Sutherland Shire is a local government area (LGA) in the southern region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia.
Geographically, it is the area directly to the south of Botany Bay and the Georges River. Sutherland Shire is south-southwest of the Sydney CBD, and is bordered by the Bayside Council, City of Canterbury-Bankstown, Georges River Council and the City of Wollongong local government areas.
As at the 2021 census, Sutherland Shire has an estimated population of 230,211. The area is colloquially known as "The Shire", and has featured in several reality television series.
The administrative centre of Sutherland Shire is located in the suburb of Sutherland, with the council chambers located on Eton Street. As of 10 October 2024, the mayor of the Sutherland Shire is Cr. Jack Boyd, a Labor Party member.Sutherland Shire Councillors Sutherland Shire Council
Sutherland Shire contains what was the first landing site of Lieutenant James Cook, who went ashore onto what is now the suburb of Kurnell on 29 April 1770. It was originally intended to be the location of the first British Settlement, before Sydney Cove was chosen instead by Arthur Phillip, captain of the First Fleet.
Suburbs and localities in the local government area
{ "type": "ExternalData", "service": "geoshape", "ids": "Q1818997" } Suburbs in Sutherland Shire are:
Localities and features within Sutherland Shire include:
Demographics
At the 2021 census, there were 230,211 people in Sutherland Shire. Of these, 48.9% were male and 51.1% were female. Indigenous Australians made up 1.4% of the population. The median age of people in Sutherland Shire was 41 years. Children aged 0–14 years made up 18.5% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 18.8% of the population. Of all the people in Sutherland Shire aged 15 years and over, 52.2% were married and 10.6% were either separated or divorced.
The median weekly income for residents within Sutherland Shire was higher than the national average.
The most common ancestries in Sutherland Shire were English 38.0%, Australian 35.6%, Irish 12.4%, Scottish 9.6% and Italian 4.9%. In The Shire, of all occupied private dwellings, 5.3% had 1 bedroom, 21.9% had 2 bedrooms and 32.9% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 3.2. The average household size was 2.7 people.
Selected historical census data for Sutherland ShireCensus year 2001200620112016Population Estimated residents on census night LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales 2nd 7th 6th% of New South Wales population 3.05% 2.82%% of Australian population 1.08% 1.03% 0.98% 0.90%Cultural and language diversity Ancestry,top responses Australian 28.9% 26.3%English 28.0% 27.6%Irish 9.0% 9.5%Scottish 6.6% 6.9%Italian 3.0% 3.2%Language,top responses(other than English) Greek1.9% 1.9% 1.9% 1.9%Arabic1.0% 1.0% 0.9% 0.9%Cantonese 1.0% 1.0% 0.9% 1.0%Italian1.1% 0.9% 0.9% 0.8%Mandarinn/c 0.6% 0.7% 1.4%Religious affiliation Religious affiliation,top responses Catholic30.5% 30.6% 31.0% 29.2%Anglican28.7% 26.9% 25.8% 20.7%No religion10.8% 12.9% 16.1% 24.1%Eastern Orthodox3.6% 4.1% 4.3% 4.2%Uniting Church5.9% 5.0% 4.2%Median weekly incomes Personal income Median weekly personal income A$601 A$718 A$837% of Australian median income 129.0% 124.4% 126.4%Family income Median weekly family income A$1,374 A$2,014 A$2,312% of Australian median income 133.8% 136.0% 133.3%Household income Median weekly household income A$1,650 A$1,674 A$1,979% of Australian median income 140.9% 135.7% 137.6%
