| Type: | lga |
| City of Knox | |
| State: | vic |
| Pop: | 165,147 |
| Pop Year: | 2020 |
| Pop Footnotes: | [1] |
| Poprank: | 42nd |
| Est: | 1963 |
| Area: | 114 |
| Mayor: | Jude Dwight |
| Seat: | Wantirna South |
| Region: | Greater Melbourne |
| Stategov: | Bayswater |
| Stategov2: | Monbulk |
| Stategov3: | Rowville |
| Fedgov: | Aston |
| Url: | https://www.knox.vic.gov.au |
| Near-N: | Maroondah |
| Near-Ne: | Yarra Ranges |
| Near-E: | Yarra Ranges |
| Near-Se: | Casey |
| Near-S: | Casey |
| Near-Sw: | Greater Dandenong |
| Near-W: | Monash |
| Near-Nw: | Whitehorse |
The City of Knox is a local government area in Victoria, Australia in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It has an area of 114km2 and in 2020, Knox had a population of 165,147.[1] This municipality is one of only a handful that survived the widespread municipal amalgamations that occurred in Victoria in the early 1990s.[2]
The City of Knox was named after Sir George Hodges Knox (1885–1960), a former soldier and speaker of the Victorian Legislative Assembly.[3] The City of Knox Crest incorporates his family's motto 'Move and Prosper'.[4]
The area which is now Knox was once part of the Scoresby Riding of the Shire of Berwick. On 23 May 1889, the riding was severed to create the Shire of Fern Tree Gully, which extended as far east as Olinda and Monbulk in the Dandenong Ranges. Post-World War II development in the area closer to Melbourne led to rapid urbanisation and population growth—over 21,000 residents lived in the Knox area by the 1961 Census. A plebiscite to determine local residents' views led to the creation of the Shire of Knox on 9 October 1963, which was proclaimed on 16 November 1963 by the Governor of Victoria.[5] It was declared a City on 4 July 1969. By the 1986 Census, the area was home to over 100,000 residents.[6] [7]
On 15 December 1994, the City of Knox was one of the few councils (and one of only four in Melbourne) to survive the statewide amalgamation and its boundaries extended to add the suburb of Upper Ferntree Gully and part of Lysterfield from the former Shire of Sherbrooke.
At present, the City of Knox has nine wards, each electing one councillor for a period of four years.[8]
Prior to 1994, the Council had three wards, each of which elected three councillors:
The Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) manages local council elections every 4 years.[9]
One councillor is elected to represent each of the 9 wards.
The Mayor and Deputy Mayor are elected by the Councillors at the November Council meeting each year.
The council, as of November 2023, is:
| Ward | Party | Councillor | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baird | Independent | Yvonne Allred | ||||
| Chandler | Independent | Jude Dwight | Elected Mayor on Wednesday 15 November 2023[10] | |||
| Collier | Independent | Marcia Timmers-Leitch | ||||
| Dinsdale | Labor | Sorina Grasso[11] | Elected Deputy Mayor on Wednesday 15 November 2023 | |||
| Dobson | Independent | Meagan Baker | ||||
| Friberg | Independent | Susan Laukens | ||||
| Scott | Independent | Lisa Cooper | ||||
| Taylor | Liberal[12] | Darren Pearce | ||||
| Tirhatuan | Independent | Nicole Seymour | ||||
The 2021 census, the city had a population of 159,103 up from 154,110 in the 2016 census[13]
| Population | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Locality | 2016 | 2021 | |
| 11,758 | 12,262 | ||
| 22,195 | 23,607 | ||
| 26,428 | 27,398 | ||
| 7,462 | 7,645 | ||
| ^ | 6,663 | 6,681 | |
| 33,672 | 33,571 | ||
| ^ | 1,061 | 970 | |
| 6,022 | 6,066 | ||
| 4,416 | 4,497 | ||
| ^ | 3,416 | 3,417 | |
| 13,818 | 14,237 | ||
| 19,271 | 20,754 | ||
^ - Territory divided with another LGA
| Year | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 21,281 | |
| 1966 | 36,491 | |
| 1971 | 56,786 | |
| 1976 | 74,456 | |
| 1981 | 88,902 | |
| 1986 | 104,207 | |
| 1991 | 121,982 | |
| 1996 | 130,401 | |
| 2001 | 141,408 | |
| 2006 | 146,740 | |
| 2016 | 154,110 | |
| 2020 | 165,147 |
There are a number of bus routes that service the city run by Ventura Bus Lines the city has 4 train stations that are run by Metro Melbourne.