77-631: The City of Wollongong is a local government area in the Illawarra region of New South Wales , Australia . The area is situated adjacent to the Tasman Sea , the Princes Motorway and the Illawarra railway line . Located 80 kilometres (50 mi) south of Sydney , the City of Wollongong covers 684 square kilometres (264 sq mi) and occupies a narrow coastal strip bordered by
154-588: A unitary authority , but the Australian Bureau of Statistics refers to the whole of the ACT as an unincorporated area. The ACT Government directorate Transport Canberra & City Services handles responsibilities that are under the purview of local government in other parts of Australia, such as local road maintenance, libraries and waste collection. Many Canberra districts have community organisations called "community councils", but these are not part of
231-591: A geographic or historical interpretation. The council board members are generally known as councillors , and the head councillor is called the mayor . As of August 2016, there were 547 local councils in Australia. Despite the single tier of local governance in Australia, there are a number of extensive regions with relatively low populations that are not a part of any established LGA. Powers of local governments in these unincorporated areas may be exercised by special-purpose governing bodies established outside of
308-545: A larger workload. The growth of the Regional Organisations of Councils has also been a factor in local government reform in Australia. In 1995, there were 50 such agreements across the country. A 2002 study identified 55 ROCs with the largest involving 18 councils. Local government powers are determined by state governments, and states have primary responsibility for funding and exclusive responsibility for supervision of local councils. Local government
385-591: A new Council elected, replacing the administrators. A 2015 review of local government boundaries recommended that the City of Wollongong merge with the City of Shellharbour to form a new council with an area of 831 square kilometres (321 sq mi) and support a population of approximately 276,000. On 14 February 2017, the NSW Government announced that there would be no amalgamation between Wollongong and Shellharbour council areas. Wollongong City Council
462-592: A nine-hole golf course, two tennis courts, croquet, lawn bowls, billiards, fishing, hunting, horseback riding, and an onsite mechanic who looked after guest's cars during their stay. The hotel won the "Most luxurious hotel in the Commonwealth" award in 1925, and was the first hotel in Australia to have phone lines to every room. The Highlands in the last decade has become a small yet significantly growing wine and cellar door region in New South Wales. It
539-538: A reputation of being an upscale area due to its upscale-style accommodation which include reputable resorts such as Craigieburn, Briars, Berida Manor House and Peppers Manor House . Each of these places are historical and have a historic significance to the local area. Home of the Big Potato and Fountaindale Grand Manor "AKA" Ranelagh House. Fountaindale Grand Manor, originally built in 1924 and opened as Hotel Robertson, has had an interesting history. The Hotel boasted
616-691: A settlement in the area in 1815, bringing down his cattle from the Southern Highlands to a lagoon of fresh water located near South Beach . The earliest reference to Wollongong was in 1826, in a report written by John Oxley , about the local cedar industry. The area's first school was established in 1833, and just one year later the Surveyor-General arrived from Sydney to lay out the township of Wollongong on property owned by Charles Throsby-Smith. The local steel industry commenced in 1927 with Charles Hoskins entering into an agreement with
693-403: A shift from 'services to property' towards 'services to people'. Community expectations of local government in Australia have risen in the 21st century partly as a result of wider participation in decision-making and transparent management practices. Recent years have seen some State governments devolving additional powers onto LGAs. In Queensland and Western Australia LGAs have been granted
770-648: Is 110 km south-west of Sydney . The region comprises the local government area of the Wingecarribee Shire and also towns of the Mulwaree Shire . The region is also considered a wine region . The region specifically is the area centred on the commercial towns of Mittagong , Bowral , Moss Vale , Bundanoon and Robertson as well as the historic town of Berrima . Smaller villages like Burradoo , Sutton Forest , Colo Vale , Avoca , Yerrinbool , Exeter , Welby and many more that make up
847-604: Is a canopy walkway located south-east of Robertson in the area known as Knights Hill . The facility is a 500m long and 25m high walk facility that opened in mid-2008. The project is similar to the Otway Fly Tree Top Walk in Victoria, Australia . The project consists of a 1500m walk. Moreover, 500m of the 1500m walk is 25m high among the Blackwoods and many other trees of the temperate rainforest of
