Randwick City Council is a local government area in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Randwick is the second-oldest local government area in New South Wales after the City of Sydney being established by proclamation in the New South Wales Government Gazette on 23 February 1859 as the Municipality of Randwick. It comprises an area of and as per the had a population of .
The mayor of the City of Randwick is Clare Willington, a member of the Australian Greens, who was appointed on 29 September 2026.
Suburbs and localities in the local government area Suburbs and localities in the City of Randwick are:
These localities are also serviced by Randwick Council:
History The City of Randwick was first proclaimed the Municipality of Randwick on 23 February 1859 in the New South Wales Government Gazette and under the provisions of the Municipalities Act 1858. The municipality was officially proclaimed the City of Randwick with effect from 1 July 1990 by the Governor of New South Wales, Rear Admiral Sir David Martin on 27 June 1990.
The New South Wales University of Technology opened at Kensington in 1949 on the site of Kensington Racecourse, eventually becoming the University of New South Wales. The Randwick City Library service began in 1952, the municipality being one of the earliest to adopt the Library Act 1939. The city is home to the Malabar Wastewater Treatment Plant, which was opened in 1975, and is one of the largest wastewater treatment facilities in Sydney.
A 2015 review of local government boundaries recommended that the City of Randwick merge with the Waverley and Woollahra councils to form a new council with an area of and support a population of approximately . Following an independent review, in May 2016 the NSW Government sought to dismiss the council and force its amalgamation with Woollahra and Waverley councils. Woollahra Council instigated legal action claiming that there was procedural unfairness and that a KPMG report at the centre of merger proposals had been "misleading". The matter was heard before the NSW Court of Appeal who, in December 2016, unanimously dismissed Woollahra Council's appeal, finding no merit in its arguments that the proposed merger with Waverley and Randwick councils was invalid. In July 2017, the Berejiklian government decided to abandon the forced merger of the Woollahra, Waverley and Randwick local government areas, along with several other proposed forced mergers.
Town Clerks and General Managers NameTermNotes George Edson 1858 – 1862 Henry Hamburger 1863 – 1 April 1868 Edwin T. Sayers 1 April 1868 – 3 August 1870 Joseph Carroll 3 August 1870 – 7 November 1871 William Charles Norris 7 November 1871 – 18 July 1872 George Bond Gough 18 July 1872 – December 1875 James Edwin Graham 1 January 1876 – 6 February 1878 William Bethune 6 February 1878 – 21 October 1885 Cecil William Edward Bedford 21 October 1885 – 20 April 1898 Ernest Henry Strachan 27 April 1898 – January 1912 William Kirby Percival 8 February 1912 – 25 June 1937 Harry C. Rourke 25 June 1937 – 15 November 1938 Richard Thomas Latham 15 November 1938 – 1963 R. A. Woodward 1963–1982 Geoff J. Rose 1982–1991 A. V. Burgess 1991–1997 Gordon Messiter 1997 – July 2004 Ray Brownlee 2004 – 28 September 2018 Therese Manns 1 November 2018 – 10 October 2022 Kerry Kyriacou (Acting) 10 October 2022 – March 2023 Ray Brownlee March 2023 – present
Demographics
At the , there were people in the Randwick local government area, of these 49.2% were male and 50.8% were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 1.5% 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 the City of Randwick was 34 years. Children aged 0–14 years made up 14.9% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 13.4% of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 38.5% were married and 9.1% were either divorced or separated.
Population growth in the City of Randwick between the 2001 Census and the was 1.10%; and in the subsequent five years to the , population growth was 7.59%. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same periods, being 5.78% and 8.32% respectively, population growth in Randwick local government area was lower than the national average. The median weekly income for residents within the City of Randwick was higher than the national average.
