Inner West Council


Inner West Council is a local government area located in the inner western region of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Council was formed on 12 May 2016 from the forced merger of the former Ashfield, Leichhardt, and Marrickville councils.
The Council comprises an area of and as at the had an estimated population of.
The inaugural Mayor of Inner West Council is Darcy Byrne, a member of the Australian Labor Party, elected by the Councillors on 21 September 2017.

Suburbs and localities in the local government area

are:

Demographics

At the, there were people in the Inner West local government area; of these 48.7 per cent were male and 51.3 per cent were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 1.1 per cent of the population; significantly below the NSW and Australian averages of 2.9 and 2.8 per cent respectively. The median age of people in Inner West Council was 36 years; slightly lower than the national median of 38 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 15.3 per cent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 12.25 per cent of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 38.7 per cent were married and 10.8 per cent were either divorced or separated.
At the 2016 census, the proportion of residents in the Inner West local government area who stated their ancestry as Australian or from Britain and Ireland exceeded 54 per cent of all residents. In excess of 51 per cent of all residents in Inner West Council nominated a no religious affiliation at the 2016 census, which was in excess of the national average of 40 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 where two or more languages are spoken ; and a lower proportion where English only was spoken at home.

Council

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; having been under administration by Richard Pearson, appointed by the NSW Government, from 12 May 2016 until 21 September 2017.

Current composition

The most recent election was held on 9 September 2017, and the makeup of the Council by order of election, is as follows:

Management

The daily management of council is managed by a Chief Executive Officer who reports to the Council. The current Chief Executive Officer is Michael Deegan, since 25 February 2019. Deegan succeeded Rik Hart, General Manager since 9 September 2016, who previously held a similar role at Warringah Council between 2007 and 2016. Hart himself succeeded Vanessa Chan who served as general manager between May and September 2016; and was previously general manager of Ashfield Council between 2010 and 2016.

Culture

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 library in the service.
The libraries of the Inner West Library Service include:
Following the process by which the Government of New South Wales created 19 new local government areas by merging 42 existing ones, the Inner West Council was formed on 12 May 2016 by amalgamating the councils of Ashfield, Leichhardt, and Marrickville. The first election was held on 9 September 2017.