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#1732798405670924-528: Is also home to the Sir Donald Bradman or Bradman Museum. The Bradman Museum is a tribute museum to Australian cricketer Sir Donald Bradman who grew up in and spent his early life in Bowral until his fame. The museum contains artifacts of Bradman's life and also serves as a museum of cricket and contains historical cricket memorabilia. The museum is located adjacent to Bradman Oval where
1001-477: Is believed that temperate climate, high annual rainfall as well as quality basalt soil makes it a perfect place for viticulture . There are many reputable wineries and vineyards that are located in the Highlands such as Joadja Estate, Bendooley Estate, Centennial Winery, St Maur Wines, Southern Highland Wines, and Eling Forest Winery. Some of these wineries have won awards nationally as well as internationally for
1078-550: Is composed of thirteen councillors , including the Lord Mayor . The Lord Mayor is directly elected while the twelve other Councillors are elected proportionally as three separate wards , each electing four Councillors. Under the Local Government (Shellharbour and Wollongong Elections) Act, 2011 (NSW) Councillors were elected to hold office until September 2016, however delays due to amalgamation proposals pushed
1155-403: Is generally run by a council , and its territory of public administration is referred to generically by the Australian Bureau of Statistics as the local government area or LGA , each of which encompasses multiple suburbs or localities (roughly equivalent to neighborhoods) often of different postcodes ; however, stylised terms such as "city", " borough ", " region " and " shire " also have
1232-531: Is mentioned in the annotated Australian constitution, as a department of the State Governments, and they are mentioned in the constitutions of each of the six states. Under the Constitution, the federal government cannot provide funding directly to local governments; a 1974 referendum sought to amend the Constitution to authorise the federal government to directly fund local governments, but it
1309-447: Is part of a local government area. Unincorporated areas are often in remote locations, cover vast areas, or have very small populations. Queensland and Tasmania are entirely partitioned into LGAs and have no unincorporated areas. The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) has no municipalities. The ACT government is responsible for both state-level and local-level matters. In some countries, such an arrangement would be referred to as
1386-504: Is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state/territory it belongs to. The functions and practices of local councils are mostly centered around managing public services and land uses at the community level, and are similar throughout Australia, but can vary to some degree between jurisdictions. State departments oversee the activities of local councils and may intervene in their affairs when needed, subject to relevant legislation. For more details in each state and territory, see
1463-590: Is the City of Brisbane , the most populous LGA in the country, which administers a significant part of the Brisbane metropolitan area . In most cases, when a city's population statistics are used, it is the statistical division population rather than the local government area. The following table provides a summary of local government areas by states and territories by local government area types as of December 2023: The Australian Classification of Local Governments (ACLG) categorises local governing authorities using
1540-786: The Australian Cricket Team play a friendly game annually. Fitzroy Falls is a waterfall found in the Morton National Park near the Highlands' village of the same name, Fitzroy Falls , and located near Kangaroo Valley . The Fitroy Falls reserve offers lookouts of the waterfall and of panoramic views of the Morton National Park. The waterfall and village is located near the lake Fitzroy Reservoir . The waterfall's and lake's reserve includes lookouts, bushwalking trails and picnic areas. The Illawarra Fly Tree Top Walk , also known as Illawarra Fly
1617-629: The Budderoo National Park and Illawarra Escarpment . In addition, the project has a 45m high lookout along with the walk that offers panoramic views far south to Bass Point and as far as north to Bundeena which is part of south of the Sutherland Shire . Other views include Wollongong , Lake Illawarra , Tasman Sea , Shellharbour , Kiama and other localities of the South Coast , as well as various localities of
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#17327984056701694-472: The Illawarra escarpment to the west, and by Macquarie Rivulet ( Yallah , Haywards Bay ) and the Lake Illawarra entrance ( Windang ) to the south. At the 2021 census , there were 214,564 people in the City of Wollongong local government area, of these 49.2 per cent were male and 50.8 per cent were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 3.2 per cent of the population, which