Selected historical census data for Randwick local government areaCensus year 2001200620112016Population Estimated residents on census night LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales 19 % of New South Wales population 1.90% 1.86% 1.88%% of Australian population 0.63% 0.60% 0.60% 0.60%Estimated ATSI population on census night 1,351 1,474 1,842 2,144% of ATSI population to residents 1.1% 1.2% 1.4% 1.5% Cultural and language diversity Ancestry,top responses Australian 17.5% 15.3%English 18.5% 18.5%Chinese 9.4% 10.9%Irish 9.2% 9.8%Scottish 4.9% 5.0%Language,top responses(other than English) Mandarin2.7% 3.5% 4.8% 7.2%Greek4.8% 4.3% 3.8% 3.2%Cantonese4.2% 3.8% 3.4% 3.0%Indonesian2.6% 2.0% 1.9% 1.6%Spanishn/c n/c 1.5% 1.6%Religious affiliation Religious affiliation,top responses Catholic31.6% 30.2% 29.4% 26.5%No religion14.6% 17.5% 22.3% 31.5%Anglican15.6% 14.0% 12.4% 8.9%Eastern Orthodox7.3% 7.1% 6.5% 5.4%Judaismn/c 3.6% 4.2% n/cMedian weekly incomes Personal income Median weekly personal income 593 718 834% of Australian median income 127.3% 124.4% 126.0%Family income Median weekly family income A$1,185 A$2,066 A$2,421% of Australian median income 115.4% 139.5% 139.6%Household income Median weekly household income A$1,579 A$1,577 A$1,916% of Australian median income 134.8% 127.8% 133.2%Dwelling structure Dwelling type Separate house30.2% 32.3% 30.6% 26.4%Semi-detached, terrace or townhouse15.8% 14.7% 15.6% 16.5%Flat or apartment51.7% 52.1% 53.3% 55.8%
Council
MayorTermNotes Mayor Clare Willington 29 September 2026 – present Deputy Mayor Masoomeh Asgari 29 September 2026 – present General ManagerTermNotes Ray Brownlee March 2023 – present
Current composition and election method Randwick City Council is composed of fifteen councillors elected proportionally as five separate wards, each electing three councillors. All councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office. The mayor is elected for a two-year term, with the deputy mayor for one year, by the councillors at the first meeting of the council. The most recent election was held on 14 September 2024, and the makeup of the council is as follows:
PartyCouncillors Australian Labor Party 6 Liberal Party of Australia 5 The Greens 3 Independent 1 Total 15
The current Council, elected in 2024, in order of election by ward, is:
WardCouncillorPartyNotesCentral Ward Daniel Rosenfeld Liberal Dylan Parker Labor Elected 2017; Mayor 2021–2023; Mayor 2024-2026 Dexter Gordon LaborEast Ward Marea Wilson Labor Deputy Mayor 2024-2026 Masoomeh Asgari Greens Deputy Mayor 2026- Carolyn Martin Liberal North Ward Clare Willington GreensMayor 2026- Christie Hamilton Liberal Elected 2017. Aaron Magner LaborSouth Ward Noel D'Souza Independent Elected 2012; Mayor 2015–2017; Deputy Mayor 2012–2013. Danny Said Labor Elected 2017; Deputy Mayor 2018–2019; Mayor 2019–2021. Bill Burst Liberal West Ward Alexandra Luxford Labor Elected 2017; Deputy Mayor 2017–2018, 2023–2024. Andrew Hay Liberal Philipa Veitch Greens Elected 2017; Deputy Mayor 2019–2021; Mayor 2023–2024.
Election results 2024
Heritage listings The City of Randwick has a number of heritage-listed sites, including those listed under the New South Wales Heritage Register: Centennial Park, 3R Oxford Street: Centennial Park Reservoir Centennial Park, 5R Oxford Street: Woollahra Reservoir Coogee, 45-51 Beach Street: Cliffbrook Coogee, Grant Reserve: McIver Women's Baths Coogee, 4b Neptune Street: Wylie's Baths Kensington, 85 Todman Avenue: Carthona (Kensington) La Perouse, Bare Island Fort La Perouse, 46 Adina Avenue: La Perouse Mission Church La Perouse, 1-39 Bunnerong Road: Chinese Market Gardens (La Perouse) Little Bay, 1430 Anzac Parade: Prince Henry Site Malabar, 1250 Anzac Parade: Long Bay Correctional Centre Malabar, Franklin Street: Malabar Headland Randwick, Centennial Park, Moore Park, Queens Park Randwick, 124 Alison Road: Randwick Post Office Randwick, 162 Alison Road: Randwick Presbyterian Church Randwick, 102-108 Avoca Street: St Jude's Church, Randwick Randwick, 211-215 Avoca Street: Corana and HygeiaThe Lurline Randwickwalkingcoastalsydney.com.au Randwick, 128 Belmore Road: Sandgate (Randwick) Randwick, 60 Bundock Lane: Electricity Substation No. 341 Randwick, 66 Frenchmans Road: Venice (Randwick) Randwick, 17 Gilderthorpe Avenue: Hooper Cottage Randwick, 16-18 Milford Street: Nugal Hall Randwick, 2S Frances Street: Electricity Substation No. 349 Randwick, 43 St Marks Road: Rathven (Randwick) Randwick, 43 St Pauls Street: Ritz Cinema, Sydney Randwick, 18-20 Stanley Street: Emanuel School, Australia Randwick, 26-42 The Avenue: Avonmore Terrace Randwick, 29-39 Young Street: Big Stable Newmarket
Heritage and local character restrictions
On June 30, 2026, Randwick Council voted to introduce "local character areas" covering the full LGA in stage 2 of the Development Control Plan. Common issues raised during consultation were the subjectivity of "local character" provisions, so in response to community feedback they were "strengthened".
References
External links
Randwick City Council website Randwick City Tourism