City of Newcastle

City of Newcastle New South Wales
Location in Greater Newcastle
Aerial view of Newcastle
Coordinates	32°55.7′S 151°46.9′E / 32.9283°S 151.7817°E / -32.9283; 151.7817
Population	168,873 (LGA 2021)[1]
• Density	918.1/km2 (2,378/sq mi) [2]
Area	186.8 km2 (72.1 sq mi)[3]
Time zone	AEST (UTC+10)
• Summer (DST)	AEDT (UTC+11)
Lord Mayor	Ross Kerridge (Independent Labor)
Location	162 km (101 mi) NNE of Sydney
Council seat	12 Stewart Avenue, Newcastle
Region	Hunter[4]
County	Northumberland
State electorate(s)	Newcastle[5] Wallsend[6] Charlestown[7] Port Stephens[8]
Federal division(s)	Newcastle[9]
Website	City of Newcastle
LGAs around City of Newcastle: Maitland Port Stephens Port Stephens Cessnock City of Newcastle Tasman Sea Lake Macquarie Lake Macquarie Tasman Sea

The City of Newcastle is a local government area in the Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia. The City of Newcastle incorporates much of the area of the Newcastle metropolitan area.

The Lord Mayor of the City of Newcastle Council is Councillor Dr. Ross Kerridge, an Independent Labor politician elected under the team campaign banner 'Our Newcastle' at the 2024 New South Wales mayoral elections.^[10]

The Awabakal and Worimi peoples are acknowledged by council as the traditional custodians of the land and waters of Newcastle.^[11]

Following the passing of the Municipalities Act 1858 by the New South Wales parliament, the Municipality of Newcastle was proclaimed on 7 June 1859. The new Municipality was divided into three wards – City, Macquarie, and Honeysuckle.^[12] Eight years later, the Municipalities Act 1867 classified the Newcastle Municipality as a "Borough".^[13]

The Greater Newcastle Act 1937 merged the City of Newcastle with 10 of its suburban municipalities to form the City of Greater Newcastle. The Act also transferred parts of the Lake Macquarie Shire and Tarro Shire to the new city.^[14] The amalgamations and transfers took effect from 2 April 1938.^[15]

The newly created City of Greater Newcastle was subsequently renamed to City of Newcastle on 23 March 1949.^[16]

The towns and villages in the City of Newcastle are split into four wards – Ward 1, Ward 2, Ward 3, Ward 4.^[18] These include:

After a 2015 review by the NSW Government Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal found that Newcastle City Council was not "fit for the future", it was recommended that the City of Newcastle merge with Lake Macquarie City Council.^[32] However, the Minister for Local Government subsequently proposed that Newcastle City Council instead merge with Port Stephens Council to form a new council with an area of 1,045 km² (403 sq mi) and support a population of approximately 230,000.^[33] The outcome of an independent review was completed by mid–2016. On 14 February 2017, the NSW Government announced it would not be proceeding with further regional council mergers, including the Newcastle City Council and Port Stephens Council merger.^[34]

At the 2021 census, there were 168,873 people in the City of Newcastle local government area, of these 49.1 per cent were Male and 50.9 per cent were Female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 4.4 per cent of the population, which was higher than the national and state averages of 3.2 and 3.4 per cent respectively. The median age of people in the City of Newcastle was 37 years, just below the national median of 38. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 16.2 per cent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 16.9 per cent of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 38.7 per cent were married and 12.7 per cent were either divorced or separated.^[35]

Population growth in the City of Newcastle between the 2001 census and the 2006 census was 3.91 per cent; and in the subsequent ten years to the 2016 census, population growth was 9.64 per cent. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same periods, being 5.78 per cent and 17.86 per cent respectively, population growth in the City of Newcastle local government area was significantly lower than the national average.^[36][37][38] The median weekly income for residents within the City of Newcastle was marginally higher than the national average.^[35]