1771-664: The Local Government Act does not mandate adopting a designation, some local government areas are legally known simply as "council", such as Port Macquarie-Hastings Council , Inner West Council and Federation Council . Some rural areas in South Australia are known as "district council", and all the LGAs in Tasmania that were previously municipalities have been renamed "council". Almost all local councils have
1848-679: The Minister for Local Government requested the Governor of New South Wales to dismiss the council and install a panel of administrators (Gabrielle Kibble, Dr Colin Gellatly and Robert McGregor) for four years citing clear evidence of systemic corruption in council. In October 2008, the ICAC referred briefs of evidence in relation to all eleven persons found to have acted corruptly to the Office of
1925-486: The New South Wales Government to build a steelworks at Port Kembla , thereby commencing a long history of steel production that still continues to this day. Operations began in 1930 with one blast furnace of 800 tons capacity. In 1936, BHP acquired Australian Iron & Steel and production at Port Kembla increased rapidly. The steel industry was a catalyst for growth for many decades, and laid
2002-607: The Northern Villages used to be known as the Berrima District . Berrima contains many historic buildings including the historical Berrima Gaol and Courthouse which is no longer in use today as well as many other historical buildings. Bowral is considered the commercial centre of the Highlands and may be the most well-known towns of the Highlands. Bowral is well known for its boutiques , gourmet restaurants, Corbett Gardens and Springetts Arcade . The town
2079-625: The Outback Communities Authority . Victoria has a number of unincorporated areas which are not part of any LGA: Western Australia has two unincorporated areas: Southern Highlands (New South Wales) • Kiama • Gilmore The Southern Highlands , also locally referred to as the Highlands , is a geographical region and district in New South Wales , Australia and
2156-735: The Pastoral Unincorporated Area in South Australia . Local governments are subdivisions of the six federated states as well as the Northern Territory . The Australian Capital Territory has no separate local government, and municipal functions in Canberra and the surrounding regions (normally performed by local governments in other states) are performed by the ACT territorial government. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), however, considers
2233-590: The Royal National Park to the north, Lake Illawarra to the south, the Tasman Sea to the east and the Illawarra escarpment to the west. Councillor Tania Brown was elected as Lord Mayor of the City of Wollongong in the New South Wales local government elections, held in September 2024. The area covers the northern and central suburbs of Wollongong , bounded by Helensburgh in the north,
2310-805: The Top End region, the Northern Territory Rates Act Area and Darwin Waterfront Precinct within Darwin , Nhulunbuy on the Gove Peninsula , Alyangula on Groote Eylandt , and Yulara in Central Australia . In South Australia , 63% of the state's area is unincorporated. Residents in this area – less than 0.2% of the state's population – receive municipal services provided by a state agency,
2387-839: The Wingecarribee Shire are spread in between and around these main centres and serve mostly as residential areas. The Highlands geographically sits between 500 m and 900 m above sea level on the Great Dividing Range . Like other regions along this plateau such as the Blue Mountains to the north and the Australian Alps to the south, the Southern Highlands is known for its cool temperate climate. The Southern Highlands Shale Forest and Woodland and Blue Mountains and Southern Highlands Basalt Forests vegetation communities lie primarily within
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2464-496: The 17th to be declared, was proclaimed on 24 August 1843, with a population of 4,044 and an area of 1,708 square kilometres (659 sq mi) covering the coastal plain from Bulli to Nowra and including inland districts such as Kangaroo Valley . Due to various factors, the District Councils were ineffective, and most had ceased to operate by the end of the decade. The Municipalities Act 1858 (NSW), which gave
2541-436: The City of Wollongong between the 2001 census and the 2006 census was 2.14 per cent; and in the subsequent five years to the 2011 census , population growth was 4.45 per cent. In the subsequent ten years to the 2021 census , population growth was -2.23 per cent. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same periods, being 5.78 per cent and 8.32 per cent and 0.98 per cent respectively, population growth in
2618-517: The City of Wollongong local government area was significantly lower than the national average. The median weekly income for residents within the City of Wollongong was marginally lower than the national average. The forecast population growth from 2021 to 2046 is approximately 1.24% per annum. At the 2021 census , the proportion of residents in the City of Wollongong local government area who stated their ancestry as Australian or Anglo-Celtic exceeded 90.6 per cent of all residents (national average
