Inner West Council

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.

Inner West Council New South Wales
Location in Metropolitan Sydney
Population	182,818 (2021 census)
• Density	5,220/km2 (13,530/sq mi)
Established	12 May 2016 (2016-05-12)
Area	35 km2 (13.5 sq mi)
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 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 2021 census had an estimated population of 182,818.

The mayor of Inner West Council is Darcy Byrne, elected by the councillors on 29 December 2021. The most recent NSW local government election, on 4 December 2021, resulted in a Labor majority of 8 Councillors.

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

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. The final declared results were: 62% yes and 38% no.

In 2022, the council prepared a business case for de-amalgamation. As of December 2022 Inner West Council has prepared and submitted a final submission to the NSW Minister for Local Government. In March 2024 the Government of New South Wales ruled out a merger on cost grounds.

are:

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.

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).

Selected historical census data for Inner West Council local government area
Census year			2021	2016	2011	2006	2001
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%
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%

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 to December 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic); the mayor is appointed biennially and deputy mayor annually by the councillors at the first meeting of the council.

Officeholders

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:

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. [1]

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.

2017−present

Ashfield–Djarrawunang Ward

Balmain–Baludarri Ward

Leichhardt–Gulgadya Ward

Marrickville–Midjuburi Ward

Stanmore–Damun Ward

2021

The Liberal Party did not endorse any candidates, including its two councillors elected in 2017.

2021 New South Wales local elections: Inner West

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Labor		40,113	38.6	+4.7	8	3
	Greens		37,499	36.0	+7.2	5
	Independent		15,967	15.3	−2.7	2	1
	Independent Liberal		6,738	6.5	−11.1	0	2
	Community Independents		1,195	1.1		0
	Community Independent		898	0.9		0
	Animal Justice		876	0.8	+0.8	0
	Socialist Alliance		749	0.8	–0.2	0
Formal votes			104,035	96.49
Informal votes			3,795	3.51
Total			107,830	100.00

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.

The libraries of the Inner West Library Service include:

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

• Local government areas of New South Wales