Presidents and Mayors Sutherland Shire Presidents 1906–1993 MayorTermNotes W. G. Judd 1906–1910 E. W. Hyndman 1911–1915 R. W. Cook 1916 Cecil Monro 1917–1918 J. Hill 1918 W. R. Ainsworth 1919–1921 Cecil Monro 1922–1927 R. W. Cook 1928 A. J. Hand 1929 E. S. Shaw 1930–1933 R. Bingham 1934 E. S. Shaw 1935–1938 Cecil Monro 1939 R. Bingham 1940–1942 A. H. Tucker 1943 E. S. Shaw 1944 L. J. Sandow 1945 J. W. H. Lawrence 1946 J. Skillcorn 1947 W. E. Peisley 1948 Cecil Monro 1949–1951 Reginald H. Doneathy 1952 Darrell G. Welch 1953 Arthur G. Harper 1954 Ronald J. O'Brien 1955–1956 John A. Dwyer 1957–1958 Horace J. Cartledge 1959 John A. Dwyer 1960 Arthur Gietzelt 1961–1963 Keith Bates 1964–1965 Arthur Gietzelt 1966–1971 Ray Thorburn 1972 Kevin Skinner 1973–1974 Peter Lewis 1974–1975 Michael T. P. Tynan 1975–1978 Jean M. Manuel, MBE 1978–1979 Allan Andrews 1979–1981 Kevin Skinner 1981–1986 Ian B. Swords 1986–1987 Carol Provan 1987–1988 Michael T. P. Tynan 1988–1989 Douglas T. McNeil 1989–1990 Don R. Carter 1990–1991 Ian B. Swords 1991–1993
Mayors of Sutherland Shire, 1993–present MayorPartyTermNotes Ian B. Swords Labor 1 July 1993 – 1994 Genevieve RankinLabor 1994–1995 Lorraine Rodden Independent 1995–1996 Kevin Schreiber Liberal 1996–1999 Ken McDonell Labor 1999–2000 Tracie Sonda Shire Watch 2000–2002 Phil Blight Labor 2002–2004 Kevin Schreiber Liberal 2004–2006 David Redmond Liberal 2006–2008 Lorraine Kelly Shire Watch 2008–2010 Phil Blight Labor 2010–2011 Carol Provan Independent 2011–2012 Kent Johns Liberal 2012–2013 Steve Simpson Liberal 2013–2014 Kent Johns Liberal 2014–2015 Carmelo Pesce Liberal 2015–2020 Steve Simpson Independent 2020–2022 Carmelo Pesce Liberal 2022–2024 Jack Boyd Labor 2024–present
Council Current composition and election method Sutherland Shire Council is composed of fifteen councillors elected proportionally as five separate wards, each electing three councillors. All councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office. The mayor is elected by the councillors at the first meeting of the council. The most recent election was held on 14 September 2024, and the makeup of the council is as follows: PartyCouncillors Liberal 6 Labor 5 Independent4 Total 15
The current Council, elected in 2024, in order of election by ward, is: WardCouncillorPartyNotesA Ward Kal Glanznig IndependentElected 2024 Carol ProvanElected 2008; Councillor 1983–1991; Mayor 2011–2012; Deputy Mayor 2022–2024 Marcelle Elzerman LiberalElected 2021B Ward Melanie Gibbons Elected 2024; Councillor 2004–2012 Joanne NichollsElected 2021 Jack Boyd Labor Elected 2016; Mayor 2024–presentC Ward Jen Armstrong Elected 2021 Carmelo Pesce Independent Elected 2012; Mayor 2015–2020 & 2022–2024 Haris Strangas LiberalElected 2021D Ward Meredith Laverty Elected 2024 Diedree Steinwall Labor Elected 2012 Peter Tsambalas Elected 2024E Ward Mick Maroney Stephen Nikolovski Liberal Elected 2021 Laura Cowell Independent Elected 2021; Deputy Mayor 2024–present
Past composition Election Seats Ind. Liberal Comm. First 1999 5 4 4 2 2004 3 7 4 1 2008 3 4 5 2 1 2012 3 9 1 2 2016 7 7 1 2021 5 8 2 2024 5 6 4
Election results 2024
History
Aboriginal history The original inhabitants of the area of Sutherland Shire were some clans of the Dharawal people. Archaeological work in the Shire has revealed evidence for Aboriginal settlement dating back at least 8,500 years. The original coastline around Sydney has retreated about 20 km and that those flooded coastal plains may hold evidence showing occupation of this area going back well beyond the 8,500 years revealed in the 1966 Archaeological exploration.
