City of Launceston



Launceston City Council (or City of Launceston) is a local government body in Tasmania, located in the city and surrounds of Launceston in the north of the state. The Launceston local government area is classified as urban and has a population of 77,363, which also encompasses localities including Lilydale, Targa and through to Swan Bay on the eastern side of the Tamar River.

Government
The current Mayor is Matthew Garwood, elected in 2023.

History and attributes
Launceston is classified as urban, regional and medium (URM) under the Australian Classification of Local Governments. The population at the 2016 Census was over 65,000, making Launceston the most populous of the 29 local government areas in Tasmania.

The municipality logo features the now extinct Tasmanian tiger, an indigenous marsupial that used to be prevalent in the Launceston district.

History
Launceston was first declared as a municipality in 1853 and declared a city in 1888. Its original boundaries have long since been redefined and the area now known as the City of Launceston includes parts of the former Lilydale, St Leonard's, Evandale and Westbury Municipalities. In the 1890s, the municipality grew to include Galvin Town (South Launceston) and in 1906 to include the northern suburbs of Invermay, Mowbray and Trevallyn. This has produced a local government area that overlaps its similarly named city, rather than either being contained by or encompassing it.

Women were ineligible to stand for election to the Launceston City Council until 1945, despite being granted the same rights at federal and state level in 1902 and 1921, respectively.

Suburbs of the city of Launceston
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Localities other than suburbs
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Sister city relations

 * 🇺🇸 – Napa, California, USA