City of Blacktown

The first road from Prospect to Richmond became known as the "Black Town Road" and in 1860 the Railway Department gave the name of "Black Town Road Station" to the railway station at the junction of the railway and the Black Town Road, with the name shortening to "Blacktown" by 1862. The Blacktown area was first incorporated on 6 March 1906 as the "Shire of Blacktown" alongside 132 other new shires across the state as a result of the passing of the Local Government (Shires) Act, 1905.[4] The first five-member temporary council was appointed on 15 May 1906 and first met on 20 June in the Rooty Hill School of Arts.[5][6][7][8] The Blacktown Shire became the "Municipality of Blacktown" on 17 June 1961 and was granted city status on 9 March 1979, becoming the "City of Blacktown".[9][10][11]

The City of Blacktown has a number of heritage-listed sites, including those on the New South Wales State Heritage Register:

• Prospect, Upper Canal System[12]
• Prospect, Great Western Highway: Veteran Hall Remains[13]
• Prospect, Ponds Road: St Bartholomew's Anglican Church and Cemetery[14]
• Prospect, Reservoir Road: Former Great Western Road Alignment, Prospect[15]
• Prospect, Reservoir Road: Prospect Reservoir[16]
• Prospect, East of Reservoir: Prospect Reservoir Valve House[17]
• Prospect, 385 Reservoir Road: Royal Cricketers Arms Inn[18]
• Prospect, 23 Tarlington Place: Prospect Post Office[19]

These are the suburbs and localities in the local government area:

At the 2016 census, there were 336,962 people resident in the Blacktown local government area, of these 49.7 per cent were male and 50.3 per cent were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 2.8 per cent of the population, which was slightly higher than the NSW and Australian averages of 2.9 and 2.8 per cent respectively. The median age of people in the City of Blacktown was 33 years, which was significantly lower than the national median of 38 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 22.8 per cent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 9.0%10.3 per cent of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 52.3 per cent were married and 9.9 per cent were either divorced or separated.[1]

Population growth in the City of Blacktown between the 2001 census and the 2006 census was 6.47 per cent; and in the subsequent five years to the 2011 census, population growth was 10.82 per cent. At the 2016 census, the population in the local government area increased by 11.91 per cent. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same period, being 8.8 per cent, population growth in Blacktown local government area was in excess of 35% more than the national average.[20] The median weekly income for residents within the City of Blacktown was generally on par with the national average.[21][22]

At the 2016 census, the proportion of residents in the Blacktown local government area who stated their ancestry as Filipino, was in excess of six times the national average. The proportion of residents who stated a religious affiliation with Hinduism was in excess of three times the national average; the proportion of Catholics was 33 per cent above the national average; and the proportion of residents with no religion about half the national average. Meanwhile, as at the census date, the area was linguistically diverse, with Tagalog, Hindi, Punjabi, or Filipino languages spoken in households, and ranged from five times to eight times the national averages. Pacific Island languages such as Samoan and Tongan were also noticeable in the area.[1]

Selected historical census data for Blacktown local government area
Census year			2001[23]	2006[22]	2011[21]	2016[1]
Population		Estimated residents on census night	255,195	271,709	301,099	336,962
		LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales			1st	2nd
		% of New South Wales population	3.88%	4.41%	4.35%	4.50%
		% of Australian population	1.36%	1.37%	1.40%	1.44%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses		Australian	30.0%	29.6%	25.5%	17.8%
		English	24.8%	21.5%	21.7%	16.2%
		Indian	3.7%	5.2%	7.3%	8.9%
		Filipino	6.7%	7.7%	8.6%	7.0%
		Irish	6.7%	5.4%	5.7%	4.4%
Language, top responses (other than English)		Tagalog	5.1%	3.6%	4.0%	4.0%
		Hindi	1.8%	2.6%	3.6%	4.0%
		Punjabi	0.8%	1.1%	2.3%	3.6%
		Arabic	2.9%	3.2%	3.2%	3.0%
		Filipino	n/c	2.1%	2.1%	1.9%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses		Catholic	36.3%	34.8%	33.3%	29.2%
		No religion, so described	8.4%	9.6%	10.7%	15.0%
		Anglican	19.6%	17.1%	14.9%	13.3%
		Hinduism	2.3%	3.7%	5.8%	8.5%
		Not stated				7.6%
Median weekly incomes
Personal income		Median weekly personal income		A$473	A$565	A$672
		% of Australian median income		101.5%	97.9%	101.5%
Family income		Median weekly family income		A$1,105	A$1,492	A$1,817
		% of Australian median income		107.6%	100.7%	104.8%
Household income		Median weekly household income		A$1,188	A$1,388	A$1,711
		% of Australian median income		101.5%	112.4%	119%

After becoming a city in 1979, the Council resolved to investigate and if possible obtain a coat of arms, making a request to the Chester Herald of Arms, Hubert Chesshyre. With the design completed by March 1981, Council resolved to adopt the Coat of Arms at its meeting on 1 April 1981.[100][101]

Coat of arms of City of Blacktown

Crest Upon a Helm with a Wreath Or and Sable A Kookaburra proper supporting with its dexter claw a Boomerang Gold Escutcheon Per chevron Sable and Or in chief two sprigs of Sunshine wattle (Acacia discolor) and issuant in base the head of an Australian Aborigine Sable. Supporters Dexter a large Grey Kangaroo and sinister a Chestnut Trotting Horse proper Motto "PROGRESS"

Blacktown City Council has sister city relations with the following cities:[102]

• Porirua, New Zealand, since 1984
• Suseong-gu, Daegu, South Korea, since 1994
• Liaocheng, China, since 2003
• Liverpool Plains, New South Wales, Australia, since 2005

• City of Blacktown's website