Camden Council is a local government area in the Macarthur region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The area is located south west of the Sydney central business district and comprises 201 square kilometres (78 sq mi) with an estimated population at the 2021 census of 119,325. The mayor of Camden is Cr. Ashleigh Cagney, a member of the Labor Party.

Suburbs in the local government area

Suburbs serviced by Camden Council are:

Demographics

At the 2021 census there were 119,325 people in the Camden local government area, of these 49.1 per cent were male and 50.9 per cents were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 3.2 per cent of the population; similar to the NSW and Australian averages of 3.4 and 3.2 per cent respectively. The median age of people in the Camden Council area was 33 years, which is significantly lower than the national median of 38 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 25.3 per cent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 9.9 per cent of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 54.0 per cent were married and 10.9 per cent were either divorced or separated.

Population growth in the Camden Council area between the 2001 census and the 2006 census was 13.35 per cent; in the subsequent five years to the 2011 census, population growth was 14.25 per cent. At the 2016 census, the population in the Camden local government area increased by 37.9 per cent. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same period, being 8.8 per cent, population growth in Camden local government area was in excess of four times the national average. The median weekly income for residents within the Camden Council area was generally slightly higher than the national average.

At the 2021 census, the proportion of residents in the Camden local government area who stated their ancestry as Australian or Anglo-Saxon approached 70% of all residents. In excess of 58.0% of residents in the Camden Council area nominated a religious affiliation with Christianity at the 2021 census, compared with the national average of 43.9%; and the proportion of residents with no religion was about half the national average. Meanwhile, as at the 2021 census date, compared to the national average, households in the Camden local government area had a slighter higher proportion (22.5 per cent) where two or more languages are spoken (national average was 22.3 per cent); and had a similar proportion (74.0 per cent) where English only was spoken at home (national average was 72.0 per cent).

Selected historical census data for Camden local government area
Census year			2001	2006	2011	2016	2021
Population		Estimated residents on census night	43,799	49,645	56,720	78,218	119,325
		LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales			39th	28th	24th
		% of New South Wales population			0.82%	1.05%	1.48%
		% of Australian population	0.23%	0.25%	0.26%	0.33%	0.47%
Median weekly incomes
Personal income		Median weekly personal income		A$566	A$690	A$821	A$984
		% of Australian median income		121.5%	119.6%	124.0%	122.2%
Family income		Median weekly family income		A$1,353	A$1,865	A$2,161	A$2,487
		% of Australian median income		131.7%	125.9%	124.6%	117.3%
Household income		Median weekly household income		A$1,465	A$1,727	A$2,047	A$2,353
		% of Australian median income		125.1%	140.0%	142.4%	134.8%

Selected historical census data for Camden local government area
Ancestry, top responses
2001		2006		2011		2016		2021
No Data		No Data		Australian	31.1%	Australian	27.0%	Australian	32.7%
				English	27.2%	English	25.1%	English	28.9%
				Irish	7.2%	Irish	7.4%	Irish	7.6%
				Scottish	6.1%	Scottish	6.0%	Italian	7.4%
				Italian	4.6%	Italian	5.0%	Scottish	6.7%
Country of Birth, top responses
2001		2006		2011		2016		2021
Australia	79.8%	Australia	79.8%	Australia	80.2%	Australia	77.4%	Australia	74.1%
England	4.9%	England	4.3%	England	4.0%	England	3.1%	India	2.4%
New Zealand	1.3%	New Zealand	1.0%	New Zealand	1.1%	New Zealand	1.3%	England	2.3%
Italy	0.9%	Italy	0.9%	Italy	0.9%	India	0.9%	New Zealand	1.5%
Scotland	0.9%	Scotland	0.8%	Scotland	0.8%	Philippines	0.7%	Philippines	1.3%
China	0.5%	China	0.5%	China	0.5%	Fiji	0.7%	Iraq	1.1%
Language, top responses (other than English)
2001		2006		2011		2016		2021
Italian	1.7%	Italian	1.6%	Italian	1.5%	Arabic	1.4%	Arabic	2.3%
Spanish	0.7%	Spanish	0.8%	Spanish	0.9%	Italian	1.3%	Spanish	1.6%
Cantonese	0.7%	Arabic	0.7%	Arabic	0.8%	Spanish	1.3%	Hindi	1.5%
Arabic	0.6%	Cantonese	0.7%	Cantonese	0.6%	Hindi	0.9%	Punjabi	1.1%
Maltese	0.5%	Croatian	0.5%	Maltese	0.4%	Mandarin	0.7%	Italian	1.1%
Religious affiliation, top responses
2001		2006		2011		2016		2021
Catholic	33.5%	Catholic	34.7%	Catholic	35.4%	Catholic	34.4%	Catholic	31.7%
Anglican	30.9%	Anglican	29.1%	Anglican	28.3%	Anglican	21.4%	No Religion	25.1%
No Religion	9.6%	No Religion	11.3%	No Religion	12.9%	No Religion	18.9%	Anglican	13.9%
United Church	4.8%	United Church	4.0%	United Church	3.5%	Not Stated	6.6%	Islam	4.8%
Presbyterian and Reformed	3.0%	Presbyterian and Reformed	2.6%	Presbyterian and Reformed	2.4%	Uniting Church	2.4%	Not Stated	4.3%

Council

Current composition and election method

Camden Council is composed of nine councillors elected proportionally as three 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 4 December 2021, and the makeup of the council is as follows:

