The City of Greater Geelong 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 Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia, located in the western part of the state. It covers an area of and, had a population of 271,057 as of the

2021 Australian census The 2021 Australian census, simply called the 2021 Census, was the eighteenth national Census of Population and Housing in Australia. The 2021 Census took place on 10 August 2021, and was conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). ...

. It is primarily urban with the vast majority of its population living in the Greater Geelong urban area, while other significant settlements within the LGA include Anakie, Balliang,

Barwon Heads Barwon Heads (previously known as Point Flinders) is a coastal township on the Bellarine Peninsula, near Geelong, Victoria, Australia. It is situated on the west bank of the mouth of the Barwon River below Lake Connewarre, while it is bounded to ...

, Batesford, Ceres, Clifton Springs, Drysdale, Lara, Ocean Grove, Portarlington and St Leonards. It was formed in 1993 from the amalgamation of the

Rural City of Bellarine The Rural City of Bellarine was a local government area southeast of the regional city of Geelong, Victoria, Australia, covering most of the Bellarine Peninsula. The Rural City covered an area of , and from its origin as the Portarlington Ro ...

, Shire of Corio,

City of Geelong The City of Geelong was a local government area about southwest of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The city covered an area of , and existed from 1849 until 1993. History Geelong was the second municipality in Victoria ...

, City of Geelong West,

City of Newtown The City of Newtown was a local government area about west of the regional city of Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The city covered an area of , and existed from 1858 until 1993. History Newtown and Chilwell was first incorporated as a boroug ...

City of South Barwon The City of South Barwon was a local government area in Victoria, Australia, which contained a number of Geelong suburbs south of the Barwon River, and extending to Torquay in the south and Barwon Heads to the east. The city covered an area of ...

, and parts of

Shire of Barrabool The Shire of Barrabool was a Local government in Australia, local government area about southwest of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1853 until 1994. Hi ...

and

Shire of Bannockburn The Shire of Bannockburn was a local government area about west-southwest of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1862 until 1994. History Bannockburn was first incorporated ...

. The City is governed and administered by the Greater Geelong City Council; its

seat of local government The seat of government is (as defined by ''Brewer's Politics'') "the building, complex of buildings or the city from which a government exercises its authority". In most countries, the nation’s capital is also seat of its government, thus that ...

and administrative centre is located at the council headquarters in Geelong, it also has service centres located in Drysdale, Ocean Grove and several other locations within Geelong. The City is named after the main urban settlement located in the centre-west of the LGA, that is Geelong, which is also the LGA's most populous urban centre with a population of 211,986. In 2019, City of Greater Geelong announced a new headquarters across the road from

WorkSafe Victoria WorkSafe Victoria is the trading name of the Victorian WorkCover Authority, a statutory authority of the state government of Victoria, Australia. History After being renamed in 2014 as Victorian Work-cover Authority by Minister Gordon Rich- ...

. The project will be part of the new "Civic Precinct" in the Geelong CBD.

History of former municipalities

*1838 – Geelong (Aboriginal word for 'Ocean') region declared a town *1849 – Geelong incorporated as a Town *1853 – Barrabool road district proclaimed *1853 – Portarlington Road District proclaimed *1856 – Connewarre Road District proclaimed *1857 – South Barwon Municipal District proclaimed *1857 – South Barwon Road District proclaimed *1858 – Newtown and Chilwell

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

proclaimed *1860 – Portarlington Road District renamed as Indented Head Road District *1861 – Corio Road District proclaimed *1862 –

Bannockburn Bannockburn ( Scottish Gaelic ''Allt a' Bhonnaich'') is an area immediately south of the centre of Stirling in Scotland. It is part of the City of Stirling. It is named after the Bannock Burn, a stream running through the town before flowing i ...

