| Type: | lga |
| City of Yarra | |
| State: | vic |
| Pop: | 91,543 |
| Pop Year: | 2021 |
| Pop Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area: | 19.5 |
| Est: | 22 June 1994 |
| Seat: | Richmond |
| Mayor: | Michael Crossland (Greens) |
| Url: | www.yarracity.vic.gov.au |
| Stategov: | Brunswick |
| Stategov2: | Northcote |
| Fedgov2: | Melbourne |
| Near-Nw: | Merri-bek |
| Near-N: | Darebin |
| Near-Ne: | Banyule |
| Near-W: | Melbourne |
| Near-E: | Boroondara |
| Near-Sw: | Melbourne |
| Near-S: | Stonnington |
| Near-Se: | Stonnington |
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, 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).
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.
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.[2] [3] [4] [5]
As of November 2023, the mayor is Greens councillor Edward Crossland, and the deputy mayor is Greens councillor Anab Mohamud.[6] The CEO since June 2022 is Sue Wilkinson.[7]
Yarra City Council is composed of nine councillors elected proportionally as three separate wards, each electing three councillors. 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. The most recent local government election was held in October 2020.[8]
| Yarra City Council | |
| Leader1: | Edward Crossland |
| Leader1 Type: | Mayor |
| Leader2: | Anab Mohamud |
| Leader2 Type: | Deputy Mayor |
| House1: | Council |
| Political Groups1: | Greens (2) |
| Party | Councillors | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | align=right | 4 | ||
| Yarra for All | align=right | 3 | ||
| Greens | align=right | 2 | ||
| Total | align=right | 9 | ||
The current council, elected in 2020, in order of election by ward, is:
| Ward | Councillor | Party | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Langridge | Yarra for All | ||||
| Anab Mohamud | Independent | Deputy Mayor | |||
| Michael Glynatsis | Yarra for All | Elected in 2023 via a countback to replace Gabrielle de Vietri[9] | |||
| Melba | Edward Crossland | Greens | Mayor | ||
| Claudia Nguyen | Independent | ||||
| Herschel Landes | Independent | ||||
| Nicholls | Bridgid O'Brien | Yarra for All | |||
| Sophie Wade | Greens | ||||
| Amanda Stone | Independent | Elected as a member of The Greens but quit in February 2023[10] | |||
See main article: List of mayors of Yarra.
| 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) | |||||||||||||
| 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 | ||||||
| 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 | |||
| 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 | ||||||||
See also: Local Government Act 2020. These wards will come into effect at the October 2024 election.
In 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". 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".[11] The City of Darebin later followed suit.[12]
In the 2021 census, the city had a population of 90,114 up from 86,657 in the 2016 census.[13]
| Population | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Locality | 2016 | 2021 | |
| 8,184 | 9,088 | ||
| ^ | 5,080 | 5,702 | |
| 769 | 794 | ||
| ^ | 6,300 | 6,177 | |
| 6,341 | 6,606 | ||
| 8,513 | 9,179 | ||
| 2,018 | 2,158 | ||
| ^ | 6,558 | 6,535 | |
| 10,445 | 10,431 | ||
| ^ | 12,339 | 12,781 | |
| 2,126 | 2,005 | ||
| 27,705 | 28,587 | ||
^ - Territory divided with another LGA
The City of Yarra has a high concentration of fashion, technology, and media businesses. Companies located in the City of Yarra include: