City of Canterbury Bankstown

**Becoming a City** The?new City of Canterbury Bankstown?was proclaimed by the NSW Government on?12 May 2016, replacing the former Bankstown and Canterbury Councils, becoming the largest Council in NSW, by population, with more than 361,000 residents. The Government-appointed Administrator, Mr Richard Colley, led the transition of the new Council for a period of 18 months, leading up to the 9 September 2017 election. Fifteen councillors were elected, three in each of the five Wards. On 26 September 2017, Councillor Khal Asfour was elected, by his peers, the inaugural Mayor and will lead the Council for two years. Councillor Nadia Saleh was appointed Deputy Mayor, a position she will hold for one year. **History** We acknowledge the Aboriginal groups who are the original people of Canterbury-Bankstown. The Daruk (Darag, Dharug, Dharuk) and Eora people were the original inhabitants of the Bankstown and Canterbury areas, for many thousands of years before European settlement and subsequent Council proceedings. You can read more about the first people of our Area on our designated pages. In the years since European settlement, Canterbury and Bankstown operated as two separate Local Government Areas, each with their own wards and suburbs. On 12 May 2016, it was announced that the two former areas of Canterbury and Bankstown would merge to become one big community.