2695-613: The City of Wollongong, the Shires of Bulli and Central Illawarra, and the Municipality of North Illawarra amalgamated to form the City of Greater Wollongong under the Local Government Act 1919 (NSW). On 10 April 1970, a Lord Mayoralty was conferred on the city by Queen Elizabeth II , and on 30 October 1970, the City reverted to the name "City of Wollongong". Its motto is " Urbs Inter Mare Montemque "—"City Between
2772-527: The Constitution relating to local government were unsuccessful. Every state/territory government recognises local government in its own respective constitution . Unlike the two-tier local government system in Canada or the United States , there is only one tier of local government in each Australian state/territory, with no distinction between counties and cities . The Australian local government
2849-585: The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). After considering the evidence available, the DPP commenced action and was successful in recording convictions for three of the eleven people ICAC found to have acted in a corrupt manner. A summary of the individuals concerned, and the determinations made by the Courts are as follows: On 13 September 2010 Mr Tabak appealed against his conviction and sentence. The Judge dismissed
2926-575: The Mountains and the Sea". Its corporate slogan is "City of Innovation". In February 2008, both elected officers and staff of Wollongong City Council were the centre of a major Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) inquiry. The inquiry revealed favourable treatment of local developers by certain council staff. The inquiry heard evidence that a council planner had been sexually involved with three developers whilst assessing their developments. There
3003-565: The Southern Highlands, the Illawarra Escarpment and Budderoo National Park . Joadja is a historic abandoned ghost town about 32 km west of Mittagong . The town was established in the 1870s by the Australian Kerosene Oil and Mineral Company as Joadja valley's walls contained a vast reserve of shale . Notably, the town back in its time was one of the most populous towns in the Highlands. However, at
3080-469: The appeal and upheld the conviction and sentence. The NSW Government installed administrators to run the council. Dr Col Gellatly, Robert McGregor and Gabrielle Kibble were appointed to the administrator roles, but as of January 2010 Mrs Kibble resigned and was replaced by Richard Colley. Following the passing and assent of the Local Government (Shellharbour and Wollongong Elections) Act, 2011 (NSW), local government elections were re-instituted in 2011, and
3157-577: The area, the region from Fairy Meadow to Bellambi separately incorporated as North Illawarra on 26 October 1868. Finally, the Shire of Bulli was proclaimed further north on 15 May 1906. Wollongong was proclaimed as a city on 11 September 1942. There was considerable pressure for amalgamation of the Illawarra area, which had transformed from a disparate rural area with some coastal towns into an increasingly urban-industrial region, and on 12 September 1947,
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3234-466: The community. Walk Through Bethlehem is an interactive Christmas experience for all ages. Visitors are invited to step back in time, into a reenactment of Bethlehem at the time of Jesus' birth . There they meet shepherds minding their flocks, potters , carpenters , stonemasons and copper-smiths at work, the wise men searching for the saviour, villagers selling their wares in the marketplace, before finally seeing Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus in
3311-539: The councils more authority and which allowed for residents to petition for incorporation of areas and also to elect councillors, met with somewhat greater success. On 22 February 1859, the Municipality of Wollongong, with an area of 8 square kilometres (3 sq mi) and a population of 1,200, became the first to be proclaimed under the Act in New South Wales, with 114 residents in favour and none against. The first elections were held on 29 March 1859, with John Garrett becoming
3388-594: The day include; massive band parades playing various Scottish instruments such as bagpipes ; Scottish dancing such as Highland dancing and Scottish country dance ; and Highland games such as caber toss and stone put . In addition, Scottish cuisine is available during the festival such as Scotch pie and haggis . Tulip Time is a historical flower festival in Bowral where nearly 100,000 tulips that are planted in Bowral's Corbett Gardens bloom into flowers in late September and early October. The first festival
