The Fairfield City Council is a

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

in the west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The council was first incorporated as the "Municipal District of Smithfield and Fairfield" on 8 December 1888, and the council's name was changed to the "Municipality of Fairfield" in 1920, before being proclaimed a city in 1979. The City of Fairfield comprises an area of and as of the had a population of . The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of the City of Fairfield is Cr. Frank Carbone, the first popularly-elected

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

mayor of Fairfield. Fairfield is considered one of the most ethnically diverse suburbs in Australia. At the 2021 census, the proportion of residents in the Fairfield local government area who stated their

ancestry An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder, or a forebear, is a parent or ( recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from ...

as Vietnamese and Assyrian, was in excess of sixteen times the national average. The area was linguistically diverse, with Vietnamese, Arabic,

Assyrian Neo-Aramaic Suret ( Help:IPA for Aramaic, �suːrɪtʰor Help:IPA for Aramaic, �suːrɪθ, also known as Assyrian, refers to the varieties of Northeastern Neo-Aramaic (NENA) spoken by Christians, namely Assyrian people, Assyrians.Nordhoff, Sebast ...

, or

Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...

languages spoken in households, and ranged from two times to seventeen times the national averages. The ''Smithfield–Wetherill Park Industrial Estate'' is the largest

industrial estate An industrial park, also known as industrial estate or trading estate, is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more heavyweight version of a business park or office par ...

in the Southern Hemisphere and is the centre of manufacturing and distribution in Greater Western Sydney, with more than 1,000 manufacturing, wholesale, transport and service firms.

Geography

A few small areas of the original

bushland In Australia, bushland is a blanket term for land which supports remnant natural area, remnant vegetation or land which is disturbed but still retains a predominance of the original floristics and structure. Human survival in bushland has a wh ...

remain, including examples of

Cumberland Plain Woodland The Cumberland Plain Woodland, also known as Cumberland Plain Bushland and Western Sydney woodland,Cooks River/Castlereagh Ironbark ecological community The Cooks River/Castlereagh Ironbark Forest (CRCIF) is a scattered, dry sclerophyll, open-forest to low woodland and scrubland which occurs predominantly in the Cumberland subregion of the Sydney basin bioregion, between and , as well as arou ...

. There are 580 parks (60 of which are major parks), including one of the largest urban parks in the world,

Western Sydney Parklands The Western Sydney Parklands is an urban park system and a nature reserve located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The NSW government has spent around $400 million for the park. The park is governed by the NSW National Parks and Wildli ...

, which has a precinct that lies in the Fairfield area, called the

Western Sydney Regional Park Western Sydney Regional Park is a large urban park and a nature reserve situated in Western Sydney, Australia within the suburbs of Horsley Park and Abbotsbury, New South Wales, Abbotsbury.Smithfield.

Fairfield Showground Fairfield Showground is a multi-purpose indoor-outdoor venue situated in Prairiewood, New South Wales, Australia. Since in the 1970s, it has been a popular venue for multicultural festivals, horse racing, carnivals, markets and club meets attrac ...

is an important cultural venue. Prominent roads such as

Cumberland Highway Cumberland Highway is a long urban highway located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The highway links Pacific Highway (Australia), Pacific Highway and Pacific Motorway (Sydney–Newcastle), Pacific Motorway (Highway 1 (New South Wales), ...

and

The Horsley Drive The Horsley Drive is a urban sealed road located in the City of Fairfield in Greater Western Sydney, Greater Western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The road's northwestern terminus is located at the entrance of Western Sydney Parklands in ...

wind through it.

Wetherill Park Wetherill Park is a suburb in Greater Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Wetherill Park is located 34 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Fairfield. The ...

is listed as one of the five most leafiest suburbs in Sydney by the ''

Domain Group Domain Holdings Australia Ltd (or simply Domain or Domain Group) is an Australian digital property portal and associated real-estate industry business. It is best known for its real-estate website domain.com.au, and also owns the brands commer ...

