The City of Perth 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 ...

and body, within the

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

metropolitan area, which is the capital of Western Australia. The local government is commonly known as Perth City Council. The City covers the Perth city centre and surrounding suburbs. The City covers an area of and had an estimated population of 21,092 as at 30 June 2015. On 1 July 2016 the City expanded, absorbing 1,247 residents from the

City of Subiaco The City of Subiaco is a Local government areas of Western Australia, local government area in Western Australia. It covers an area of approximately 7 km² in inner western metropolitan Perth and lies about 3 km west of the Perth cent ...

History

In 1829, Captain James Stirling founded Perth as part of the

Swan River Colony The Swan River Colony, also known as the Swan River Settlement, or just ''Swan River'', was a British colony established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. This initial settlement place on the Swan River was soon named Perth, an ...

. A Perth Town Trust was formed in 1838, but remained largely non-functional for many years due to lack of finance and administrative capacity leading to its dissolution in 1858. The City of Perth was officially declared on 23 September 1856 with Council meeting for the first time in December 1858. In 1871, the City of Perth was reconstituted as a Municipal Corporation. In 1915, following the efforts of WE Bold and the

greater Perth movement The Greater Perth Movement describes a movement in the first three decades of the twentieth century to consolidate the town planning and urban administration of the Perth metropolitan region of Western Australia under a single municipal governme ...

, the City absorbed the

Municipality of North Perth The Municipality of North Perth was a local government area in inner suburban Perth, Western Australia, centred on the suburb of North Perth. It was established as the North Perth Road District on 10 March 1899. It was made a municipality on 25 ...

(1901) and the

Municipality of Leederville The Municipality of Leederville was a local government area in inner suburban Perth, Western Australia, based around the suburb of Leederville. It was established as the Leederville Road District on 3 May 1895. It was renamed the Municipality of ...

(1895), and on 1 November 1917, the

Municipality of Victoria Park The Municipality of Victoria Park was a local government area in the inner eastern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia. It was first established as the Victoria Park Road District on 17 May 1894. The first election was held on 9 July 1894. The ...

was also absorbed. A year later, it absorbed territory from

Perth Road Board The City of Stirling is a local government area in the northern suburbs of the Western Australian capital city of Perth about north of Perth's central business district. The City covers an area of and has a population of over 223,000, making ...

(including the

Belmont Park Racecourse Belmont Park Racecourse is one of the two major horse racing venues within the Perth, Western Australia metropolitan area, the other being Ascot Racecourse, and is located just outside of the central business district on the Burswood Peninsula ...

) and purchased the 526 hectares (1,300 acres) Limekilns Estate in the western suburbs. The City developed the suburbs of Floreat Park, Wembley Park and City Beach on these lands. In 1925, a new ''City of Perth Act'' gave the City additional powers over building control and regulation, including the power to declare new streets. In 1930 the first town planning committee was established. Criticism of the City’s governance by the David Davidson, the state's Town Planning Commissioner, led to a Royal Commission in 1938 on the grounds that the development of the western suburbs had led to the neglect of health and building administration in the central city area. By 1962, the council had 27 members representing nine wards. In 1963 the ''Metropolitan Region Town Planning Scheme Act'' required the City to establish a town planning department—which they did by appointing architect

Paul Ritter Simon Paul Adams (20 December 1966 – 5 April 2021), known professionally as Paul Ritter, was an English actor. He had roles in films including ''Son of Rambow'' (2007), ''Quantum of Solace'' (2008), ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (f ...

in 1965. Ritter’s two year tenure was short and turbulent, leading to public conflict with councillors and his termination in 1967. The City’s first town planning scheme was submitted to the

Town Planning Board The Town Planning Board () is a statutory body of the Hong Kong Government tasked with developing urban plans with an aim to ensuring the "health, safety, convenience and general welfare of the community through the process of guiding and co ...

in 1973, but not formally adopted until 1985. The reason for the delay was a state government desire to take discretionary powers out of the hands of the Council. Council was felt to be too easily influenced by powerful developers. On 1 July 1994, following the passage of the ''City of Perth Restructuring Act (1993)'', the City of Perth was broken up and a significantly reduced City of Perth constituted. The Town of Shepperton,

Town of Cambridge The Town of Cambridge is a Local government areas of Western Australia, local government area in the inner western List of Perth suburbs, suburbs of the Western Australian capital city of Perth, about west of Perth central business district, P ...

and

Town of Vincent The City of Vincent is a local government area of Western Australia. It covers an area of approximately in metropolitan Perth, the capital of Western Australia, and lies about 3 km from the Perth CBD. The City of Vincent maintains 139&nb ...

were created from the former boundaries of the City. The first elections were held on 6 May 1995, with eight councillors and a mayor. The ''City of Perth Act 2016'' defined Perth as the capital of Western Australia, and expanded the City's boundaries to include a number of landmarks including Kings Park,

University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...

