City of Onkaparinga

The council was gazetted on 2 June 1853, on the same day as East Torrens and Hindmarsh. Local government had only been introduced in South Australia in 1852, and only the City of Adelaide (1852) and District Council of Mitcham (12 May 1853) had been created earlier.

At the time of establishment the Onkaparinga council covered the eastern bulk of the Hundred of Onkaparinga (that is, excluding the western portion of the hundred which was proclaimed, on the same day, to be within the East Torrens council). The council area included the Onkaparinga Valley townships of Balhannah and Woodside at its centre, being roughly split north west from south east by the path of the upper Onkaparinga River.