City of Yarra
Local government area
Interactive map of City of Yarra
Country	Australia
State	Victoria
Region	Greater Melbourne
Established	22 June 1994
Council seat	Richmond
Government
• Mayor	Stephen Jolly
• State electorates	Brunswick Northcote Richmond
• Federal divisions	Cooper Melbourne Wills
Area [1]
• Total	19.5 km2 (7.5 sq mi)
Population
• Total	91,543 (2021)[1]
• Density	4,695/km2 (12,159/sq mi)
Website	City of Yarra
LGAs around City of Yarra Merri-bek Darebin Banyule Melbourne City of Yarra Boroondara Melbourne Stonnington Stonnington

TheCity of Yarra is alocal government area (LGA) inVictoria, Australia in the inner eastern and northern suburbs ofMelbourne. It is the second smallest LGA in the state (after theBorough of Queenscliffe) with an area of 19.5 square kilometres (7.5 sq mi), and in June 2021 it had a population of 91,543,^[1] making it the second most densely populated LGA (after theCity of Port Phillip), with around 4,695 people per square kilometre.^[1]

The administrative centre of the City of Yarra is the oldRichmond Town Hall inBridge Road, Richmond. TheCollingwood Town Hall inHoddle Street, Abbotsford is also still used by the council as secondary offices and as a service centre, and theFitzroy 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 inEngland,New Zealand,Vietnam,China andGreece.^[2]

The City of Yarra has some of Melbourne's best shopping streets. These includeBridge Road andSwan andVictoria streets in Richmond,Brunswick andGertrude streets in Fitzroy andSmith Street in Collingwood. In 2021, Smith Street was named the coolest street in the world.^[3][4][5][6]

As of November 2024, the mayor isStephen Jolly, and the deputy mayor is Labor councillor Sarah McKenzie.^[7] The CEO since June 2022 is Sue Wilkinson.^[8]

The suburbs of the City of Yarra were established in the mid-to-late 19th century and retain aVictorian 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 was formed in 1994 as a result of the amalgamation of the former Cities ofRichmond,Collingwood,Fitzroy, and parts of Carlton North (previously part of theCity of Melbourne) and parts of Alphington and Fairfield (previously part of the formerCity of Northcote).

Yarra City Council
Structure
Council political groups	Yarra For All (4)  Independents (2)  Greens (2)  Labor (1)
2024 ward boundaries. Expand the map and click on a ward to see the ward name

Yarra City Council is composed of nine single-member wards. Prior to the 2024 election, it was composed of three multi-member wards with three members each, but the electoral structure changed as a result of theLocal Government Act 2020.

All councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office. Themayor is elected annually in November by a special meeting of the full council.^[9]

The current council, elected in2024, is:^[10]

This section is an excerpt fromResults of the 2024 Victorian local elections in Inner Melbourne § Yarra results.[edit]

2024 Victorian local elections: Yarra^{[12][13][14][15][16]}

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Yarra For All		16,157	32.80	+15.85[a]	4	2[a]
	Greens		13,108	26.61	+0.07	2	3
	Independents		12,685	25.75	−3.03	2
	Victorian Socialists		3,814	7.74	+7.74	0
	Labor		3,491	7.08	−7.23	1	1
Formal votes			49,255	97.90	+3.09
Informal votes			1,058	2.10	−3.09
Total			50,313	100.0
Registered voters / turnout			68,723	73.21	+3.07

This section is an excerpt fromResults of the 2020 Victorian local elections in Inner Melbourne § Yarra results.[edit]

2020 Victorian local elections: Yarra^[17][18]

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Independent		15,081	28.78		2
	Greens		13,909	26.54		5	1
	Labor		7,501	14.31		0	2
	Independent Socialist		7,380	14.08		2	2
	Reason		2,609	4.99	+4.99	0
	Independent Liberal		2,217	4.23	+4.23	0
	Richmond First		1,897	3.62	+3.62	0
	Liberal Democrats		1,282	2.45		0
	Animal Justice		524	1.00		0
Formal votes			52,400	94.81	+2.86
Informal votes			2,872	5.19	−2.86
Total			55,272	100.0		9
Registered voters / turnout			78,795	70.14	+18.99

