City of Ipswich
Local government area
Location withinSouth EastQueensland
Coat of arms
Interactive map of City of Ipswich
Coordinates:27°36′40.37″S152°45′41.95″E / 27.6112139°S 152.7616528°E /-27.6112139; 152.7616528
Country	Australia
State	Queensland
Region	South East Queensland
Established	1860
Council seat	Ipswich
Government
• Mayor	Teresa Harding
• State electorates	Ipswich West Ipswich Bundamba Scenic Rim Jordan
• Federal divisions	Oxley Blair Wright
Area [2]
• Total	1,094 km2 (422 sq mi)
Population
• Total	229,208 (2021 census)[1]
• Density	209.51/km2 (542.64/sq mi)
Website	City of Ipswich
LGAs around City of Ipswich Somerset Somerset City of Brisbane Lockyer Valley City of Ipswich City of Logan Southern Downs Scenic Rim City of Logan

TheCity of Ipswich is alocal government area (LGA) located within the southwest ofGreater Brisbane, which in turn, is situated within the vastSouth East region of thestate ofQueensland. Positioned between theCity of Brisbane and theCity of Logan to the east and theScenic Rim Region to the south, the City of Ipswich also borders theSomerset andLockyer Valley regions to the north and west, respectively. Ipswich is generally taken to include the urban area encompassing thehistorical city ofIpswich and the surrounding rural areas.^[3][2] By the2021 census, the City of Ipswich, as a local government area, had a population of 229,208 people.^[1]

The City of Ipswich is centrally located in theSouth East Queensland region of Australia. Ipswich governs the outer western portion of theBrisbane Metropolitan Area,Queensland, Australia. It covers an area of 1,094 square kilometres (422.4 sq mi) along the coast about 40 kilometres (25 mi) southwest ofBrisbane CBD. To the east is theCity of Brisbane local government area, and to the west are the rural and agricultural areas of the Brisbane,Lockyer andFassifern Valleys.

Ipswich is the second-oldest local government area in Queensland, after Brisbane. On 16 November 1859, after the enactment of the Municipalities Act of 1858 inNew South Wales,^[4] a petition containing 91 signatures was received by theGovernor of New South Wales seeking to have Ipswich, which at the time had 3,000 people, granted municipal town status. The petition was gazetted the following day, and no counter-petition was received.^[5][6][7]

On 29 November, theletters patent authorised byQueen Victoria which were to makeQueensland a separate colony were published in New South Wales, and the petition was forwarded to the new Queenslandgovernor, SirGeorge Ferguson Bowen. On 10 December 1859, the same day that the letters patent were published in Queensland, the petition was regazetted. On 3 March 1860 theBorough of Ipswich was proclaimed, and its first elections were held on 19 April 1860, whereJohn Murphy became its first Mayor. The Municipality's corporate logo was designed by Reverend Lacey H. Rumsey, the rector ofSt Paul's Church in Ipswich in 1861.^[5][6][7]

Ipswich applied on 22 November 1904 to become a City, the status being conferred by theGovernment of Queensland on 1 December 1904 and its first mayor was Hugh Reilly.^[7] On its declaration, the City of Ipswich covered only the central area ofIpswich itself – even what are today considered inner suburbs were parts of different entities.

On 13 October 1916, a rationalisation of the local government areas in and aroundIpswich was implemented. It involved the abolition of five shires:^[8][9]

• Brassall
• Bundanba
• Lowood
• Purga
• Walloon

resulting in:

• an enlarged City of Ipswich by including part of the Shire of Brassall and part of the Shire of Bundanba^[10]
• a newShire of Ipswich by amalgamating part of the Shire of Brassall, part of the Shire of Bundanba, part of the Shire of Walloon and all of the Shire of Purga^[11]
• an enlargedShire of Rosewood by including part of theShire of Walloon
• an enlargedShire of Esk by including all of the Shire of Lowood^[12]

On 29 January 1949, a new Local Government Act was enacted to further amalgamate local government in the Ipswich area, abolishing theShire of Normanby and theShire of Rosewood. The City of Ipswich was enlarged (from 12¼ square miles to 30 square miles) to include the more urban parts of theShire of Moreton (formerly known as theShire of Ipswich). The Shire of Moreton was then enlarged by the inclusion of the northern part of the Shire of Normanby and all the Shire of Rosewood. The southern part of the Shire of Normanby was transferred to an enlargedShire of Boonah.^[13][14][15]

The Shire of Moreton was amalgamated into the City of Ipswich on 11 March 1995.^[16]

In March 2000, Ipswich ceded some rural territory inMount Walker,Mutdapilly,Rosevale andWarrill View to the neighbouringShire of Boonah. Following the major reforms of local government in Queensland, on 15 March 2008, Ipswich lost the largely rural areas ofHarrisville andPeak Crossing in its southeast to the newScenic Rim Region.

