City of Brisbane

City of Brisbane Queensland
Location within South East Queensland
Flag of the City of Brisbane
Coordinates	27°28′S 153°07′E / 27.47°S 153.12°E / -27.47; 153.12
Population	1,242,825 (2021 census)[1] (1st)
• Density	925.62/km2 (2,397.34/sq mi)
Established	30 October 1924
Area	1,342.7 km2 (518.4 sq mi)[2]
Time zone	AEST (UTC+10:00)
Lord Mayor	Adrian Schrinner (LNP)
Council seat	Brisbane CBD (City Hall)
Region	South East Queensland
State electorate(s)	Algester, Aspley, Bulimba, Chatsworth, Clayfield, Cooper, Everton, Ferny Grove, Greenslopes, Inala, Lytton, Maiwar, Mansfield, McConnel, Miller, Moggill, Mount Ommaney, Nudgee, Sandgate, South Brisbane, Stafford, Stretton, Toohey
Federal division(s)	Brisbane, Blair, Bonner, Dickson, Griffith, Lilley, Moreton, Oxley, Petrie, Rankin, Ryan
Website	City of Brisbane
LGAs around City of Brisbane: Somerset Moreton Bay Moreton Bay Somerset City of Brisbane Moreton Bay Ipswich Logan Redland

The City of Brisbane is a local government area (LGA) which comprises the inner portion of Greater Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. Its governing body is the Brisbane City Council.

The LGAs in the other mainland state capitals (Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide) are generally responsible only for the central business districts and inner neighbourhoods of those cities. However, the City of Brisbane administers a significant portion of the Brisbane Greater Capital City Statistical Area (GCCSA), accounting for just under half its population. As such, it has a larger population than any other local government area in Australia.^[3] The City of Brisbane was the first Australian LGA to reach a population of more than one million.^[4] Its population is roughly equivalent to the populations of Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory combined. In 2016–2017, the council administered a budget of over $3 billion,^[5] by far the largest budget compared to those of the City of Sydney and City of Melbourne LGAs.^[6][7]

The City derives from cities, towns and shires that merged in 1925. The main offices and central library of the council are at 266 George Street, also known as Brisbane Square. Brisbane City Hall houses the Council Chamber, the offices of the Lord Mayor and Deputy Mayor, meeting and reception rooms and the Museum of Brisbane.

In the 2021 census, the City of Brisbane had a population of 1,242,825 people.^[1]

The City of Brisbane includes the following settlements:

Total: 19

Total: 50

Total: 54

Total: 27

Total: 43

Total: 5

The Government of Queensland created the City of Brisbane with a view to uniting the Brisbane metropolitan area under a single planning and governance structure. The City of Brisbane Act 1924 received assent from the Governor on 30 October 1924. On 1 October 1925, twenty local government areas of various sizes were abolished and merged into the new city,^[8] namely:

• Cities:
  • Brisbane
  • South Brisbane
• Towns:
  • Hamilton
  • Ithaca
  • Sandgate
  • Toowong
  • Windsor
  • Wynnum
• Shires:
  • Balmoral
  • Belmont
  • Coorparoo
  • Enoggera
  • Kedron
  • Moggill
  • Sherwood
  • Stephens
  • Taringa
  • Tingalpa
  • Toombul
  • Yeerongpilly

The council also assumed responsibility for several quasi-autonomous government authorities, such as the Brisbane Tramways Trust.

Selected historical census data for City of Brisbane local government area
Census year			2001[9]	2006[10]	2011[11]	2016[12]	2021[1]
Population		Estimated residents on census night	873,780	956,129	1,041,839	1,131,155	1,242,825
		LGA rank in terms of size within Queensland		1st	1st	1st
		% of Queensland population	24.37%	24.49%	24.05%	24.05%
		% of Australian population	4.66%	4.82%	4.84%	4.83%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses		English			25.0%	24.3%
		Australian			23.1%	20.2%
		Irish			9.5%	9.7%
		Scottish			7.4%	7.4%
		Chinese			4.1%	5.2%
Language, top responses (other than English)		Mandarin	1.4%	1.9%	2.6%	4.1%
		Cantonese	1.4%	1.4%	1.5%	1.5%
		Vietnamese	1.3%	1.4%	1.5%	1.6%
		Italian	1.1%	0.9%	0.8%
		Greek	0.8%	0.7%
		Spanish			0.7%	0.9%
		Korean				1.0%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses		Catholic	28.0%	27.1%	26.3%	23.1%
		Anglican	19.5%	17.2%	14.8%	11.0%
		No religion	15.0%	18.5%	23.3%	31.6%
		Uniting	7.8%	6.6%	5.6%	4.0%
		Presbyterian	3.7%	3.2%
		Buddhism			3.0%
Median weekly incomes
Personal income		Median weekly personal income		A$556	A$696	A$770
		% of Australian median income		119.3%	120.6%	116.3%
Family income		Median weekly family income		A$1403	A$1873	A$2091
		% of Australian median income		119.8%	126.5%	120.6%
Household income		Median weekly household income		A$1157	A$1547	A$1746
		% of Australian median income		112.7%	125.4%	121.4%
Dwelling structure
Dwelling type		Separate house	74.7%	71.9%	70.9%	67.4%
		Semi-detached, terrace or townhouse	6.7%	7.9%	9.7%	10.4%
		Flat or apartment	17.2%	19.3%	18.8%	21.3%