This section is an excerpt fromResults of the 2004 Victorian local elections § Yarra.[edit]

2004 Victorian local elections: Yarra^{[19][20][21][22]}

Party			Votes	%	Seats	Change
	Labor		9,486	31.91	3
	Greens		8,264	27.79	3	1
	Independent		4,839	16.27	1
	Independent Labor		4,104	13.81	1
	Campaign for a Better City		1,897	6.38	0
	Socialist Left-Wing Team		1,359	4.57	1	1
	Socialist Alliance		302	1.02	0
Total formal votes			29,729	92.06
Informal votes			2,563	7.94
Total			32,292	100.0	9
Registered voters /Turnout			61,407	52.59

In August 2017, the Yarra City Council voted unanimously at atown hall meeting to cancel annualAustralia Day events, includingcitizenship ceremonies and instead hold aculturally sensitive event "marking the loss ofIndigenous culture".^[23] The council also voted to begin lobbying thefederal 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. ThenPrime Minister,Malcolm Turnbull, accused the council of "using a day that should unite Australians to divide Australians".^[23] TheCity of Darebin later followed suit.^[24]

In May 2025, the Yarra City Council voted unanimously to permanently remove a statue ofCaptain Cook from Edinburgh Gardens inNorth Fitzroy following frequent attacks from vandals, a decision which prompts criticism from Victorian premierJacinta Allan.^[25]

In the 2021 census, the city had a population of 90,114 up from 86,657 in the 2016 census.^[2]

^ -Territory divided with anotherLGA

The City of Yarra has a high concentration of fashion, technology, and media businesses. Companies located in the City of Yarra include:

• Aesop has its global headquarters on Smith Street,Fitzroy.^[26]
• Carsales has its head office located on Punt Road,Richmond.^[27]
• Computershare, one of the largest stock exchange technology and registrar service businesses in the world is located on Johnston Street,Abbotsford.^[28][29]
• Country Road, an upscale Australia clothing and homewares manufacturer and retailer is headquartered on Church Street,Richmond^[30]
• Epworth the not-for-profit private health care group, employ 1,800 staff at their head office, and largest hospital, on Bridge Road.^[31]
• GSK operates offices of its pharmaceutical division on Johnston Street, Abbotsford.^[32]
• Just Group and its brandsJust Jeans,Jay Jays,Jacqui E,Portmans,Dotti,Peter Alexander, andSmiggle are headquartered on Church Street,Richmond^[33]
• Madman Entertainment has its head office in theRichmond suburb and in the Melba Ward in Yarra.^[34][35]
• REA Group which includes realestate.com.au has its head office located on Church Street,Richmond.^[36]
• Schwartz Publishing publisher ofThe Monthly,Quarterly Essay and the book imprint Black Inc is located on Langridge Street,Collingwood.^[37][38][39]
• SitePoint, a global technology publisher and its website subsidiaries 99designs.com, Flippa.com, Learnable.com and Wave Digital are based on Cambridge Street and Wellingston Street,Collingwood.^[40][41][42]
• Star Entertainment Group, an ASX-listed radio broadcaster best known forSEN 1116, is based onSwan Street,Richmond.^[43]

• Official website
• Public Transport Victoria local public transport map
• Link to Land Victoria interactive mapsArchived 24 March 2022 at theWayback Machine
• Interactive map of Victorian local government areas (pre-1994 vs present) -Victorian Government - Digital Twin Victoria

37°49′S145°00′E / 37.817°S 145.000°E /-37.817; 145.000

• Local government areas in Melbourne
• City of Yarra

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