City of Maitland

This article is about the local government area. For the regional city, see Maitland, New South Wales.

The City of Maitland is a local government area in the lower Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia. The area is situated adjacent to the New England Highway and the Hunter railway line.

City of Maitland Maitland, New South Wales
Location in Greater Newcastle
Coordinates	32°45′S 151°35′E
Population	90,226 (2021 census)[1]
• Density	230.17/km2 (596.1/sq mi)
Area	392 km2 (151.4 sq mi)[2]
Time zone	AEST (UTC+10)
• Summer (DST)	AEDT (UTC+11)
Mayor	Cr. Philip Penfold (Independent)[3]
Council seat	Maitland
Region	Hunter[4]
State electorate(s)	Maitland[5]
Federal division(s)	Paterson[6]
Website	City of Maitland
LGAs around City of Maitland: Singleton Dungog Dungog Singleton City of Maitland Port Stephens Cessnock Lake Macquarie Newcastle

The mayor of the City of Maitland is Cr. Philip Penfold,^[7] a Liberal party turned Independent politician.^[8][3]

The deputy mayor of the City of Maitland is Cr. Bill Hackney, who once aspired to be a member of the Liberal party,^[9] but was elected to Council as part of Mayor Penfold's Independent party.

The current General Manager is Mr Jeff Smith.

Proposed amalgamation

A 2015 review of local government boundaries by the NSW Government Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal recommended the merger of a number of adjoining councils. In the initial proposal, the City of Maitland was not included in any amalgamation^[3] proposals. However, following the lodging of an alternate proposal by Mid-Coast Council Council to amalgamate the Gloucester, Great Lakes and Greater Taree councils, the NSW Minister for Local Government proposed a merger between the Dungog Shire with the City of Maitland.^[10] In February 2017, the NSW Government announced that it will not proceed with the proposed amalgamation.^[11]

Demographics

At the 2011 census, there were 67,478 people in the City of Maitland local government area, of these 48.9 per cent were male and 51.1 per cent were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 3.5 per cent of the population, which was higher than the national and state averages of 2.5 per cent. The median age of people in the City of Maitland was 36 years, which was marginally lower than the national median of 37 years. Children aged 0–14 years made up 22.0 per cent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 12.7 per cent of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 50.9 per cent were married and 11.8 per cent were either divorced or separated.^[12]

Population growth in the City of Maitland between the 2001 census and the 2006 census was 15.19 per cent; and in the subsequent five years to the 2011 census, population growth was 9.05 per cent. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same periods, being 5.78 per cent and 8.32 per cent respectively, population growth in the City of Maitland local government area was significantly higher than the national average.^[13][14] The median weekly income for residents within the City of Maitland was approximately equal to the national average.^[12]

At the 2011 census, the proportion of residents in the City of Maitland local government area who stated their ancestry as Australian or Anglo-Celtic exceeded 82 per cent of all residents (national average was 65.2 per cent). In excess of 67% of all residents in the City of Maitland nominated a religious affiliation with Christianity at the 2011 census, which was significantly higher than the national average of 50.2 per cent. Meanwhile, as at the census date, compared to the national average, households in the City of Maitland local government area had a significantly lower than average proportion (4.7 per cent) where two or more languages are spoken (national average was 20.4 per cent); and a significantly higher proportion (93.2 per cent) where English only was spoken at home (national average was 76.8 per cent).^[12]

Selected historical census data for the City of Maitland local government area
Census year			2001[13]	2006[14]	2011[12]	2016[1]
Population		Estimated residents on Census night	53,718	61,880	67,478	77,305
		LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales				29th
		% of New South Wales population		0.98%	0.98%	1.03%
		% of Australian population	0.29%	0.31%	0.31%	0.33%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses		Australian			35.0%	33.0%
		English			32.1%	31.8%
		Irish			8.2%	8.9%
		Scottish			7.1%	7.8%
		German			3.6%	3.4%
Language, top responses (other than English)		Cantonese	0.3%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%
		Afrikaans	n/c	n/c	0.2%	0.2%
		Tagalog	0.1%	n/c	0.1%	0.2%
		Mandarin				0.2%
		Malay				0.2%
		German	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%
		Polish	0.3%	0.2%	0.2%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses		Catholic	30.3%	29.4%	28.9%	26.6%
		Anglican	32.1%	30.2%	28.9%	24.1%
		No Religion	9.1%	12.0%	15.8%	24.0%
		Uniting Church	8.3%	7.1%	6.4%	4.9%
		Presbyterian and Reformed	4.4%	4.1%	3.7%
Median weekly incomes
Personal income		Median weekly personal income		A$428	A$562	A$644
		% of Australian median income		91.8%	97.4%	97.3%
Family income		Median weekly family income		A$1,159	A$1,664	A$1,555
		% of Australian median income		99.0%	105.0%	96.0%
Household income		Median weekly household income		A$1,025	A$1,292	A$1,415
		% of Australian median income		99.8%	104.7%	98.4%