Road District proclaimed *1863 – Meredith Road District proclaimed *1863 – Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale separated from Indented Head Road District to form Queenscliffe Municipal District. Redesignated as Queenscliffe Borough October 1963. *1863 – South Barwon Borough created by amalgamating South Barwon Municipal District and South Barwon Road District *1864 – Bannockburn Road District redesignated as Shire *1864 – Corio Road District redesignated as Shire *1865 – Indented Head Road District redesignated and renamed as

Bellarine The Bellarine Peninsula ( Wathawurrung: ''Balla-wein'' or ''Biteyong'') is a peninsula located south-west of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, surrounded by Port Phillip, Corio Bay and Bass Strait. The peninsula, together with the Morningto ...

Shire *1874 – South Barwon Shire created by amalgamating Connewarre Road District and South Barwon Borough *1875 –

Geelong West Geelong West is a commercial and residential suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia. When Geelong was founded, the area was known as Kildare but its name was changed to Geelong West in 1875. The main street is Pakington Street. At the 2016 ce ...

Borough proclaimed *1910 – Geelong proclaimed a City *1915 – Meredith Shire added to Bannockburn Shire *1922 – Geelong West proclaimed a Town *1924 – Newtown and Chilwell proclaimed a Town *1929 – Geelong West proclaimed a City *1959 – Newtown and Chilwell proclaimed a City *1967 – Newtown and Chilwell City renamed as Newtown City *1974 – South Barwon proclaimed a City *1989 – Bellarine proclaimed a City *1993 – City of Greater Geelong formed by amalgamating part of Bannockburn Shire, part of Barrabool Shire, Bellarine Rural City, Corio Shire, Geelong City, Newtown City & South Barwon City. The part that had been in South Barwon City was then transferred to Surf Coast Shire on its creation in March 1994. Sourced from Appendix V, ''A Journey to Destiny 1890–1990 – 100 Years of Cement Manufacturing at Fyansford by Australian Cement Limited ''.

Council

2017 Council

Due to conflicts in the previous council a new electoral structure was established for Geelong in 2017. The number of wards was reduced to 4 with 3 councillors for each (except Windermere having 2) elected by

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

. Residents were also no longer able to directly elect a mayor. The current councillors, in order of election at the 2020 election, are:

Administrators

In December 2015, the Minister for Local Government

Natalie Hutchins Natalie Maree Hutchins (''née'' Sykes, born 9 March 1972), also known as Natalie Sykes-Hutchins, is an Australian politician. She has been a Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly since 2010, representing the electorates of ...

appointed a Commission of Inquiry into the Greater Geelong City Council in response to concerns about the workplace culture and adequacy of governance structures. The Inquiry found that the council is riven with conflict, unable to manage Geelong's economic challenges, has dysfunctional leadership and has a culture of bullying. On the recommendation of the Commission, the

Victorian Government The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive, the judicial, and t ...

dismissed the entire Greater Geelong City Council on 16 April 2016 and appointed Yehudi Blacher as interim administrator. On 25 May 2016, Dr Kathy Alexander (chairperson), Peter Dorling and Laurinda Gardner were sworn in as administrators, replacing Yehudi Blacher. Under the ''Local Government (Greater Geelong City Council) Act 2016'', the panel of administrators constitutes the Greater Geelong City Council, and has the same functions, powers and duties as the Greater Geelong City Council and its councillors. Likewise, the chairperson of the panel of administrators has the same functions, powers and duties as the mayor of the council. The council was run by administrators until fresh council elections were held on 27 October 2017. Australia Victoria Greater Geelong City location map

Australia Victoria Greater Geelong City location map

Former and current Mayors

* Gerry Smith (1995–1998) *

Ken Jarvis Ken or KEN may refer to: Entertainment * ''Ken'' (album), a 2017 album by Canadian indie rock band Destroyer. * ''Ken'' (film), 1964 Japanese film. * ''Ken'' (magazine), a large-format political magazine. * Ken Masters, a main character in ...

(1998–2000) *

Michael Crutchfield Michael Paul Crutchfield (born 12 December 1961) is an Australian politician. He was formerly the member for South Barwon in the Victorian Legislative Assembly. Early life Crutchfield was born in Melbourne, but attended high school in the c ...