3465-502: The election back until September 2017, with the council to be elected for a three-year term. The most recent election was held on 4 December 2021 and the makeup of the council, including the Lord Mayor, is as follows: In 2018, as a result of Cr Connor's resignation, there was a by-election held for residents of Ward 3. Ann Martin, Labor, who had previously held a seat on Wollongong Council, was resoundingly elected, with just under 50% of
3542-453: The entire ACT as an " unincorporated " local government area, even though it is technically a state-level administrative region . Although all essentially identical in functions and jurisdictions, Australian local governments have a variety of different titles. The term "local government area" (LGA) is used by the ABS to collectively refer to all local government administrative zones regardless of
3619-504: The first half of the 20th century was the provision of physical infrastructure such as roads, bridges and sewerage. From the 1970s the emphasis changed to community facilities such as libraries and parks, maintenance of local roads, town planning and development approvals, and local services such as waste disposal. Child care, tourism and urban renewal were also beginning to be part of local governments' role. These are financed by collection of local land taxes known as "rates", and grants from
3696-484: The first mayor of Wollongong. Other entities sprang into existence thereafter to service the surrounding region. The first, on 19 August 1859, was the Central Illawarra Municipality, which extended over 339.5 square kilometres (131.1 sq mi) from Unanderra (west of Wollongong) to Macquarie Rivulet , and had a population of 2,500. After an unsuccessful attempt by Wollongong to claim
3773-448: The first time. Significant reforms took place in the 1980s and 1990s in which state governments used metrics and efficiency analysis developed within the private sector in the local government arena. Each state conducted an inquiry into the benefits of council amalgamations during the 1990s. In the early 1990s, Victoria saw the number of local councils reduced from 210 to 78. South Australia, Tasmania and Queensland saw some reductions in
3850-415: The following: The Australian Capital Territory is not divided into local government areas, so it is regarded as a single "unincorporated" local government area during censusing . Unlike many other countries, Australia has only one level of local government immediately beneath state and territorial governments. Aside from very sparsely populated areas and a few other special cases, almost all of Australia
3927-644: The foundations for the city's economy, lifestyle and culture. Local government in the Illawarra region started with the passage of the District Councils Act 1842 (NSW), which allowed for limited local government in the form of a warden and between 3 and 12 councillors to be appointed by the Governor. Between July and September 1843, 28 such entities had been proclaimed by Governor George Gipps —the Illawarra District Council,
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#17327984056704004-501: The government (though they generally receive government funding). They do not have the power to change laws or policies, and their role is limited to advising government. They are effectively residents' associations . New South Wales has three unincorporated areas: In the Northern Territory , 1.47% of the total area and 3.0% of the population are in unincorporated areas. These include the Cox-Daly and Marrakai-Douglas Daly areas in
4081-530: The historical buildings remaining in ruin such as some of the miners' cottages, a school house, church, cemetery and refinery devices such as shale ovens. These ovens are protected and is World Heritage listed. Today, the Joadja Distillery produces Single Malt Whisky in honour of the Scottish mining families who worked the rich coal and shale seams in the late 1800s. The Southern Highlands has
4158-628: The local legislation, as with Victoria 's alpine resorts ; or directly administered by state/territory governments, such as the entirety of the Australian Capital Territory . The administrative area covered by local government councils in Australia ranges from as small as 1.5 km (0.58 sq mi) for the Shire of Peppermint Grove in the Perth metropolitan region , to as big as 624,339 km (241,059 sq mi) for
4235-488: The mayor is elected by the board of fellow councillors . The powers of mayors vary as well; for example, mayors in Queensland have broad executive functions, whereas mayors in New South Wales are essentially ceremonial figureheads who can only exercise power at the discretion of the council. Most of the capital city LGAs administer only the central business districts and nearby central suburbs . A notable exception
4312-408: The minority of the population being (15%) born overseas, primarily Europe. The population density of the Highlands is 16.5 persons/km . Berrima is a village located 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) west of Bowral and 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) south west of Mittagong that once served as the main town of the Highlands. Notably, the region of Bowral, Mittagong and Berrima and various villages including
