The City of Bankstown is a local government area in the south-west region of Sydney, Australia, centred on the suburb of Bankstown.
In 2006, the NSW government released a planning strategy for Metropolitan Sydney, known as the City of Cities plan for Sydney. The plan identified Bankstown as a 'major centre' for the south west Sydney region. Bankstown Airport was also identified as a 'specialist centre' and the Hume Highway as part of a potential transport corridor. Under the most recent Draft Metropolitan Strategy for Sydney released in 2013, the NSW Government has reaffirmed Bankstown as a major centre, and Bankstown Airport as a specialised centre.
The Mayor of the City of Bankstown Council is Clr Khal Asfour, a member of the Labor Party.
These are the suburbs and localities in the local government area:
At the 2011 Census, there were 182,352 people in the Bankstown local government area, of these 49.3% were male and 50.7% were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 0.8% of the population. The median age of people in the City of Bankstown was 35 years, which is slightly lower than the national median of 37 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 21.7% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 13.7% of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 52.1% were married and 11.0% were either divorced or separated.
Bankstown is a suburb of south-western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 20 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the local government area of the City of Bankstown.
Prior to European settlement, Cumberland Plains Woodland occupied much of the area. Turpentine ironbark forest covered much of what is now Bankstown. The land was occupied by the Bediagal people. Their land bordered the Dharawal and the Darung people. The Aboriginal inhabitants strongly opposed the European settlers. The resistance ceased after a number of their leaders were killed or imprisoned in 1816. In that year an epidemic broke out amongst the native people which reduced the Aboriginal populations, this also contributed to the end of their resistance.
In 1795, Matthew Flinders and George Bass explored up the Georges River for about 20 miles beyond what had been previously surveyed, and reported favourably to Governor Hunter of the land on its banks. Hunter examined the country himself, and established one of the pioneer colonies there, called Bank's Town, today written as one word Bankstown.