(2000–2001) * Stretch Kontelj (2001–2002) * Barbara Abley (2002–2004) *

Ed Coppe Ed, ed or ED may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Ed'' (film), a 1996 film starring Matt LeBlanc * Ed (''Fullmetal Alchemist'') or Edward Elric, a character in ''Fullmetal Alchemist'' media * ''Ed'' (TV series), a TV series that ran fro ...

(2004) * Shane Dowling (2004–2005) *

Peter McMullin Peter McMullin (born 25 April 1952) is an Australian businessman, lawyer and philanthropist. He was the mayor of Geelong in 2006 and deputy lord mayor of Melbourne between 1996 and 1999. McMullin also held the role of president of VECCI betwee ...

(2005–2006) *

Bruce Harwood Bruce Harwood (born April 29, 1963) is a Canadian character actor best known for his role of John Fitzgerald Byers, one of The Lone Gunmen on the television series ''The X-Files''. In addition to ''The X-Files'', Harwood portrayed Byers in the ...

(2006–2008) * John Mitchell (2008–2012) *

Keith Fagg Keith Andrew Fagg (born 30 September 1955) is an Australian businessman who served as the 94th Mayor of Geelong. Fagg serves as a director of long-established family-run business, Fagg's Mitre 10 in Geelong. Samuel and William Fagg founded ...

(2012–2013) * Darryn Lyons (2013–2016) * Bruce Harwood (2017–2019) * Stephanie Asher (2019–2022) * Peter Murrihy (2022-present)

Former and current Deputy Mayors

* Tony Ansett (2003–2004) * John Mitchell (2007–2008) * Rod Macdonald (2008–2009) * Bruce Harwood (2009–2010) * Cameron Granger (2010–2012) * Stretch Kontelj (2012–2013) * Bruce Harwood (2013–2014) * Michelle Heagney (2014–2016) * Peter Murrihy (2017–2019) * Kylie Grzybek (2019–2020) * Trent Sullivan (2020-present)

Administration and governance

The council meets in the council chambers at the council headquarters in the

Geelong Town Hall Geelong Town Hall is a civic building located on Gheringhap Street in central Geelong, Victoria. It was originally built for the City of Geelong, which became the City of Greater Geelong in 1993. Construction The land for the Town Hall was fi ...

Offices, which is also the location of the council's administrative activities. Council customer service centres are located in Belmont, Corio, Drysdale, Geelong West, Ocean Grove, Waurn Ponds and at Brougham St in Geelong.

Localities

Localities which encompass the City of Greater Geelong include: * Anakie
(shared with

Golden Plains The Golden Plains Festival is held over three days during the Victorian Labour Day long-weekend on private farmland in Victoria, Australia. The nearest rural town is Meredith, which is between the regional cities of Geelong and Ballarat. The cl ...

) * Armstrong Creek *

Avalon Avalon (; la, Insula Avallonis; cy, Ynys Afallon, Ynys Afallach; kw, Enys Avalow; literally meaning "the isle of fruit r appletrees"; also written ''Avallon'' or ''Avilion'' among various other spellings) is a mythical island featured in the ...

* Balliang
(shared with Moorabool) *

* Batesford
(shared with

) * Bell Park *

Bell Post Hill Bell Post Hill is a residential suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia. At the 2016 census, Bell Post had a population of 4,919. The origin of the suburb's name is thought to be from a lookout or warning bell on a post or forked tree situated ...

* Belmont *

Breakwater Breakwater may refer to: * Breakwater (structure), a structure for protecting a beach or harbour Places * Breakwater, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia * Breakwater Island, Antarctica * Breakwater Islands, Nunavut, Canada * Br ...

* Breamlea
(shared with Surf Coast) * Ceres * Charlemont * Clifton Springs *

Connewarre Connewarre, is a locality in Victoria, Australia, is located in the City of Greater Geelong and Surf Coast Shire, and is named after Lake Connewarre which is situated immediately to its north-east. Connewarre is a version of "kunuwarra", the ...

