Sister cities

Connect globally, thrive locally

What is a Sister City?

A Sister City relationship is an agreement between two cities or councils, where each city or council agrees to promote mutual understanding, friendship and professional conduct for the benefit of both communities and the promotion of local government.

The goal of Sister City relationships is to help develop enduring networks of communication between the cities of the world in order to cut across boundaries and reduce the likelihood of polarisation and conflict among nations.

To achieve the stated goals, the councils agree to work towards the following outcomes to:

  • facilitate cultural understanding between people from all backgrounds, within both councils and their respective communities
  • promote knowledge and understanding and extend the level of contact through all sectors of the community
  • bring together like-minded interest groups in each city
  • facilitate an exchange of youth at both primary and secondary school levels
  • exchange organisational staff to enrich council training and the development processes
  • provide a forum for sister-city experiences to be shared for the benefit and improvement of both councils and their communities
  • promote a councillor exchange program to assist the political process in local government
  • develop a relationship between the various sectors of each council to improve work processes
  • facilitate a better understanding of the challenges faced by each council and the actions taken to meet those challenges
  • provide a forum for the exchange of economic, trade, business, sustainability and technical information

How did it begin?

The Sister Cities Australia (SCA) began in 1979 as an association of local government areas to encourage, coordinate and support groups in developing relationships according to local needs. Today Australian cities and towns have over 500 sister city affiliations throughout the world and this number increases every year.

Randwick City Council's sister cities

Randwick City Council currently has six (6) active Sister City relationships and each Sister City relationship has developed in a unique and different way. The purpose of these relationships is to work co-operatively for the good governance of both communities with the sharing of knowledge and resources; and to foster local sporting, education, business and cultural groups and organisations.

Randwick has three historical Sister City relationships and three operational Sister City relationships.

Find out more about our Sister Cities PDF, 1170.16 KB.

Historical

  • Albi, France (established 1988)
  • Castellorizo, Greece (established 1995)
  • Randwick, England (established 2009)

Operational

  • Hangzhou, China (established 2009)
  • Temora, Australia (established 2005)
  • Narrabri, Australia (established 2010)

 Randwick City joint activities undertaken within sister city relationships have included the following:

  • Information and cultural sharing
  • Overseas Sister Cities Schools' Cultural Exchange Program
  • Sustainability Schools' Exchange Program
  • Photographic competitions so that these photos can be exchanged and displayed in our respective areas to gain an insight into each others environments
  • Participation in Sister Cities anniversary celebrations
  • Surf Safe Program and Randwick Beach Lifeguards visitations
  • Participation with NSW Sister Cities in the LGMA Management Challenge
  • Work experience placement at Randwick Council and assistance with temporary staff for skill sharing
  • Donation of SES vehicle to Temora

Map of our Sister cities

Location Map of Randwick's six Sister Cities

  • Randwick to Hangzhou (China): 7820 Kilometres
  • Randwick to Castellorizo (Greece): 14776 Kilometres
  • Randwick to Albi (France): 17142 kilometres
  • Randwick to Randwick (England): 17095 Kilometres
  • Randwick to Narrabri: 420 kilometres
  • Randwick to Temora: 347 kilometres
Last Updated: 24 October 2022
Back to top