4389-567: The names of LGAs, and today the stylised titles of " town ", " borough ", " municipality ", " district ", " region ", "community government", " Aboriginal council/shire" and "island" are used in addition. The word "municipality" occurs in some states with differing meanings: in New South Wales it is typically used for older urban areas, and the word is used for some rural towns in South Australia . Larger towns and small metropolitan exurban centres in Queensland and Western Australia simply use
4466-649: The number of local governments while Western Australia and New South Wales rejected compulsory mergers. New South Wales eventually forced the merging of some councils. The main purpose of amalgamating councils was for greater efficiency and to improve operations, but forced amalgamation of councils is sometimes seen as a dilution of representative democracy . An increase in the range of services offered by councils, but only minor cost savings of less than 10% have been noted by academics as outcomes after mergers. The council mergers have resulted in widespread job losses and lingering resentment from some whose roles have experienced
4543-459: The optimum quality of their wines. Varieties primarily cultivated in the region are; chardonnay , riesling , sauvignon blanc , pinot noir and cabernet sauvignon . Brigadoon is a cultural Scottish Festival that occurs one day in April at Bundanoon every year. The festival celebrates Highland Scottish culture where Bundanoon becomes the fictional Scottish town of Brigadoon . Festivities of
4620-679: The part of local governments. There is no mention of local government in the Constitution of Australia , though it is mentioned several times in the Annotated Constitution of Australia. "Municipal institutions and local government" appears in Annotation 447, and "Power of the Parliament of a Colony" appears under "Residuary Legislative Powers" on pages 935 and 936. The first official local government in Australia
4697-760: The population, the population density and the proportion of the population that is classified as being urban for the council. The classification, at the two-digit level, is: All local governments are approximately equal in their theoretical powers, although LGAs that encompass large cities such as Brisbane and the Gold Coast command more resources due to their larger population base. Unlike local governments in many other countries, services such as police, fire protection and schools are provided by respective state or territory governments rather than by local councils. However, local governments still maintain some responsibility for fire service functions within Queensland and Western Australia. The councils' chief responsibility in
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#17327984056704774-414: The power to independently enact their own local subsidiary legislation , in contrast to the previous system of by-laws . Councils also have organised their own representative structures such as Local Government Associations and Regional Organisations of Councils . Doctrines of New Public Management have shaped state government legislation towards increased freedoms aiming to allow greater flexibility on
4851-481: The primary vote. The current Council, elected in 2024, in order of election by ward, is: Local government in Australia [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Local government is the third level of government in Australia , administered with limited autonomy under the states and territories , and in turn beneath the federal government . Local government is not mentioned in the Constitution of Australia , and two referendums in 1974 and 1988 to alter
4928-420: The purpose of raising money to build roads in rural and outer-urban regions. Council representatives attended conventions before Federation , however local government was unquestionably regarded as outside the Constitutional realm. In the 1970s, the Whitlam government expanded the level of funding to local governments in Australia beyond grants for road construction. General purpose grants become available for
5005-433: The region. The Southern Highlands as a region is part of the larger Capital Country Region with the Highlands forming the northern part of the region and the Southern Tablelands forming the southern part of the region. The Southern Highland's council , Wingecarribee Shire , is home to about 44,379 (2006) residents and is growing at a rate of 2.1% per annum. The majority of the residents (84.5%) are Australian-born with
5082-408: The same administrative functions and similar political structures, regardless of their naming, and retain a particular designation ("shire", "borough", "town", "city") for historical reasons only. They will typically have an elected council and usually a mayor or shire president responsible for chairing meetings of the council. In some councils, the mayor is a directly elected figure, but in most cases
