The City of Yarra is a local government area (LGA) in Victoria, Australia in the inner eastern and northern suburbs of Melbourne. It is the second smallest LGA in the state (after the Borough of Queenscliffe) with an area of 19.5 square kilometres (7.5 sq mi), and in June 2021 it had a population of 91,543,[1] making it the second most densely populated LGA (after the City of Port Phillip), with around 4,695 people per square kilometre.[1] The City of Yarra was formed in 1994 as a result of the amalgamation of the former Cities of Richmond, Collingwood, Fitzroy, and parts of Carlton North (previously part of the City of Melbourne) and parts of Alphington and Fairfield (previously part of the former City of Northcote).
| City of Yarra Victoria | |||||||||||||||
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| Population | 91,543 (2021)[1] | ||||||||||||||
| • Density | 4,695/km2 (12,159/sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Established | 22 June 1994 | ||||||||||||||
| Area | 19.5 km2 (7.5 sq mi)[1] | ||||||||||||||
| Mayor | Michael Crossland (Greens) | ||||||||||||||
| Council seat | Richmond | ||||||||||||||
| Region | Greater Melbourne | ||||||||||||||
| State electorate(s) | |||||||||||||||
| Federal division(s) | |||||||||||||||
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| Website | City of Yarra | ||||||||||||||
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The administrative centre of the City of Yarra is the old Richmond Town Hall in Bridge Road, Richmond. The Collingwood Town Hall in Hoddle Street, Abbotsford is also still used by the council as secondary offices and as a service centre, and the Fitzroy Town Hall in Napier Street, Fitzroy is used for the local library and for use as a community space. Some council committees also meet at the Fitzroy and Collingwood Town Halls.
The city is culturally and socially diverse. The 2016 Australian Census found that 38.8% of residents were born outside Australia, with the largest numbers being born in England, New Zealand, Vietnam, China and Greece.[2]
The suburbs of the City of Yarra were established in the mid-to-late 19th century and retain a Victorian appearance. The majority of housing in the city is made up of Victorian cottages or terraces or apartments built from the 1960s.
The City of Yarra has some of Melbourne's best shopping streets. These include Bridge Road and Swan and Victoria streets in Richmond, Brunswick and Gertrude streets in Fitzroy and Smith Street in Collingwood. In 2021, Smith Street was named the coolest street in the world.[3][4][5][6]
As of November 2023, the mayor is Greens councillor Edward Crossland, and the deputy mayor is Greens councillor Anab Mohamud.[7] The CEO since June 2022 is Sue Wilkinson.[8]
Council
editYarra City Council | |
|---|---|
| Structure | |
Council political groups | Yarra For All (4) Independents (2) Greens (2) Labor (1) |
Yarra City Council is composed of nine single-member wards. Prior to the 2024 election, it was composed of three multi-member wards with three members each, but the electoral structure changed as a result of the Local Government Act 2020.
All councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office. The mayor is elected annually in November by a special meeting of the full council.[9]
Current composition
edit| Party | Councillors | |
|---|---|---|
| Yarra For All | 4 | |
| Independent | 2 | |
| Greens | 2 | |
| Labor | 1 | |
| Total | 9 | |
The current council, elected in 2024, is:
| Ward | Councillor | Party | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boulevard | Sharon Harrison | Yarra For All | ||
| Curtain | Edward Crossland | Greens | ||
| Hoddle | Sophie Wade | Greens | ||
| Langridge | Evangeline Aston | Yarra For All | ||
| Lennox | Andrew Davies | Independent | ||
| MacKillop | Stephen Jolly | Yarra For All | ||
| Melba | Meca Ho | Independent | ||
| Nicholls | Kenneth Gomez | Yarra For All | ||
| Yarra Bend | Sarah McKenzie | Labor | ||
Mayors
editPast councillors