Perth Children's Hospital Perth Children's Hospital (PCH) is a specialist children's hospital in Nedlands, Western Australia, located at the corner of Winthrop Avenue and Monash Avenue on the Queen Elizabeth II Medical Centre (QEII) site. It is Western Australia's s ...

and the

Queen Elizabeth II Medical Centre The Queen Elizabeth II Medical Centre (QEIIMC), commonly known as just QEII, is a medical campus in Perth, Western Australia, situated in the suburb of Nedlands directly adjacent to Kings Park. It contains Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, th ...

. The boundary changes took effect on 1 July 2016. Approximately 1,247 residents from Nedlands and Subiaco in the

were transferred to the City of Perth, and the City expanded to a total area of . The Perth City Council was suspended on 2 March 2018, pending the establishment of a public inquiry into the council, by Local Government Minister

David Templeman David Alan Templeman (born 21 November 1965) is an Australian politician who was a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 2001 to 2025, representing the seat of Mandurah. Early life Templeman was born i ...

. The council was administered by three Commissioners until 18 October 2020. The two-year Inquiry carried out up until that point, conducted at a cost of nearly made many findings, none of which resulted in criminal conviction. In July 2021, the City of Perth formally recognised the Whadjuk Noongar people as the

traditional owner Native title is the set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title right ...

s of Noongar Country, the land on which the "City of Perth (Boorloo)" is located, signing the agreement with Whadjuk elders on 10 August.

Council

Election results

2023

2021

Suburbs

The suburbs of the City of Perth with population and size figures based on the most recent

Australian census The Census in Australia, officially the Census of Population and Housing, is the national census in Australia that occurs every five years. The census collects key demographic, social and economic data from all people in Australia on census nig ...

: * The parts of these suburbs north of Newcastle and Summers Streets fall within the

City of Vincent The City of Vincent is a local government area of Western Australia. It covers an area of approximately in metropolitan Perth, the capital of Western Australia, and lies about 3 km from the Perth CBD. The City of Vincent maintains 139&nb ...

. These localities are only partially contained within the City of Perth boundary.
** The parts of these localities were transferred from the

in 2016. These localities are only partially contained within the City of Perth boundary.

Population

Pre-1915 composition

1915–1994 composition

The 1991 population has been broken down by the

Australian Bureau of Statistics The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is an List of Australian Government entities, Australian Government agency that collects and analyses statistics on economic, population, Natural environment, environmental, and social issues to advi ...

as follows: Perth (C) 7,604; Cambridge (T) 22,740; Victoria Park (T) 24,313; Vincent (T) 24,765.

1994–present composition

Twin towns and sister cities

The City of Perth is twinned with:

Flag and coat of arms

The official Flag of Perth represents the city of

, Western Australia. It features the

Saint George's Cross In heraldry, Saint George's Cross (or the Cross of Saint George) is a red cross on a white background, which from the Late Middle Ages became associated with Saint George, the military saint, often depicted as a crusader. Associated with ...

overlaid with the

coat of arms of Perth The coat of arms of Perth, Western Australia were originally granted to the City of Perth on 2 December 1926. They were altered with the slight addition of part of the arms of Perth, Scotland in 1949. The coat of arms at the Council House in St ...

in the centre. Though the designer of the flag is unknown, it is thought to have been designed prior to 1872. In the 1920s, the black swan was removed from the top left quadrant of the flag and replaced with the coat of arms in the centre of the cross. The coat of arms were originally granted to the City of Perth on 2 December 1926. They were altered with the addition of part of the arms of

Perth, Scotland Perth (; ) is a centrally located Cities of Scotland, Scottish city, on the banks of the River Tay. It is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and is the historic county town of Perthshire. It had a population of about ...

in 1949.

Heritage listed places

, 1,032 places are heritage-listed in the City of Perth, of which 226 are on the

State Register of Heritage Places The State Register of Heritage Places is the heritage register of historic sites in Western Australia deemed significant at the state level by the Heritage Council of Western Australia. History In the 1970s, following its establishment of the N ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1949 establishments in Australia