Council

Current composition and election method

Maitland City Council is composed of thirteen councillors, including the mayor, for a fixed four-year term of office. The mayor is directly elected while the twelve other Councillors are elected proportionally as four separate wards, each electing three councillors. The most recent election was held on 14 September 2024, and the makeup of the council, including the mayor, is as follows.^{[3][15][16][17][18]}

Party		Councillors
	Penfold Independents	7
	Labor	4
	Liberal	1
	Independent Liberal	1
	Total	13

Cr. Philip Penfold, an Independent, defeated the incumbent Cr. Loretta Baker in the 2021 mayoral election.

Mayor Philip Penfold, Mayor of Maitland

The council consists of the following:

Ward	Councillor		Party	Notes
Mayor[3]		Philip Penfold	Penfold Independents[19]	First elected 2008
Central Ward (Now Ward 1[20][21])[15]		Sally Halliday	Liberal	First elected 2017
		Amelia Atkinson	Labor	First elected 2024
		Ken Jordan	Penfold Independents	First elected 2024
East Ward (Now Ward 3[20][21])[16]		Ben Whiting	Labor	First elected 2012
		Bill Hackney	Penfold Independents[19]	First elected 2021
		Ben Worth	Penfold Independents[19]	First elected 2024
North Ward (Now Ward 2[20][21])[17]		Race Barstow	Labor	First elected 2024
		Mitchell Griffin	Independent Liberal	First elected 2017
		Kristy Flannery	Penfold Independents[19]	First elected 2021
West Ward (Now Ward 4 [20][21])[18]		Don Ferris	Labor	First term 2017-2021 Re-elected 2024
		Mike Yarrington	Penfold Independents[19]	First elected 2017
		Warrick Penfold	Penfold Independents	First elected 2024

Election results

2024

2024 New South Wales local elections: Maitland

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Penfold Independents		22,450	40.7	+12.7	6	2
	Labor		19,199	34.8	−2.9	4
	Liberal		3,141	5.7	−17.6	1	3
	Independent Liberal		2,478	4.5	+4.5	1	1
	Greens		6,388	11.6	+6.3	0
	Independent National		1,501	2.7	+2.7	0
	Independents		65	0.1	-6.1	0
Formal votes			55,222	92.7
Informal votes			4,322	7.3
Total			59,544

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2024 New South Wales local elections in Hunter § Maitland results.[edit]

References

1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Maitland (C)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
2. Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "2011 Community Profiles: Maitland (Local Government Area)". 2011 Census of Population and Housing. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
3. "Mayor Tally Sheet" (PDF). Maitland City Council Election 2017. Australian Election Company. September 2017. Retrieved 2 October 2012.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
4. "Suburb Search – Local Council Boundaries – Hunter (HT) – Maitland City Council". New South Wales Division of Local Government. Archived from the original on 30 October 2013. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
5. "Maitland". New South Wales Electoral Commission. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
6. "Hunter". Australian Electoral Commission. 26 July 2012. Archived from the original on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
7. "Maitland City Council – Meet the Councillors".
8. "10 QUESTIONS WITH PHILIP PENFOLD – Maitland Mayoral Candidate". NBN News. 29 August 2012.
9. Sharpe, Donna (30 August 2018). "Bill Hackney has applied to be a financial member of the NSW Liberal Party". The Maitland Mercury. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
10. Toole, Paul (March 2016). "Dungog and Maitland councils Proposal" (PDF). Minister for Local Government. Government of New South Wales. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 January 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
11. "Stronger Councils". strongercouncils.nsw.gov.au/. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
12. Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Maitland (Local Government Area)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
13. Australian Bureau of Statistics (9 March 2006). "Maitland (C)". 2001 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
14. Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Maitland (C)". 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
15. "Final Result in Order of Standing: Central Ward" (PDF). Maitland City Council Election 2017. Australian Election Company. 16 September 2017. p. 17. Retrieved 2 October 2017.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
16. "Final Result in Order of Standing: East Ward" (PDF). Maitland City Council Election 2017. Australian Election Company. 16 September 2017. p. 5. Retrieved 2 October 2017.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
17. "Final Result in Order of Standing: North Ward" (PDF). Maitland City Council Election 2017. Australian Election Company. 16 September 2017. p. 5. Retrieved 2 October 2017.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
18. "Final Result in Order of Standing: West Ward" (PDF). Maitland City Council Election 2017. Australian Election Company. 16 September 2017. p. 18. Retrieved 2 October 2017.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
19. "20211129-LG-Groups-of-Candidates.pdf" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 January 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
20. "Maitland City Council". elections.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
21. "Proposed Ward Boundary Adjustments". Maitland Your Say. Retrieved 9 September 2024.