The City of Hawkesbury is a local government area of New South Wales, Australia, located on the northern and north-western fringe of the Greater Sydney area, about 50 kilometres (31 mi) north-west of the Sydney central business district.

[2] It was first settled by Europeans in 1794 in a bid to acquire arable land to feed the increasing population of the penal colony at Sydney.

In April 1794, Lieutenant Governor Francis Grose submitted plans for the first 22 farms on the Hawkesbury River in the present Pitt Town Bottoms area.

In June 1795, Lieutenant Governor William Paterson deployed troops to engage with Aboriginals inhabiting land along the Hawkesbury River.

[6][7] On its creation in 1981, Hawkesbury was largely rural, but urban expansion within Sydney has since transformed the southern part of the area into dormitory suburbs.

[9] The median weekly income for residents within the City of Hawkesbury has been consistently marginally higher than the national average.

[10][11][12][8] At the 2021 Census, the proportion of residents in the Hawkesbury local government area who stated their ancestry as Australian or English amounted to 80.8%, representing an increase from 62% in 2011.

Hawkesbury City Council is composed of twelve councillors elected proportionally as one entire ward.