edit1996–2004 (five wards)
edit| Year | Carringbush | Docker | MacKillop | Merri | Nicholson | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | ||||||||||
| 1996 | John Sawyer (Labor) | Li Hiam Lai (Labor) | Marion Macleod (Independent) | James Martakis (Independent) | Steve Watson (Labor) | Linda Hoskins (Labor) | Robyn Williams (Labor) | John Phillips (Labor) | Ray Thomas (Labor) | |||||||||
| 1999 | Sue Corby (Labor) | Fiona Harman (Labor) | Kay Meadows (Labor) | |||||||||||||||
| 2001 | Gurm Sekhon (Greens) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2002 | Judy Morton (Ind. Labor) | Greg Barber (Greens) | Deborah Di Natale (Greens) | Jenny Farrar (Greens) | Jackie Fristacky (Independent) | |||||||||||||
2004–2024 (three wards)
editLangridge Ward
edit| Year | Councillor | Party | Councillor | Party | Councillor | Party | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Jenny Farrar | Greens | Annabel Barbara | Labor | Stephen Jolly | Socialist | |||
| 2008 | Geoff Barbour | Labor | |||||||
| 2008 | Amanda Stone | Greens | |||||||
| 2012 | |||||||||
| 2016 | The Socialists | ||||||||
| 2016 | Danae Bosler | Labor | |||||||
| 2017 | Independent Socialist | ||||||||
| 2018 | Victorian Socialists | ||||||||
| 2019 | Independent Socialist | ||||||||
| 2020 | Anab Mohamud | Greens | Gabrielle de Vietri | Greens | |||||
| 2023 | Michael Glynatsis | Independent | |||||||
| 2024 | Independent | Yarra For All | Yarra For All | ||||||
Melba Ward
edit| Year | Councillor | Party | Councillor | Party | Councillor | Party | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Kay Meadows | Labor | Gurm Sekhon | Greens | Judy Morton | Independent Labor | |||
| 2008 | Josh Funder | Labor | Allison Clarke | Greens | Dale Smedley | Independent | |||
| 2012 | Simon Huggins | Labor | Misha Coleman | Greens | Phillip Vlahogiannis | Independent | |||
| 2016 | Mi-Lin Chen Yi Mei | Labor | James Searle | Greens | Daniel Nguyen | Independent | |||
| 2020 | Herschel Landes | Independent | Edward Crossland | Greens | Claudia Nguyen | Independent | |||
Nicholls Ward
edit| Year | Councillor | Party | Councillor | Party | Councillor | Party | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Kathleen Maltzahn | Greens | Paul D'Agostino | Labor | Jackie Fristacky | Independent | |||
| 2008 | Sam Gaylard | Greens | Jane Garrett | Labor | |||||
| 2011 | Anthony Main | Socialist | |||||||
| 2012 | Roberto Colanzi | Labor | |||||||
| 2016 | Mike McEvoy | Greens | Misha Coleman | Greens | |||||
| 2017 | Independent | ||||||||
| 2019a | Bridgid O'Brien | Victorian Socialists | |||||||
| 2019b | Independent Socialist | ||||||||
| 2020 | Sophie Wade | Greens | Amanda Stone | Greens | |||||
| 2023 | Independent | ||||||||
| 2024 | Yarra For All | ||||||||
2024 (nine wards)
edit| Year | Boulevard | Curtain | Hoddle | Langridge | Lennox | MacKillop | Melba | Nicholls | Yarra Bend | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | ||||||||||
| 2024 | Sharon Harrison (YFA) |
Edward Crossland (Greens) | Sophie Wade (Greens) | Evangeline Aston (YFA) |
Andrew Davies (Ind) |
Stephen Jolly (YFA) |
Meca Ho (Ind) |
Kenneth Gomez (YFA) |
Sarah McKenzie (Labor) | |||||||||
Election results
edit2024
edit| Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yarra For All | 16,157 | 32.80 | +15.85[a] | 4 |  2[a]
| ||
| Greens | 13,108 | 26.61 | +0.07 | 2 |  3
| ||
| Independents | 12,685 | 25.75 | −3.03 | 2 | 
| ||
| Victorian Socialists | 3,814 | 7.74 | +7.74 | 0 |
| ||
| Labor | 3,491 | 7.08 | −7.23 | 1 | 1
| ||
| Formal votes | 49,255 | 97.90 | +3.09 | ||||
| Informal votes | 1,058 | 2.10 | −3.09 | ||||
| Total | 50,313 | 100.0 | |||||
| Registered voters / turnout | 68,723 | 73.21 | +3.07 | ||||
2020
edit| Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | 15,081 | 28.78 | 2 |
| |||
| Greens | 13,909 | 26.54 | 5 | 1
| |||
| Labor | 7,501 | 14.31 | 0 | 2
| |||
| Independent Socialist | 7,380 | 14.08 | 2 | 2
| |||
| Reason | 2,609 | 4.99 | 0 |
| |||
| Independent Liberal | 2,217 | 4.23 | +4.23 | 0 |