Seashells became an important source of lime in the 1800s, and so, many middens in the Shire may have been mined for shells in order to produce mortar for construction.
Within the Royal National Park, field surveys have revealed many hundreds of Aboriginal rock shelters. In other locations (the military area near Holsworthy and Darkes Forrest) there are thousands of ancient campsites and sacred places. These areas mentioned have seen less impact by European settlement than the urban areas, and may give a clearer example of the quality of life and the abundance of resources in the Sutherland/Liverpool area.
Since 1966, when there was an archaeological dig in Cabbage Tree Basin, archaeologists have uncovered parts of an extensive open-air midden or cooking and camp sites. Successive layers of habitation show the diet of the native Aboriginal people: oysters, mussels, snapper, bream, and Sydney cockle. There is also evidence of seal, dolphin, a range of marsupials, dingo and even whale. Several edge-ground axes have also been found.
There are many places where paintings and engravings of great age show changes in art style over thousands of years. Some of these changes can be linked to the extinction of animals in the local area and to the arrival of Europeans. Some have interpreted these artistic changes to changes in culture and people which would indicate that there have been a number of changes of communities over time. Since 2023, there have been some efforts to revive Dharawal culture and language, with 4,000 copies of a Dharawal picture dictionary provided to local schools.
European settlement
European discovery of what is now Sutherland Shire was made by Lieutenant James Cook, who entered Botany Bay on 29 April 1770. Cook and his party explored around Kurnell Peninsula, and left the bay on 6 May. During their brief stay, a Scottish seaman named Forbes Sutherland died of tuberculosis. In his honour, Cook named the northwest point of the peninsula Point Sutherland.
The British government needed a new site for transported convicts as they had lost their American colonies following defeat in the American Revolutionary War. Botany Bay was chosen as the new penal settlement and the First Fleet under Governor Arthur Phillip anchored off Kurnell on 18 January 1788. After sending a party to clear land for settlement, Phillip soon realised the area was unsuitable. There was lack of shelter for ships, inadequate water and poor soil. On 24 January, two French ships were sighted off the coast, causing Phillip to raise English colours near Sutherland Point. Governor Phillip sailed north to explore Port Jackson, and eventually settled at Sydney Cove.
The first landowner in Sutherland Shire was James Birnie, a mercantile trader who was granted by promise at Kurnell in 1815. After the completion of official surveying, a large part of what is now Sutherland Shire was proclaimed as the Hundred of Woronora by Governor Richard Bourke in 1835. Title to land was not granted by the Crown until 1856, before which there was practically no settlement. Timber cutting was the primary industry, supplemented by shell gathering in the Port Hacking area.
With the opening of Crown Lands sales in the Sutherland Shire, Thomas Holt purchased . His developmental projects included oyster farms, cattle grazing, and coal mining. The investment which proved profitable however, were his timber leases. He constructed a magnificent manor on the foreshores of Sylvania, called Sutherland House, based on English feudal lines. Due to 99-year leases, Holt's estate reduced development in the Sutherland Shire even into the 20th century.
Development of transport
The main mode of transport in the area was originally by water. Farmers' ships sailed up the coast into Botany Bay, and up the Georges and Woronora rivers, avoiding the wharfage and custom dues at Port Jackson. The first public road, the Illawarra Road (now called the Old Illawarra Road) to Wollongong, was constructed between 1842 and 1845 with convict labour. A new southern line of road was completed in 1864, linking up with the Illawarra Road at Engadine. Today this virtually is the line of the Princes Highway, the main north–south thoroughfare through Sutherland Shire.
A railway line was extended from Hurstville in 1884 to develop the rich Illawarra district. The Illawarra railway line brought into being firstly a huge shanty town on the heights of Como, and later developed the area into a holiday centre. Sutherland railway station was opened in 1885, named after John Sutherland, a Minister of Works.