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 36 square kilometres (14 sq mi) and as per the 2021 census had a population of 134,252.
The mayor of the City of Randwick is Clare Willington, a member of the Australian Greens, who was appointed on 29 September 2026.
Contents
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 58 square kilometres (22 sq mi) and support a population of approximately 274,000. 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.
Demographics
At the 2016 census, there were 140,660 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 2006 census was 1.10%; and in the subsequent five years to the 2011 census, 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.
Council
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:
The current Council, elected in 2024, in order of election by ward, is:
Election results
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
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".