(shared with Surf Coast) * Corio * Curlewis * Drumcondra * Drysdale *

East Geelong East Geelong is a residential suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia. At the , East Geelong had a population of 3,862. The post office opened on 6 June 1921. An earlier Post Office dating from 1871 was later renamed Moolap West. The 81-hecta ...

Fyansford Fyansford is a township on the western edge of Geelong, Victoria, Australia, named after Captain Foster Fyans who came to Geelong as a Police magistrate in October, 1837. It is located at the junction of the Barwon and Moorabool rivers. At th ...

Geelong Geelong ( ) ( Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the south eastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon ...

* Grovedale * Hamlyn Heights *

Herne Hill Herne Hill is a district in South London, approximately four miles from Charing Cross and bordered by Brixton, Camberwell, Dulwich, and Tulse Hill. It sits to the north and east of Brockwell Park and straddles the boundary between the borough ...

* Highton *

Indented Head Indented Head is a small coastal township located on the Bellarine Peninsula, east of Geelong, in the Australian state of Victoria. The town lies on the coast of the Port Phillip bay between the towns of Portarlington and St Leonards. Indent ...

* Lara * Leopold * Little River
(shared with Wyndham) * Lovely Banks *

Manifold Heights Manifold Heights is a residential suburb of Geelong. At the , Manifold Heights had a population of 2,649. It was named after Manifolds’ vineyards, that existed between Minerva Road and Shannon Avenue, immediately east of the Geelong Western ...

* Mannerim * Marcus Hill * Marshall *

Moolap Moolap is a residential and industrial suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The name Moolap is derived from an Aboriginal word for nearby Point Henry, moo-laa, thought to mean 'men gathering to go fishing'. Moolap is located in the City ...

* Moorabool *

Mount Duneed Mount Duneed is a suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia. It is divided between the City of Greater Geelong and Surf Coast Shire local government areas. Mount Duneed itself is an extinct volcano and the remains of the crater can be seen in the ...

(shared with Surf Coast) * Newcomb * Newtown * Norlane * North Geelong * North Shore * Ocean Grove * Point Lonsdale
(shared with Queenscliffe) * Point Wilson * Portarlington *

Rippleside Rippleside is a suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The suburb overlooks Corio Bay. At the , Rippleside had a population of 875. Rippleside adjoins Drumcondra, north of Geelong City on Corio Bay. The locality covers the suburban area b ...

South Geelong South Geelong, also referred to as Geelong South, is a southern suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia. Its local government area is the City of Greater Geelong. At the 2016 census, South Geelong had a population of 993. The suburb is adj ...

St Albans Park St. Albans Park is a residential suburb of Geelong, Victoria, 6 km southeast from Geelong's city centre. It is bounded by Boundary Road (West), Coppards Road (East), Townsend Road (North) and the Barwon River (South). The suburbs that sur ...

* St Leonards * Staughton Vale * Swan Bay * Thomson * Wallington * Wandana Heights *

Waurn Ponds Waurn Ponds is a mainly residential southern suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The suburb is bounded by Rossack Drive, Princes Highway, the Geelong to Warrnambool railway, Reservoir Road, Draytons Road, Pigdons Road, Deakin University an ...

* Whittington

Sister cities

Geelong 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: *

Viqueque Viqueque (, ) is a city in the south-east of East Timor, 183 km from Dili, the national capital. Viqueque is the capital of Viqueque Municipality and Viqueque Administrative Post Viqueque, officially Viqueque Administrative Post ( ...

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-w ...

Lianyungang Lianyungang () is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Jiangsu province, China. It borders Yancheng to its southeast, Huai'an and Suqian to its south, Xuzhou to its southwest, and the province of Shandong to its north. Its name derives from ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

* Izumiotsu, Japan

References

External links

Greater Geelong City Council official websiteGeelong Region Alliance WebsiteMetlink local public transport mapLink to Land Victoria interactive maps
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greater Geelong, City of Local government areas of Victoria (Australia) Barwon South West