The Brisbane City Council maintains the Brisbane Local Heritage Register, a list of nominated sites that satisfy the council's heritage criteria.^[13]

The City of Brisbane is governed by the Brisbane City Council, the largest local council in Australia. The Brisbane City Council has its power divided between a lord mayor, a parliamentary-style council of twenty-six councillors representing single-member wards of approximately 30,000 voters^[14] (roughly equivalent in size to state electorates), and a civic cabinet comprising the lord mayor, the deputy mayor (drawn from the majority on council) and the chairpersons of the seven standing committees drawn from the membership of council. Due to the City of Brisbane's status as the country's largest LGA, the lord mayor is elected by the largest single-member electorate in Australia. Like all mayors in Queensland, the lord mayor is vested with very broad executive power.^[15][16]

The Brisbane City Council operates under the City of Brisbane Act 2010, while other local governments in Queensland are governed by the Local Government Act 2009. Council meetings are held at Level 2, City Hall, 64 Adelaide Street, Brisbane City^[17] every Tuesday at 2pm except during recess and holiday periods. This temporary venue is in use due to the restoration work being performed on the traditional venue Brisbane City Hall.^[18] Council Meetings generally open to the public, excluding the Civic Cabinet.^{[citation needed]}

Brisbane City Council
31st Council
Coat of Arms
Logo
Type
Type	Unicameral
History
Founded	1924; 101 years ago (1924)
Preceded by	City of Brisbane City of South Brisbane
Leadership
Lord Mayor	Adrian Schrinner, Liberal National
Deputy Mayor	Fiona Cunningham, Liberal National
Leader of the Opposition	Jared Cassidy, Labor
Chair of Council	Steven Toomey, Liberal National
Deputy Chair of Council	Sandy Landers, Liberal National
Structure
Seats	27 elected representatives including Lord Mayor and 26 Ward Councillors
Political groups	Majority (19)   Liberal National (19) Opposition (8)   Labor (5)   Greens (2)   Independent (1)
Committees	10
Length of term	4 years
Salary	A$164,156 (2021)[a]
Elections
Voting system	Instant-runoff voting
First election	21 February 1925
Last election	28 March 2024
Next election	March 2028
Motto
Meliora Sequimur
Meeting place
Brisbane City Hall, King George Square, Brisbane
Website
www.brisbane.qld.gov.au

The city of Brisbane is divided by 26 wards, each of which is represented by a councillor.^[20][21] Elections for these positions are held every four years.^[22] The results of the March 2024 elections^[update] delivered a Liberal National Party majority, with the wards of the City of Brisbane represented by the following councillors:^[23][24]

The motto of the City of Brisbane is Meliora sequimur, Latin for We aim for better things. The council's corporate slogan is Dedicated to a better Brisbane. The city's colours are blue and gold. Its corporate logo was introduced in 1982 in preparation for the Commonwealth Games hosted in Brisbane that year. It features a stylised version of Brisbane's City Hall which opened in 1930. The city's floral emblems are the (exotic) poinsettia and Brisbane wattle, and its faunal emblems are the graceful tree frog and the koala.^[25]

Brisbane City Council operate libraries in Annerley, Ashgrove, Banyo, Bracken Ridge, Brisbane CBD (Brisbane Square), Bulimba, Carina, Carindale (Westfield Carindale), Chermside, Coopers Plains, Corinda, Everton Park, Fairfield, Upper Mount Gravatt (Garden City), Grange, Hamilton, Holland Park, Inala, Indooroopilly, Kenmore, Mitchelton, Mount Coot-tha (Botanic Gardens), Mount Gravatt, Mount Ommaney, New Farm, Nundah, Sandgate, Stones Corner, Sunnybank Hills, Toowong, West End, Wynnum, and Zillmere.^[26] In addition, it operates a mobile library service to Aspley, Bellbowrie, Brighton, Ellen Grove, Forest Lake, Manly West, Mount Crosby and The Gap.^[27] There is also a pop-up library that attends community events and festivals, as well as visiting various parks around Brisbane for children's storytime sessions (a list of dates and places is published some months in advance).^[28]

Brisbane's sister cities are:^[29]

Nice, France was formerly a sister city of Brisbane until the relationship was severed in 1995 as protest against the Chirac government's decision to resume nuclear testing in the Pacific Ocean.^[30] Bangkok became a sister city of Brisbane in 1997, but the partnership ended in 2017 at the latest.^[31][32]

• Lord Mayor of Brisbane
• List of mayors and lord mayors of Brisbane
• Local government in Australia

• Official website
• Brisbane City Council's Organisational Structure
• "Brisbane and Greater Brisbane". Queensland Places. Centre for the Government of Queensland, University of Queensland.
• Google map of pre 1925 merger Brisbane Councils