The City of Newcastle is a

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

in the

Hunter Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

region of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. The City of Newcastle incorporates much of the area of the Newcastle metropolitan area. The Lord Mayor of City of Newcastle Council is

Councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

Nuatali Nelmes, a

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

politician. Nelmes was elected at a by-election on 15 November 2014 following the resignation of

Jeff McCloy Jeffrey Raymond 'Jeff' McCloy is an Australian property developer, who was Lord Mayor of Newcastle between 2012 and 2014. Before entering politics, he ran his own construction company, which built John Hunter Hospital. In 2008 he won the Hunter ...

, the former Lord Mayor. The

Awabakal The Awabakal people , are those Aboriginal Australians who identify with or are descended from the Awabakal tribe and its clans, Indigenous to the coastal area of what is now known as the Hunter Region of New South Wales. Their traditional te ...

and

Worimi The Worimi (also spelt Warrimay) people are Aboriginal Australians from the eastern Port Stephens and Great Lakes regions of coastal New South Wales, Australia. Before contact with settlers, their people extended from Port Stephens in the sout ...

peoples are acknowledged by Council as the traditional custodians of the land and waters of Newcastle.

History

Following the passing of the ''

Municipalities Act 1858 A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

'' 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. Eight years later, the '' Municipalities Act 1867'' classified the Newcastle Municipality as a "Borough". The ''

Greater Newcastle Act 1937 Greater Newcastle Act 1937 was a New South Wales statute with the purpose of amalgamating a series of Local Government Areas of New South Wales, local government areas to create the City of Newcastle, City of Greater Newcastle. The Act also trans ...

'' 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 Tarro Shire was a local government area in the Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia. Tarro Shire was proclaimed (as Kurri Kurri Shire) on 7 March 1906, one of 134 shires created after the passing of the ''Local Government (Shires) Act ...

to the new city. The amalgamations and transfers took effect from 2 April 1938. The newly created City of Greater Newcastle was subsequently renamed to City of Newcastle on 23 March 1949.

Proposed amalgamation

After a 2015 review by the

NSW Government The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of New South Wales. It is currently held by a coalition of the Liberal Party and the National Party. The Governmen ...

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 The City of Lake Macquarie is a local government area in Greater Newcastle and part of the Hunter Region in New South Wales, Australia. It was proclaimed a city from 7 September 1984. The area is situated adjacent to the city of Newcastle and is ...

. However, the Minister for Local Government subsequently proposed that Newcastle City Council instead merge with

Port Stephens Council Port Stephens Council (also known simply as Port Stephens) is a local government area in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. The area is just north of Newcastle and is adjacent to the Pacific Highway which runs through Raymond ...

to form a new council with an area of and support a population of approximately 230,000. 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

merger.

Demographics

At the 2016 census, there were people in the City of Newcastle local government area, of these 49.3 per cent were male and 50.7 per cent were female.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

made up 3.5 per cent of the population, which was higher than the national and state averages of 2.9 and 2.9 per cent. The

median In statistics and probability theory, the median is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a data sample, a population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as "the middle" value. The basic fe ...

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 16.9 per cent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 16 per cent of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 40.7 per cent were married and 15.4 per cent were either divorced or separated. 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. The median weekly income for residents within the City of Newcastle was marginally lower than the national average. At the 2016 census, over 80% of residents in the City of Newcastle local government area stated their country of birth as

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

significantly exceeding the national average of 66.7%. Almost 60% of all residents in the City of Newcastle nominated a

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

with

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

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 English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

is spoken (national average was 22.2%).

Council

Current composition and election method

Newcastle City Council is composed of thirteen

s, 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 Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...

, each electing three Councillors. The most recent election was held in September 2021. The Lord Mayor elected at that time,

, resigned in 2014, and a by-election for Lord Mayor was held on 15 November 2014. The current makeup of the council, including the Lord Mayor, is as follows: Australia Newcastle Council 2017

The current Council, elected in September 2022 in order of election by ward is:

Sister cities

Newcastle Council has

sister city A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...

relations with the following cities:

References

Notes

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