government area, of these 49.3 per cent were male and 50.7 per cent were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 0.7 per cent of the population; significantly below the NSW and Australian averages of 2.9 and 2.8 per cent respectively. The median age of people in the City of Fairfield was 36 years; slightly lower than the national median of 38 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 19.1 per cent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 13.8 per cent of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 48.1 per cent were married and 12.4 per cent were either divorced or separated. Population in the City of Fairfield between the and the declined by 0.78 per cent; and in the subsequent five years to the , population growth was 4.38 per cent. At the 2016 census, the population in the City increased by 5.89 per cent. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same period, being 8.8 per cent, population growth in the Fairfield local government area was a little over half the national average. The median weekly income for residents within the City of Fairfield was lower than the national average, being one of the factors that place the city in an area of social disadvantage. As at the 2016 census, the influence of Vietnamese culture and language was statistically strong, evidenced by the proportion of residents with Vietnamese ancestry (nearly twenty times higher than the national average), the proportion of residents who spoke Vietnamese as either a first or second language (also nearly twenty times higher than the national average), and the proportion of residents who stated a religious affiliation with Catholicism and Buddhism (the latter being in excess of nine times the national average). Council Current composition and election method Fairfield City Council is composed of twelve Councillors, including the Mayor, for a fixed four-year term of office. The Mayor has been directly elected since 2004, while the twelve other Councillors are elected proportionally to two separate wards, each electing four Councillors. The most recent election was held on 2 December 2021, and the makeup of the council, including the Mayor, is as follows: The current Council, elected in 2021, in order of election by ward, is: Mayors Town Clerks/General Manager/City Managers Sister cities Palmi, Italy Zhenjiang, China