Party		Councillors
	Liberal Party	4
	Labor	3
	Independents	2
	Total	9

The current Council, elected in 2021, in order of election by ward, is:

Ward	Councillor		Party	Notes
Central Ward		Therese Fedeli	Liberal	Deputy Mayor
		Ashleigh Cagney	Labor	Mayor
		Peter McLean	Independent
North Ward		Lara Symkowiak	Liberal
		Cindy Cagney	Labor
		Usha Dommaraju	Liberal
South Ward		Eva Campbell	Independent
		Paul Farrow	Labor
		Russel Zammit	Liberal

2021 election results

Mayors from 1896 to Present

#	Mayor	Term start	Term end	Time in office	Notes
Prior to 1896 requires further research
−	James Rankin	23 October 1895	4 May 1896 (res)	194 days
−	W.C. Furner	4 May 1896	14 February 1899	2 years, 286 days
−	George Furner	14 February 1899	13 February 1901	1 year, 364 days
−	E.F. Druitt	13 February 1901	12 February 1902	364 days
−	George Macarthur Onslow	12 February 1902	10 February 1904	1 year, 363 days
−	A.D. Little	10 February 1904	12 February 1906	2 years, 2 days
−	George Macarthur Onslow	12 February 1906	1 March 1907	1 year, 17 days
−	George Furner	1 March 1907	1 March 1909	2 years, 0 days
−	George Macarthur Onslow	1 March 1909	1 March 1910	1 year, 0 days
−	George Furner	1 March 1910	7 February 1911 (res)	343 days
−	George Furner (acting)	7 February 1911	1 March 1911	22 days
−	Thomas Sheil	1 March 1911	1 March 1913	2 years, 0 days
−	R.E. Young	1 March 1913	19 January 1915 (ret)	1 year, 324 days
−	George Furner	19 January 1915	10 July 1917	2 years, 172 days
−	W.F. Peters	10 July 1917	1 March 1918	234 days
−	George Furner	1 March 1918	15 December 1925	7 years, 289 days
−	Francis Macarthur Onslow	15 December 1925	11 December 1928	2 years, 362 days
−	William Larkin	11 December 1928	12 December 1932	4 years, 1 day
−	Robert Crookston	12 December 1932	11 December 1933	364 days
−	William Larkin	11 December 1933	19 December 1938	5 years, 8 days
−	Horace (Stan) Kelloway	19 December 1938	14 December 1954	15 years, 360 days
−	William Cruikshank	14 December 1954	Unknown	1 year, 0 days
1955 - 1985 requires further research
−	Elizabeth (Liz) Kernohan	1985	1991	6 years, 0 days	*
−	Theresa Testoni	1991	27 September 1993	2 years, 26 days	*
–	Frank Brooking	27 September 1993	1997	3 years, 339 days	*
–	Geoff Corrigan	1998	1999	1 year, 0 days	*
–	Eva Campbell	1999	2001	2 years, 0 days	*
–	Geoff Corrigan	2001	2003	2 years, 0 days	*
-	Unknown	Approx 2003	September 2006	3 years, 0 days	*
30	Chris Patterson	September 2006	14 June 2011	4 years, 286 days	*
*Above requires further research
31	Greg Warren	14 June 2011	9 October 2012	1 year, 12 days
32	Lara Symkowiak	9 October 2012	11 September 2018	5 years, 337 days
33	Peter Sidgreaves	11 September 2018	23 April 2019	224 days
34	Therese Fedeli	23 April 2019	9 May 2023	4 years, 16 days
35	Ashleigh Cagney	9 May 2023	Present	1 year, 55 days

Development

In Camden Council area there were 2,168 residential buildings approved to be built in the financial year 2021–22. Being a significant part of the South-Western Sydney Growth Area, Camden Council represents a rapidly growing region which is expected to house a large portion of Sydney's population growth over the coming decade. To the north are residential developments including Oran Park (8,000 homes) and Gregory Hills (2,600 homes), whilst to the south are further developments of the Elderslie estate.

A Muslim group, the Quranic Society, made a development application in the Camden area for an A$19 million Muslim school with the capacity for 1,200 students. In May 2008 the Council voted unanimously to reject the application. After reducing its proposal to a school catering for 900 students, the Quranic Society took its case to the Land and Environment Court. The application was met with significant community protest; and the application rejected by the Court on the grounds that the land chosen was suited to rural uses.

Heritage listings

The Camden Council has a number of heritage sites, including:

• Camden, 135 Argyle Street: Camden Post Office
• Camden, Aerodrome Road, Cobbitty: Macquarie Grove
• Camden, Exeter Street: Nant Gwylan and Garden
• Camden South, Elizabeth Macarthur Avenue: Camden Park Estate and Belgenny Farm
• Catherine Field, 1025 Camden Valley Way: Raby, Catherine Field
• Cobbitty, 421 The Northern Road: Denbigh, Cobbitty
• Gledswood Hills, 900 Camden Valley Way: Gledswood
• Harrington Park, 1 Hickson Circuit: Harrington Park (homestead)
• Harrington Park, 181 – 183 Northern Road: Orielton
• Narellan, Camden Valley Way: Studley Park, Narellan
• Narellan, Kirkham Lane: Camelot, Kirkham
• Narellan, Kirkham Lane: Kirkham Stables
• Oran Park, 112-130 Oran Park Drive: Oran Park (homestead)

See also

• Local government areas of New South Wales