Learn about our history, location, coat of arms and attractions, and discover our plans for the future with Mitcham 2030.
The City of Mitcham is a welcoming and inclusive community that values its heritage and natural environment
We’re a local government area in the foothills of South Australia, 6km south of Adelaide. Our picturesque city blends both urban and semi-rural areas, and is renowned for its avenues of street trees, beautiful parks, reserves and gardens. We’re also home to unique historic dwellings and areas, and some magnificent places to see city and coast views from our hills.
We’re Adelaide’s second oldest Council area
The City of Mitcham was founded in 1853, making it one of the oldest councils in South Australia. Europeans first settled towns and suburbs as early as 1837.
Our city covers 75.7km2, and has a population of approximately 68,180. We have over 5,265 registered businesses in our city that provide over 30,607 local jobs and $4.05 billion in Gross Regional Product.
See our organisational structure
We’re between the city and the hills
The Kaurna people are the original inhabitants of the City of Mitcham area. Today, the community comes together to share stories, reflect on the past and look to the future at Colebrook Reconciliation Park.
Europeans first started to settle in Mitcham Village, St Marys and Coromandel Valley. The railway line opening boosted settlement in the mid to late 1800s, which attracted new residents to the foothills. Our population kept growing in the early 1900s, with spurts between and after the world wars. A lot of our community’s recent growth has been in Craigburn Farm.
Our unique residential suburbs
Most of the properties in our city are residential, with over 26,000 dwellings across 33 suburbs, each with their own style and community spirit.
Our city is home to some of the state’s most unique suburbs.
- State Heritage listed Colonel Light Gardens part of the original Thousand Home Scheme and Australia’s most complete example of an early 1900s garden suburb.
- Historic Belair is surrounded by parks on three of its sides, including South Australia’s oldest park Belair National Park.
- Springfield is one of Adelaide’s most prestigious suburbs with sweeping views over the Adelaide plains.
- Bedford Park and St Marys are adjacent to Flinders University and home to many new residents and international students, as well as a new housing development at Craigburn Farm.
Our commercial and industrial areas
Most of our commercial premises are on or near Belair Road, Goodwood Road, South Road and Main Road (Blackwood and Belair). Most of our industrial premises are on the western boundary, adjoining South Road. Our city’s biggest industries are health, social assistance, education and training.
Our facilities
Our world-class medical and research facilities include:
- Flinders Medical Centre
- Flinders Centre for Innovation in Cancer
- Flinders Private Hospital
- The Repat Health Precinct
Our education sector is home to over 65 high quality institutions including:
- Kindergartens, schools and universities
- Waite Institute
- Flinders University
- Australian Science & Mathematics School
Our city’s also home to Centennial Park Cemetery Authority, a subsidiary we share with the City of Unley.
Our flora and fauna
We have a diverse range of natural habitats, specimen trees and native vegetation in our green corridor across the western slopes of the Mount Lofty Ranges.
Our hills are home to a lot of threatened native plants and animals. Preserving our natural landscape is important to our city’s legacy. You can explore these spaces by using our network of cycling and walking trails.
We sit in the catchment area for Brown Hill Creek and the Sturt River, which both collect large amounts of stormwater from the Adelaide foothills before flowing into Gulf St Vincent.
There’s loads to see and do
You can visit many tourist attractions in our city:
- Carrick Hill Estate
- Belair National Park
- Brown Hill Creek Reserve
- Waite Arboretum
- Wittunga Botanic Gardens
- Sturt River Linear Trail
- Windy Point
- Reserves
- Walking trails through historic Mitcham, Lower Mitcham, Blackwood, Brownhill Creek, St Marys and Colonel Light Gardens walking trails.
Our quartzite quarries are a must for visitors. You can spend an afternoon seeing the rippled surfaces preserved in the rocks and folds, showcasing the intense forces that deformed the rocks nearly 500 million years ago.
See places to visit and things to do
Our coat of arms
Our coat of arms has a green centre, five keys, symbols, a mural crown and our motto.
The green centre represents the main colour in Mitcham, Surrey, England. Michelham (Mitcham’s original spelling) means ‘a great town’ and the tower in the centre represents that.
Our city was first divided into five wards, represented by the five keys in the coat of arms. Today there are six wards.
In the right and left quarters, you’ll notice the signs of cadence that represent the oldest branch of the family, showing that our city was the first local government established outside Adelaide.
The mural crown and five stones indicate the original five wards, plus a sprig of Wattle commonly found in the hills. The stream on the right hand side is Brownhill Creek, and on the left hand side, the road running into a park represents the national park.
The motto translates from Latin to 'let us build for posterity'.
Our plan for the future
Introducing Mitcham 2030
Mitcham 2030 is our strategic plan for future generations that guides what we do over the next 10 years.
It considers our previous plan Mitcham 2017-2027, our current profile, what our community values, as well as future opportunities and challenges.
Mitcham 2030 shows our long-term hopes for the community, making sure we invest in the right areas that meet our community’s needs into the future.
Read a one-page summary of our Mitcham 2030 plan
Read the Mitcham 2030 full document
Mitcham 2030 provides:
- 1 vision – how we want the City of Mitcham to be known
- 4 goals – our future aspirations
- 12 themes – the high level outcomes that will help reach our goals
Why Mitcham 2030?
Our strategic management plans are Mitcham 2030 and the four year delivery plan.
A strong plan for the future is more important than ever as we face COVID-19.
Our delivery plan shows where we can focus and invest across the four-year period, and proposes new services and projects.
We have supported our community’s economy and wellbeing since the beginning of the pandemic. We’re delivering our services in fresh and innovative ways, with new projects and services rolling out over the next four years.
Community profile
The Australian Bureau of Statistic gives insights into our city's demography based on the results from the Censuses of Population and Housing.
Visit the Australian Bureau of Statistics to find: