Introduction
This article is about the city in Australia. For other places, see Hawkesbury (disambiguation).
Local government area in New South Wales, AustraliaLocal government area in New South Wales, AustraliaCity of HawkesburyLocal government areaLocation in Outer Metropolitan Sydney
Coordinates: 33°36′41.42″S 150°48′53.68″E / 33.6115056°S 150.8149111°E / -33.6115056; 150.8149111CountryAustraliaStateNew South WalesRegionHawkesburyBlue MountainsGreater Western SydneyEstablished1 January 1981Council seatWindsorGovernment • MayorLes Sheather (Independent) • State electoratesHawkesburyLondonderryRiverstoneUpper Hunter • Federal divisionsMacquarieGreenwayHunterArea • Total2,776 km2 (1,072 sq mi)Population • Total67,207 (LGA 2021)WebsiteCity of Hawkesbury
LGAs around City of Hawkesbury
Mid-Western
Singleton
Central Coast & Cessnock
Lithgow
City of Hawkesbury
The Hills
Blue Mountains
Penrith
Blacktown
The City of Hawkesbury is a local government area that is located on the far northwest fringe of the Greater Sydney area in New South Wales, Australia. The local government area is located in the Hawkesbury and Blue Mountains regions. Hawkesbury City is named after the Hawkesbury River. Major towns in the City of Hawkesbury are Windsor and Richmond. It is a member council of the Hawkesbury River County Council.
The mayor of the City of Hawkesbury is Cr. Les Sheather, an independent.
Suburbs and localities in the local government area
[edit]
Suburbs and localities in the City of Hawkesbury are:
Agnes Banks (shared with City of Penrith)
Berambing
Bilpin
Blaxlands Ridge
Bligh Park
Bowen Mountain
Bucketty (shared with Cessnock City Council)
Cattai (shared with The Hills Shire)
Central Colo
Central Macdonald
Clarendon
Colo
Colo Heights
Cornwallis
Cumberland Reach
East Kurrajong
Ebenezer
Fernances
Freemans Reach
Glossodia
Grose Vale
Grose Wold
Higher Macdonald
Hobartville
Kurmond
Kurrajong
Kurrajong Heights
Kurrajong Hills
Leets Vale (shared with The Hills Shire)
Lower Macdonald
Lower Portland (shared with The Hills Shire)
Maraylya (shared with The Hills Shire)
Mcgraths Hill
Mellong
Mogo Creek
Mountain Lagoon
Mulgrave
North Richmond
Oakville
Perrys Crossing
Pitt Town
Pitt Town Bottoms
Putty
Richmond
Richmond Lowlands
Sackville
Scheyville
South Windsor
St Albans
Ten Mile Hollow (shared with Central Coast Council)
Tennyson
The Devils Wilderness
The Lowlands
The Slopes
Upper Colo
Upper Macdonald
Vineyard (shared with City of Blacktown)
Webbs Creek
Wheeny Creek
Wilberforce
Windsor
Windsor Downs
Wisemans Ferry (shared with Central Coast Council, The Hills Shire and Hornsby Shire)
Womerah
Wrights Creek
Yarramundi
History
[edit]
The original inhabitants of the Hawkesbury district were the Darug tribe of Aboriginals, also spelt as Dharug or Daruk. The river, which they called Derrubbin, was a focal point as a source of food and transport. The Darug people used the river to farm for fish, eels, water birds, and mussels. They also used the river as a mode of transport in bark canoes.
It was first settled by Europeans in 1794 in a bid to acquire arable land to feed the increasing population of the penal colony at Sydney. In April 1794, Lieutenant Governor Francis Grose submitted plans for the first 22 farms on the Hawkesbury River in the present Pitt Town Bottoms area. In June 1795, Lieutenant Governor William Paterson deployed troops to engage with Aboriginals inhabiting land along the Hawkesbury River.[editorializing]
By 1811 Governor Lachlan Macquarie established the five Macquarie Towns in the area. They are Windsor, Richmond, Castlereagh, Wilberforce and Pitt Town, all located on and around the Hawkesbury River. Many of the early 19th century buildings still survive today. Ebenezer has the oldest surviving church and school building in Australia. Windsor District Council was formed in 1843 and disbanded in 1846. In 1871 the Borough Council of Windsor was founded and the Richmond Borough Council followed in 1872. The two councils amalgamated in 1949 to become the Municipality of Windsor. Colo Shire Council was established in 1906 and joined Windsor Municipal Council from 1 January 1981 to become Hawkesbury Shire Council. On 1 July 1989, Hawkesbury became a City.
On its creation in 1981, Hawkesbury was largely rural, but urban expansion within Sydney has since transformed the southern part of the area into dormitory suburbs. The northern part of the local government area still contains some farmlands and national parkland.
Demographics
[edit]
At the 2021 Census, there were 67,207 people in the Hawkesbury local government area. Of these, 49.8% were male and 50.2% were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 4.8% of the population, which was 1.6% above the national average. The median age of people in the City of Hawkesbury was 39 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 19.1% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 16.6% of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 49.3% were married and 12.4% were either divorced or separated.
Population in the City of Hawkesbury between the 2001 Census and the 2006 Census decreased by 0.54%; and in the subsequent five years to the 2011 Census, population growth was 2.96%. Between the 2011 and 2016 Census, population increased by a further 1.04%. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same periods, population growth in Hawkesbury local government area was significantly lower than the national average. The median weekly income for residents within the City of Hawkesbury has been consistently marginally higher than the national average.
At the 2021 Census, the proportion of residents in the Hawkesbury local government area who stated their ancestry as Australian or English amounted to 80.8%, representing an increase from 62% in 2011. Many people from the Hawkesbury identified as having a Catholic (26.0%) or Anglican (19.3%) religious affiliation in 2021.
Selected historical census data for Hawkesbury local government area
Census year
2001
2006
2011
2016
2021
Population
Estimated residents on census night
60,887
 60,561
 62,353
 64,592
 67,207
LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales
34th
align="right"
align="right"|
% of New South Wales population
0.90%
 1.66%
 0.83%
% of Australian population
0.32%
 0.31%
 0.29%
 0.27%
 0.26%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry,top responses
Australian
32.6%
 30.4%
 41.1%
English
29.5%
 29.5%
 39.7%
Irish
7.6%
 8.3%
 10.6%
Scottish
6.3%
 6.8%
9.5%
Maltese
3.1%
 3.5%
 5.8%
Language,top responses(other than English)
Maltese
0.8%
 0.7%
 0.8%
 0.9%
 0.9%
Italian
0.6%
 0.6%
 0.5%
 0.4%
 0.4%
Cantonese
–
–
–
0.3%
 0.3%
German
0.3%
 0.3%
 0.3%
 0.3%
–
Arabic
0.3%
 0.3%
 0.3%
 0.3%
 0.4%
Punjabi
–
–
–
–
0.5%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation,top responses
Catholic
26.6%
 27.3%
 28.2%
 27.5%
 26.0%
Anglican
30.9%
 29.9%
 29.4%
 24.6%
 19.3%
No Religion
12.2%
 14.8%
 16.7%
 23.9%
 33.7%
Not stated
–
–
–
8.3%
 5.5%
Uniting Church
5.7%
 5.0%
 4.4%
 3.3%
 2.6%
Presbyterian and Reformed
3.0%
 5.7%
 2.8%
–
–
Median weekly incomes
Personal income
Median weekly personal income
–
$527
 $622
 $728
 $860
% of Australian median income
–
113.1%
 107.8%
 110.0%
 106.8%
Family income
Median weekly family income
–
$1,146
 $1,598
 $1,916
 $2,272
% of Australian median income
–
111.6%
 107.9%
 110.5%
 107.1%
Household income
Median weekly household income
–
$1,290
 $1,385
 $1,668
 $1,980
% of Australian median income
–
110.2%
 112.2%
 116.0%
 113.4%
Council
[edit]
Current composition and election method[edit]
Hawkesbury City Council is composed of twelve councillors elected proportionally as one entire ward. All councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office. The mayor is elected 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:
Party
Councillors
Liberal Party
4
Independents and Unaligned
4
Labor Party
1
Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party
1
The Greens
1
The Small Business Party
1
Total
12
The current Council, elected in 2024, is:
Councillor
Party
Notes
Nathan Zamprogno
Independent
Sarah McMahon
Liberal
Deputy Mayor 2024–date
Mary Lyons-Buckett
Independent
Mike Creed
Liberal
Tom Aczel
Independent
Paul Veigel
Liberal
Jill Reardon
Liberal
Danielle Wheeler
Greens
Les Sheather
Independent
Mayor 2024-date
Eddie Dogramaci
The Small Business Party
Amanda Kotlash
Labor
Shane Djuric
Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party
Election results
[edit]
2024[edit]
This section is an excerpt from 2024 Hawkesbury City Council election § Results summary.[edit]
2024 Hawkesbury City Council election: Results summary
Party
Votes
%
Swing
Seats
Change
 
