City of Brisbane

The City of Brisbane is a local government area (LGA) which comprises the inner portion of Greater Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. Its governing body is the Brisbane City Council. The LGAs in the other mainland state capitals (Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide) are generally responsible only for the central business districts and inner neighbourhoods of those cities. However, the City of Brisbane administers a significant portion of the Brisbane Greater Capital City Statistical Area (GCCSA), accounting for just under half its population. As such, it has a larger population than any other local government area in Australia. The City of Brisbane was the first Australian LGA to reach a population of more than one million. Its population is roughly equivalent to the populations of Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory combined. In 2016–2017, the council administered a budget of over $3 billion, by far the largest budget compared to those of the City of Sydney and City of Melbourne LGAs. The City derives from cities, towns and shires that merged in 1925. The main offices and central library of the council are at 266 George Street, also known as Brisbane Square. Brisbane City Hall houses the Council Chamber, the offices of the Lord Mayor and Deputy Mayor, meeting and reception rooms and the Museum of Brisbane. In the 2021 census, the City of Brisbane had a population of 1,242,825 people. Suburbs The City of Brisbane includes the following settlements: Inner suburbs Total: 19 Northern suburbs Total: 50 Southern suburbs Total: 54 Eastern suburbs Total: 27 Western suburbs Total: 43 Moreton Bay Total: 5 History The Government of Queensland created the City of Brisbane with a view to uniting the Brisbane metropolitan area under a single planning and governance structure. The City of Brisbane Act 1924 received assent from the Governor on 30 October 1924. On 1 October 1925, twenty local government areas of various sizes were abolished and merged into the new city, namely: Cities: Brisbane South Brisbane Towns: Hamilton Ithaca Sandgate Toowong Windsor Wynnum Shires: Balmoral Belmont Coorparoo Enoggera Kedron Moggill Sherwood Stephens Taringa Tingalpa Toombul Yeerongpilly The council also assumed responsibility for several quasi-autonomous government authorities, such as the Brisbane Tramways Trust. Demographics Heritage The Brisbane City Council maintains the Brisbane Local Heritage Register, a list of nominated sites that satisfy the council's heritage criteria. Governance The City of Brisbane is governed by the Brisbane City Council, the largest local council in Australia. The Brisbane City Council has its power divided between a lord mayor, a parliamentary-style council of twenty-six councillors representing single-member wards of approximately 30,000 voters (roughly equivalent in size to state electorates), and a civic cabinet comprising the lord mayor, the deputy mayor (drawn from the majority on council) and the chairpersons of the seven standing committees drawn from the membership of council. Due to the City of Brisbane's status as the country's largest LGA, the lord mayor is elected by the largest single-member electorate in Australia. Like all mayors in Queensland, the lord mayor is vested with very broad executive power. The Brisbane City Council operates under the City of Brisbane Act 2010, while other local governments in Queensland are governed by the Local Government Act 2009. Council meetings are held at Level 2, City Hall, 64 Adelaide Street, Brisbane City every Tuesday at 2pm except during recess and holiday periods. This temporary venue is in use due to the restoration work being performed on the traditional venue Brisbane City Hall. Council Meetings generally open to the public, excluding the Civic Cabinet. Wards The city of Brisbane is divided by 26 wards, each of which is represented by a councillor. Elections for these positions are held every four years. The results of the March 2024 elections delivered a Liberal National Party majority, with the wards of the City of Brisbane represented by the following councillors: Heraldry The motto of the City of Brisbane is Meliora sequimur, Latin for We aim for better things. The council's corporate slogan is Dedicated to a better Brisbane. The city's colours are blue and gold. Its corporate logo was introduced in 1982 in preparation for the Commonwealth Games hosted in Brisbane that year. It features a stylised version of Brisbane's City Hall which opened in 1930. The city's floral emblems are the (exotic) poinsettia and Brisbane wattle, and its faunal emblems are the graceful tree frog and the koala. Amenities Brisbane City Council operate libraries in Annerley, Ashgrove, Banyo, Bracken Ridge, Brisbane CBD (Brisbane Square), Bulimba, Carina, Carindale (Westfield Carindale), Chermside, Coopers Plains, Corinda, Everton Park, Fairfield, Upper Mount Gravatt (Garden City), Grange, Hamilton, Holland Park, Inala, Indooroopilly, Kenmore, Mitchelton, Mount Coot-tha (Botanic Gardens), Mount Gravatt, Mount Ommaney, New Farm, Nundah, Sandgate, Stones Corner, Sunnybank Hills, Toowong, West End, Wynnum, and Zillmere. In addition, it operates a mobile library service to Aspley, Bellbowrie, Brighton, Ellen Grove, Forest Lake, Manly West, Mount Crosby and The Gap. There is also a pop-up library that attends community events and festivals, as well as visiting various parks around Brisbane for children's storytime sessions (a list of dates and places is published some months in advance). Sister cities Brisbane's sister cities are: Nice, France was formerly a sister city of Brisbane until the relationship was severed in 1995 as protest against the Chirac government's decision to resume nuclear testing in the Pacific Ocean. Bangkok became a sister city of Brisbane in 1997, but the partnership ended in 2017 at the latest. See also Lord Mayor of Brisbane List of mayors and lord mayors of Brisbane Local government in Australia Notes References External links Official website Brisbane City Council's Organisational Structure "Brisbane and Greater Brisbane". Queensland Places. Centre for the Government of Queensland, University of Queensland. Google map of pre 1925 merger Brisbane Councils