Beersheba, Israel
• Cebu City, Philippines^[43]
• Jung District, Seoul, South Korea
• Phetchaburi, Thailand
• Putian, China
• Vũng Tàu, Vietnam^[44][45]

• Local government areas of New South Wales