| ||
| Richmond First | 1,897 | 3.62 | +3.62 | 0 |
| ||
| Liberal Democrats | 1,282 | 2.45 | 0 |
| |||
| Animal Justice | 524 | 1.00 | 0 |
| |||
| Formal votes | 52,400 | 94.81 | +2.86 | ||||
| Informal votes | 2,872 | 5.19 | −2.86 | ||||
| Total | 55,272 | 100.0 | 9 | ||||
| Registered voters / turnout | 78,795 | 70.14 | +18.99 | ||||
2004
edit| Party | Votes | % | Seats | Change | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | 9,486 | 31.91 | 3 | |||
| Greens | 8,264 | 27.79 | 3 | 1
| ||
| Independent | 4,839 | 16.27 | 1 | |||
| Independent Labor | 4,104 | 13.81 | 1 |
| ||
| Campaign for a Better City | 1,897 | 6.38 | 0 |
| ||
| Socialist Left-Wing Team | 1,359 | 4.57 | 1 | 1
| ||
| Socialist Alliance | 302 | 1.02 | 0 |
| ||
| Total formal votes | 29,729 | 92.06 | ||||
| Informal votes | 2,563 | 7.94 | ||||
| Total | 32,292 | 100.0 | 9 | |||
| Registered voters / Turnout | 61,407 | 52.59 | ||||
Australia Day
editIn August 2017, the Yarra City Council voted unanimously at a town hall meeting to cancel annual Australia Day events, including citizenship ceremonies and instead hold a culturally sensitive event "marking the loss of Indigenous culture".[21] The council also voted to begin lobbying the federal government to change the date of Australia's national day and to use council publications and media to campaign in favour of changing the date. Then Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, accused the council of "using a day that should unite Australians to divide Australians".[21] The City of Darebin later followed suit.[22]
Townships and localities
editIn the 2021 census, the city had a population of 90,114 up from 86,657 in the 2016 census.[2]
| Population | ||
|---|---|---|
| Locality | 2016 | 2021 |
| Abbotsford | 8,184 | 9,088 |
| Alphington^ | 5,080 | 5,702 |
| Burnley | 769 | 794 |
| Carlton North^ | 6,300 | 6,177 |
| Clifton Hill | 6,341 | 6,606 |
| Collingwood | 8,513 | 9,179 |
| Cremorne | 2,018 | 2,158 |
| Fairfield^ | 6,558 | 6,535 |
| Fitzroy | 10,445 | 10,431 |
| Fitzroy North^ | 12,339 | 12,781 |
| Princes Hill | 2,126 | 2,005 |
| Richmond | 27,705 | 28,587 |
^ - Territory divided with another LGA
Economy
editThe City of Yarra has a high concentration of fashion, technology, and media businesses. Companies located in the City of Yarra include:
- Aesop has its global headquarters on Smith Street, Fitzroy.[23]
- Carsales has its head office located on Punt Road, Richmond.[24]
- Computershare, one of the largest stock exchange technology and registrar service businesses in the world is located on Johnston Street, Abbotsford.[25][26]
- Country Road, an upscale Australia clothing and homewares manufacturer and retailer is headquartered on Church Street, Richmond[27]
- Epworth the not-for-profit private health care group, employ 1,800 staff at their head office, and largest hospital, on Bridge Road.[28]
- GSK operates offices of its pharmaceutical division on Johnston Street, Abbotsford.[29]
- Just Group and its brands Just Jeans, Jay Jays, Jacqui E, Portmans, Dotti, Peter Alexander, and Smiggle are headquartered on Church Street, Richmond[30]
- Madman Entertainment has its head office in the Richmond suburb and in the Melba Ward in Yarra.[31][32]
- REA Group which includes realestate.com.au has its head office located on Church Street, Richmond.[33]
- Schwartz Publishing publisher of The Monthly, Quarterly Essay and the book imprint Black Inc is located on Langridge Street, Collingwood.[34][35][36]
- SitePoint, a global technology publisher and its website subsidiaries 99designs.com, Flippa.com, Learnable.com and Wave Digital are based on Cambridge Street and Wellingston Street, Collingwood.[37][38][39]
- Star Entertainment Group, an ASX-listed radio broadcaster best known for SEN 1116, is based on Swan Street, Richmond.[40]
References
edit- ^ a b Compared to the results of Stephen Jolly (Independent Socialist), Bridgid O'Brien (Independent Socialist) and Michael Glynatis (Independent) in 2020.