At the 2021 census, 80.8% of residents in the City of Newcastle local government area stated their country of birth as Australia significantly exceeding the national average of 66.9%. Almost 60% of all residents in the City of Newcastle nominated a religion with Catholicism being at almost 25%, which was slightly higher than the national average of 22.6%. As at the 2016 census, households in the City of Newcastle local government area had a significantly lower than average proportion (11.6%) where a language other than English is spoken (national average was 22.2%).^[38][35]

Selected historical census data for the City of Newcastle local government area
Census year			2001[36]	2006[37]	2011[39]	2016[38]	2021[35]
Population		Estimated residents on Census night	136,413	141,753	148,535	155,411	168,873
		LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales				18th
		% of New South Wales population			2.15%	2.08%	2.09%
		% of Australian population	0.73%	0.71%	0.69%	0.66%	0.66%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses		English			29.2%	29.3%	40.7%
		Australian			30.4%	27.7%	37.8%
		Irish			8.9%	9.6%	12.5%
		Scottish			8.0%	8.3%	11.6%
		German			2.9%	3.0%	–
		Australian Aboriginal	–	–	–	–	4.2%
Language, top responses (other than English)		Mandarin	n/c	0.4%	0.6%	1.2%	1.0%
		Macedonian	1.1%	0.9%	0.8%	0.7%	0.6%
		Italian	0.9%	0.7%	0.7%	0.5%	0.4%
		Greek	0.7%	0.7%	0.6%	0.5%	0.4%
		Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses		No Religion	12.7%	16.3%	22.6%	32.8%	44.8%
		Catholic	26.6%	26.1%	25.3%	22.2%	18.9%
		Anglican	27.0%	25.0%	22.3%	17.0%	12.3%
		Uniting Church	8.2%	7.0%	5.9%	4.2%	2.9%
		Presbyterian and Reformed	4.1%	3.5%	3.2%	–	–
Median weekly incomes
Personal income		Median weekly personal income		A$409	A$563	A$660	A$852
		% of Australian median income		87.8%	97.6%	99.7%	105.8%
Family income		Median weekly family income		A$1,132	A$1,530	A$1,778	A$2,264
		% of Australian median income		96.7%	103.3%	102.5%	106.7%
Household income		Median weekly household income		A$885	A$1,165	A$1,368	1,760
		% of Australian median income		86.2%	94.4%	95.1%	100.8%
Dwelling structure
Dwelling type		Separate house	74.6%	73.3%	73.5%	71.1%	69.0%
		Semi-detached, terrace or townhouse	10.0%	10.9%	12.1%	15.4%	16.2%
		Flat or apartment	14.1%	14.9%	13.9%	12.7%	14.2%

Newcastle City Council is composed of thirteen councillors, including the Lord Mayor, generally for a fixed four-year term of office. The Lord Mayor is directly elected while the twelve other Councillors are elected proportionally as four separate wards, each electing three Councillors. The most recent election was held on 14 September 2024. The current makeup of the council, including the Lord Mayor, is as follows:

The current Council, elected in September 2024, in order of election by ward is:

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2024 New South Wales local elections in Hunter § Newcastle results.[edit]

2024 New South Wales local elections: Newcastle^{[40][41][42][43]}

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Labor		35,324	35.6	−5.2	5	1
	Greens		20,719	20.9	+4.3	3	1
	Our Newcastle		23,306	23.5		2	2
	Liberal		16,594	16.7	−1.7	2	1
	Independent Liberal		2,324	2.3		0
	Socialist Alliance		707	0.7	−0.2	0
	Christians For Community		257	0.3		0
	Independents		87	0.1		0
Formal votes			99,319	93.5
Informal votes			6,924	6.5
Total			106,243

Newcastle Council has sister city relations with the following cities:

City	Prefecture/State	Country	Year
Ube	Yamaguchi	Japan	1980
Dubbo	New South Wales	Australia	1995
Arcadia	California	United States

• Docherty, James (1977). The Second City: Social and Urban Change in Newcastle, New South Wales 1900 – c. 1929 (PDF) (Thesis). Australian National University. Retrieved 30 November 2018.