'', being the only suburb in Western Sydney to be listed (since most leafy suburbs are within

Northern Sydney Northern Sydney is a large metropolitan area in Greater Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on the north shore of Sydney Harbour and Parramatta River. The region embraces suburbs in Sydney's north-east, north and inner north west. Northern Syd ...

Suburbs in the local government area

Suburbs in the City of Fairfield are:

History

SLNSW 13466 Cabramatta Town Hall taken for Building Publishing Co

For more than 30,000 years, Aboriginal people from the Cabrogal–

Gandangara The Gandangara people, also spelled Gundungara, Gandangarra, Gundungurra and other variations, are an Aboriginal Australian people in south-eastern New South Wales, Australia. Their traditional lands include present day Goulburn, Wollondilly Sh ...

tribe have lived in the area. One of Sydney's oldest trees, the Bland Oak, was planted in the 1830s in Carramar.

European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

settlement began early in the 19th century and was supported by railway construction in 1856. At the turn of the century the area had a population of 2,500 people and with fertile soils, produced crops for distribution in Sydney. The council was first incorporated as the "Municipal District of Smithfield and Fairfield" on 8 December 1888, becoming the "Municipality of Smithfield and Fairfield" from 1906. On 26 October 1920, the council's name was changed to the "Municipality of Fairfield", in recognition of the changing centre of business in the council area. Rapid population increase after World War II saw the settlement of many ex-service men and European migrants. Large scale Housing Commission development in the 1950s swelled the population to 38,000. From 1 January 1949, under the ''

Local Government (Areas) Act 1948 Local Government (Areas) Act 1948 was a landmark New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensl ...

'', the 'Municipality of Cabramatta and Canley Vale' was amalgamated into the Municipality of Fairfield. In the , the population had reached 114,000 and was becoming one of the larger local government areas in New South Wales. On 18 May 1979, the Municipality of Fairfield was granted

city status City status is a symbolic and legal designation given by a monarch, national or subnational government. A municipality may receive city status because it already has the qualities of a city, or because it has some special purpose. Historically, ci ...

, becoming the "City of Fairfield". On Friday 29 June 2001 the former deputy mayor of Fairfield and councillor from 1987 to 1998, Phuong Ngo, was convicted of the 1994 murder of the local state MP for Cabramatta (and former deputy mayor), John Newman, a crime which has been described as Australia's first political assassination. Ngo's alleged accomplices, Quang Dao and David Dinh, were acquitted and the identity of the killer who shot and fatally wounded Newman remains a mystery. Controversy has arisen in the years since then of the presence of Ngo's name on various council plaques from his time on council. In September 2006, Fairfield Council announced the introduction of a trial ban on spitting in public on

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...

grounds. However, it was reported that advice provided to council from NSW Health was that spitting does not impact on the transmission of infectious diseases. The law proved difficult to prosecute. In April 2024, the first terrorist attack in Western Sydney's soil occurred at a Wakeley church, where an

Islamic extremist Islamic extremism refers to extremist beliefs, behaviors and ideologies adhered to by some Muslims within Islam. The term 'Islamic extremism' is contentious, encompassing a spectrum of definitions, ranging from academic interpretations of Is ...

stabbed bishop

Mar Mari Emmanuel Mar Mari Emmanuel (born Robert Shlimon; 19 July 1970) is an Iraqi-born Assyrian Australian Assyrian Australians (), refers to ethnic Assyrians possessing Australian nationality. They are descended from the Northern Mesopotamian region, ...

and five others, though all survived the attack. In 2024, Following the decision by Woolworths, Big W and Aldi not to stock extra items for

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet and raising of the Flag of Great Britain, Union Flag of Great Britain by Arthur Phillip at Sydney Cove, a ...

, Fairfield City Council resolved to provide free Australia Day

merchandise Merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of Product (business), products ("merch" colloquially) to a retail consumer. At a retail in-store level, merchandising refers to displaying products that are for sale in a creative w ...

to residents.