5159-493: The state and Commonwealth governments. They are caricatured as being concerned only with the "three Rs": Rates, Roads and Rubbish. However, the roles of local government areas in Australia have recently expanded as higher levels of government have devolved activities to the third tier. Examples include the provision of community health services, regional airports and pollution control as well as community safety and accessible transport. The changes in services has been described as
5236-456: The term "town", while in Victoria they are designated as "rural city". Historically, the word "borough" was common for small towns and suburban centers in Victoria, but nowadays only the Borough of Queenscliffe remains as the one and only borough in the entire country. New South Wales and Queensland have also introduced a new term "region" for outback LGAs formed by the amalgamation of smaller shires and rural cities. In New South Wales, where
5313-452: The turn of the century when the shale ran out, the town's population began to dwindle and the town would be eventually abandoned by the early 1900s. Joadja at its height had a post office, theatre, general store, bakery, school of arts, refinery, railway line, miner's cottages and many other buildings. Notably, it was one of the first rural towns in New South Wales to be connected to the telephone . Joadja's legacy still remains with many of
5390-501: The varying designations, whilst the local governing legislature itself is generally known as a council . In general, an urban / suburban LGA is called a " city ", as in the City of Melbourne , City of Canada Bay and City of Bunbury ; while an exurban / rural LGA covering a larger agricultural / natural area is usually called a " shire ", as in Shire of Mornington Peninsula , Shire of Banana and Lachlan Shire . Sometimes designations other than "city" or "shire" are used in
5467-435: Was 24.8 per cent); and a higher proportion (79.8 per cent) where English only was spoken at home (national average was 72.0 per cent). The name Wollongong originated from the Aboriginal word woolyungah meaning five islands. Archeological evidence indicates that Aboriginals have lived here for at least 30,000 years. Wodi Wodi is the tribe name of the Aboriginal people of the Illawarra. Dr Charles Throsby first established
5544-461: Was 81 per cent). In excess of 53% of all residents in the City of Wollongong nominated a religious affiliation with Christianity at the 2021 census , which was slightly higher than the national average of 43.9 per cent. Meanwhile, as at the census date, compared to the national average, households in the City of Wollongong local government area had a lower than average proportion (19.3 per cent) where two or more languages are spoken (national average
5621-431: Was also evidence presented of an impersonation of ICAC officers and plans of intimidation. This attracted significant media attention and renewed calls for tightening of rules of developer donations to political parties. The Premier Morris Iemma also agreed that rules would be tightened as several of his Ministers were implicated in this scandal. On 4 March 2008, following recommendations from Commissioner Jerrold Cripps QC,
5698-539: Was defeated. A 1988 referendum sought to explicitly insert mention of local government in the federal constitution but this was comprehensively defeated. A further referendum was proposed in 2013 , but was cancelled due to the change in the election date . Federal government interaction with local councils happens regularly through the provision of federal grants to help fund local government managed projects. Local government in Australia has very limited legislative powers and no judicial powers , and executive -wise
5775-454: Was marginally lower than the state average of 3.4 per cent. The median age of people in the City of Wollongong was 38 years, slightly above the national median. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 17.5 per cent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 18.6 per cent of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 44.6 per cent were married and 11.9 per cent were either divorced or separated. Population growth in
5852-525: Was started in 1961 by the Rotary Club of Bowral-Mittagong. The festival usually lasts 14 days and includes various activities such as band parades, house and garden fairs, food and wine fairs and many other activities. The festival donates proceeds to various charities and this year will be sponsoring Westmead Children's Hospital . In the past, the festival has supported local churches, hospitals, youth centres, elderly centres and disadvantaged people of
5929-621: Was the Perth Town Trust , established in 1838, only three years after British settlement. The Adelaide Corporation followed, created by the province of South Australia in October 1840. The City of Melbourne and the Sydney Corporation followed, both in 1842. All of these early forms failed; it was not until the 1860s and 1870s that the various colonies established widespread stable forms of local government, mainly for
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