Liberal
10,997
27.3
−7.1
4
 
Independents
7,417
18.4
2
 
People Not Parties
4,879
12.1
+2.4
2
1
 
Shooters, Fishers, Farmers
4,529
11.2
+4.1
1
 
Labor
4,337
10.7
−1.4
1
1
 
Greens
3,930
9.7
+2.6
1
 
Small Business
3,474
8.6
+4.0
1
 
Hawkesbury's Future
785
2.0
+2.0
0
 Formal votes
40,348
93.5
 Informal votes
2,808
6.5
 Total
43,156
100.0
12
 Registered voters / turnout
50,010
86.3
2021[edit]
This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2021 New South Wales local elections in Outer Sydney § Hawkesbury.[edit]
Elected councillor
Party
 
Sarah McMahon
Liberal
 
Patrick Conolly
Liberal
 
Paul Veigel
Liberal
 
Jill Reardon
Liberal
 
Barry Calvert
Labor
 
Amanda Kotlash
Labor
 
Mary Lyons-Buckett
People Not Parties
 
Nathan Zamprogno
Ind. Liberal
 
Les Sheather
Les and The Doc
 
Shane Djuric
SFF
 
Danielle Wheeler
Greens
 
Eddie Dogramaci
Small Business
2021 New South Wales local elections: Hawkesbury
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
±%
Liberal
13,577
34.3
+6.0
Labor
4,783
12.1
−4.3
People Not Parties
3,846
9.7
Independent Liberal
3,357
8.5
Les and The Doc
2,916
7.4
Shooters, Fishers, Farmers
2,821
7.1
+7.1
Greens
2,795
7.1
−0.8
Small Business
1,899
4.8
+4.8
Andrew Cadman Group
1,070
2.7
Independent
947
2.4
Hawkesbury Alliance
944
2.4
The Locals
448
1.1
Independent
John Ross
85
0.2
Total formal votes
39,488
94.9
Informal votes
2,135
5.1
Turnout
41,623
86.1
Mayors
[edit]
Mayor
Party
Term
Notes
1981 – 27 September 1994
Dr Rex Stubbs
Independent
27 September 1994 – 30 September 1997
30 September 1997 – 29 September 1999
Dr Rex Stubbs OAM
Independent
29 September 1999 – 27 September 2004
Bart Bassett
Liberal
27 September 2004 – 18 September 2006
Dr Rex Stubbs OAM
Independent
18 September 2006 – 18 September 2007
Bart Bassett
Liberal
18 September 2007 – 20 September 2011
Kim Ford
20 September 2011 – 10 September 2016
Mary Lyons-Buckett
Independent
27 September 2016 – 18 September 2018
Barry Calvert
Labor
18 September 2018 – 22 September 2020
Patrick Conolly
Liberal
22 September 2020 – 23 August 2022
Sarah McMahon
Liberal
23 August 2022 – date