Heritage listings

The City of Fairfield has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * Bonnyrigg, Cartwright Street: Bonnyrigg House * Bonnyrigg, Lot 1 Cartwright Street: Male Orphan School land * Fairfield, Great Southern railway:

Fairfield railway station, Sydney Fairfield railway station is a heritage-listed railway station located on the Old Main South line, serving the Sydney suburb of Fairfield. It is served by Sydney Trains' T2 Leppington & Inner West and T5 Cumberland line services. It was desi ...

* Horsley Park, 52–58 Jamieson Close: Horsley complex * Lansvale, Hume Highway:

Lansdowne Bridge The Lansdowne Bridge is a heritage-listed road bridge that carries the northbound carriageway of the Hume Highway (route A22 at this point) across Prospect Creek between Lansvale and Lansdowne. Situated in southwestern Sydney it is located on ...

Business and industry

Fairfield is a centre of manufacturing and distribution for Greater Western Sydney and home to the Smithfield-Wetherill Park Industrial Estate, which is the largest industrial zone in the Southern Hemisphere. It is also home to the Yennora industrial zone, where key operators in the area include

Toll Toll may refer to: Transportation * Toll (fee) a fee charged for the use of a road or waterway ** Toll road, a type of road which for which payment is required for passage ** Road pricing, the modern practice of charging for road use ** Road to ...

, Woolworths,

Linfox Linfox is an Australian transport, logistics and supply chain business founded in 1956 by Lindsay Fox. History Linfox was established in 1956 by Lindsay Fox as Lindsay Fox Cartage with one truck in Melbourne. In 1958, a contract with Schweppe ...

, Australian Wool Handlers,

Qube Qube (stylized QUBE) was an experimental two-way, multi-programmed cable television system that played a significant role in the history of American interactive television. It was launched in Columbus, Ohio, on December 1, 1977. Highly publicized ...

and Hume Building Products.

Demographics

At the there were people in the Fairfield local government area, of these 49.3 per cent were male and 50.7 per cent were female.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups, w ...

made up 0.7 per cent of the population; significantly below the NSW and Australian averages of 3.4 and 3.2 per cent respectively. The

median The median of a set of numbers is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a Sample (statistics), data sample, a statistical population, population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as the “ ...

age of people in the City of Fairfield was 39 years; slightly higher than the national median of 38 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 17.9 per cent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 16.7 per cent of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 46.5 per cent were married and 12.9 per cent were either divorced or separated. Population in the City of Fairfield between the and the declined by 0.78 per cent; and in the subsequent five years to the , population growth was 4.38 per cent. At the 2016 census, the population in the City increased by 5.89 per cent. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same period, being 8.8 per cent, population growth in the Fairfield local government area was a little over half the national average. The median weekly income for residents within the City of Fairfield was lower than the national average, being one of the factors that place the city in an area of social disadvantage. As at the 2016 census, the influence of Vietnamese culture and language was statistically strong, evidenced by the proportion of residents with

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

ese

(nearly twenty times higher than the national average), the proportion of residents who spoke Vietnamese as either a first or second language (also nearly twenty times higher than the national average), and the proportion of residents who stated a

religious Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...

affiliation with

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

(the latter being in excess of nine times the national average).

Council

Current composition and election method

Fairfield City Council is composed of thirteen

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

s, including the mayor, for a fixed four-year term of office. The mayor has been directly elected since 2004, while the twelve other Councillors are elected proportionally to two separate

wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

, each electing six councillors. The most recent election was held on 2 December 2021, and the makeup of the council, including the mayor, is as follows: The current Council, elected in 2021, in order of election by ward, is:

Past composition

Mayors

Election results

2024

2021

Town Clerks/General Manager/City Managers

Sister cities

* Palmi, Italy *

Zhenjiang Zhenjiang, alternately romanized as Chinkiang, is a prefecture-level city in Jiangsu Province, China. It lies on the southern bank of the Yangtze River near its intersection with the Grand Canal. It is opposite Yangzhou (to its north) and ...

, China

References

External links

* {{NSW Local Government Act 1948, state=collapsed Fairfield Fairfield Hume Highway

Fairfield City Council The Fairfield City Council is a local government area in the west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The council was first incorporated as the "Municipal District of Smithfield and Fairfield" on 8 December 1888, and the coun ...

Georges River