- ^ a b c d "Estimated resident population, Local Government Areas (ASGS2021), Australia, 2001 to 2021". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 26 July 2022. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
- ^ a b "Census | Australian Bureau of Statistics". www.abs.gov.au. 11 January 2023.
- ^ Kelly, Cait (11 June 2021). "Melbourne beats out Sydney, with this street named the coolest in the world". The New Daily. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
- ^ Street, Francesca. "The world's 'coolest' street revealed by Time Out". CNN. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
- ^ McMah, Lauren (10 June 2021). "Melbourne's Smith Street named coolest street in the world". News.com.au. News Corp. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
- ^ Russo, Rebecca. "Smith Street has been named the coolest street in the world". Timeout. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
- ^ "Councillors". Yarra City Council. 29 November 2023. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
- ^ Moore, Ian (15 March 2022). "Former Darebin CEO to take over at Yarra City". Inner East Review. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
- ^ "Yarra City Council election results 2020". Victorian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
- ^ Raue, Ben. "Yarra council election, 2024". The Tally Room. Archived from the original on 8 November 2024. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
- ^ "Yarra". Victorian Greens. Archived from the original on 18 September 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
- ^ Victorian Electoral Commission. "Yarra City Council results". www.vec.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
- ^ Royall, Ian; Placella, Laura (7 November 2024). "Greens improve chances of retaining places on Yarra City Council after voting surge". Herald Sun. Archived from the original on 7 November 2024. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
- ^ "Victorian council election results 2024 LIVE updates: Glen Eira veteran out; big Cardinia reshuffle". Sydney Morning Herald. 30 October 2024. Archived from the original on 9 November 2024. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
- ^ "Yarra City Council election results 2020". Victorian Electoral Commission. 8 April 2021. Archived from the original on 25 October 2024. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
- ^ Streader, Kate (15 October 2020). "Meet the candidates: Yarra City Council". Beat Magazine. Archived from the original on 20 January 2022. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
- ^ "Results for Yarra City Council Elections 2004". Victorian Electoral Commission.
- ^ "Yarra Council Elections 2004 – Candidate Questionnaire" (PDF). Yarra Bicycle Users Group. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 February 2024.
- ^ "VEC Council election data, and other issues regarding the conduct and practices of the VEC" (PDF). Save Our Suburbs. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 August 2023.
- ^ "Fighting Record Puts Socialist on the Council". International Socialist Alternative. Archived from the original on 7 February 2024.
- ^ a b "City of Yarra council's 'attack on Australia Day' angers Malcolm Turnbull". ABC News. 15 August 2017. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
- ^ Clure, Elias (21 August 2017). "Melbourne's City of Darebin council decides to dump Australia Day ceremonies". ABC News. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
- ^ About Us – Aesop." Aesop (skin care). Retrieved 14 April 2013.
- ^ "Help Centre – carsales.com.au Carsales Retrieved 14 April 2013.
- ^ "Corporate Directory – ComputerShare Australia Archived 21 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine." Computershare. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
- ^ "About Us – ComputerShare Australia Archived 22 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine" Computershare. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
- ^ "Information – Country Road Archived 10 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine." Country Road. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
- ^ "Epworth Richmond." Epworth Hospital. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
- ^ "Our Facilities". GlaxoSmithKline.
- ^ "Contact – Just Group Archived 17 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine." Just Group. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
- ^ "Contact Information." Madman Entertainment. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
- ^ "Map of the Ward Boundaries Archived 2 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine." City of Yarra. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
- ^ "Open State: REA Group HQ". Universe. 21 March 2018. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
- ^ "Contact – The Monthly." The Monthly. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
- ^ "About Us – Quarterly Essay Archived 27 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine." Quarterly Essay. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
- ^ "Contact – Black Inc Books." Black Inc. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
- ^ "About Us – SitePoint Pty Ltd." SitePoint. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
- ^ "Contact Us – SitePoint Pty Ltd." SitePoint. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
- ^ "About Us – 99designs." 99designs.com. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
- ^ "Contact Us – Pacific Star Network Limited Archived 21 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine." Pacific Star Network Limited. Retrieved 14 April 2013.