On 31 October 2012, agroundbreaking ceremony for theEcco Ripley housing development project was conducted by then Ipswich mayorPaul Pisasale andSekisui House.^[17]

In the2016 census, the City of Ipswich had a population of 193,733 people.^[18]

In the2021 census, the City of Ipswich had a population of 229,208 people.^[1]

Ipswich City Council is composed of four wards (divisions), each with two councillors, along with a directly-electedmayor.^[19][20]

Until2020, the council was made up of 10 councillors each representing one ward.Paul Pisasale, who was re-elected mayor in 2016, resigned on 6 June 2017 citing health concerns (specificallymultiple sclerosis).^[21][22]

Division 7 Councillor Andrew Antoniolli and Deputy Mayor Paul Tully both contested the2017 Ipswich mayoral by-election, held on 19 August 2017, with Antoniolli successful with 54.44% of the vote after preferences.^[23]

In May 2018, Antoniolli was charged with seven counts of corruption forcing him to stand down and administrators to take over Ipswich City Council.^[21][24]

In August 2018, the Queensland Government passed legislation to dismiss all of the councillors and replace them with an administrator.^[25]

The current council, elected in2024, is:

This section is an excerpt fromResults of the 2024 Queensland local elections § Ipswich.[edit]

2024 Queensland local elections: Ipswich

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Independent Labor		83,359	37.07	−3.34	4	2
	Independent		43,406	19.30	+2.81	1
	Your Voice of Experience		27,288	12.13	−8.37	2
	Better Brighter Ipswich		23,613	10.50	+10.50	1	1
	Working For Our Community		21,621	9.61	+9.61	0
	Greens		15,355	6.83	+6.83	0
	Team Sheila Ireland		10,256	4.56	+4.56	0	1
Formal votes			224,898	100.0
Formal ballots			112,449	89.32	+0.58
Informal ballots			13,450	10.68	−0.58
Total			125,899	100.0		8
Registered voters / turnout			155,753	80.83	+2.87

This section is an excerpt fromResults of the 2020 Queensland local elections § Ipswich.[edit]

2020 Queensland local elections: Ipswich

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Independent Labor		37,280	40.41		2	4
	Your Voice of Experience		18,917	20.50	+20.50	2	2
	Independent		15,212	16.49		4
	Team WORK		7,483	8.11		0
	Liberal Democrats		7,433	8.06		0
	Independent LNP		5,931	6.43		0
Formal votes			184,512	100.0
Formal ballots			92,256	88.73
Informal ballots			11,720	11.27
Total			103,976	100.0		8	2
Registered voters / turnout			133,368	77.96

The City of Ipswich includes the following settlements:

¹ - split withScenic Rim Region
² - not to be confused withWhite Rock inCairns Region

Beginning in 1994 Ipswich adopted an innovative, community-based, information technology project which aimed to make the city a technology hub at the forefront of the growing move towards theinformation superhighway.^[26] The most prominent feature of the initiative, which was called Global Info-Links, was the development of a new library with free public internet access and the development of awide area network to which people could subscribe.

In October 2000, the council began erecting cast brass plaques at significant heritage sites.^[27]

Ipswich City Council operates four public libraries atIpswich Central,Redbank,Redbank Plains andSpringfield Central.^[28] It also operates amobile library service toBooval,Brassall,Camira,Flinders View (Winston Glades)Goodna,Grandchester,Karalee,Marburg,Rosewood,South Ripley,Walloon, andWillowbank.^[29]

• Nerima City, Japan (from 1994)^[30]
• Hyderabad, India (from 2010)^[31]

• Ipswich City Council – Official site

• Populated places established in 1860
• 1860 establishments in Australia
• City of Ipswich
• Local government areas in Brisbane
• Local government areas of Queensland

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