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Hurstville is a suburb in Southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is 16 kilometres south of the Sydney CBD and is part of the St George area. Hurstville is the administrative centre of the local government area of the Georges River Council.

The suburb is predominantly Asian Australian in character, with 63% of the population of Asian origin, among the highest in the country. Sometimes described as "Sydney's Real Chinatown", an estimated 37% of residents are immigrants from mainland China.

The name Hurstville is derived from the English 'hurst', meaning 'a wooded eminence', and 'ville', meaning 'town'.

Although it is unknown when they first settled in the Hurstville area, the first inhabitants were Indigenous Australians. At the time of the arrival of the First Fleet, the Indigenous Australians residing in the area were of the Eora tribe, whose numbers spanned along the Georges River, from Botany Bay to present-day Liverpool.

The first sustained contact between members of the First Fleet and the Eora tribe, occurred on 20 January 1788 within the boundaries of the present City of Hurstville at Lugarno and Oatley, at Lime Kiln Bay on the Georges River, as recorded by Lieutenant Philip Gidley King in his diary. While Governor Philip explored the south side of the Georges River around Como, King with a party of one other officer and three marines in a six-oared rowboat aimed for the highest point they could see on the north side, probably at Lugarno, and landed at a place they named Lance Point. Although first contact with the Indigenous Australians led to a small altercation where a spear was thrown and a shot fired, later in the day when the party rowed up Lime Kiln Bay towards present day Mortdale they were greeted in a friendly manner by both men and women, and what could only be described as Australia's first picnic took place as food and drink were shared between the two peoples. After a long summer afternoon of mutual contact and conviviality the British sailors rowed back to their ship moored at Botany Bay (see Haworth R.J. 2012, Journal of Australian Colonial History, vol. 14 pp. 1–28, for a reconstruction of King's boat journey and likely route).

The land of the Hurstville region was granted by the government of the new colony of New South Wales to two men: Captain John Townson and his brother Robert Townson in 1808. Captain John Townson was granted 1,950 acres (7.9 km2) of land which is now occupied by the suburb of Hurstville and part of Bexley. Robert Townson was granted the land which is now occupied by Penshurst, Mortdale and parts of Peakhurst. In the same year, in the area now known as Riverwood land grants were made to Jane Trotter, Mary Shepley, Charles Doudall, and James Ryan. Later in 1816 another land grant in the same area was given to Mary Redman.

In 1809, Captain John Townson was granted an additional 250 acres (1.0 km2) in the area now occupied by Kingsgrove and Beverly Hills. The Townson brothers were not happy with the land that they were given because it was not suitable for the farming of sheep for wool and it is likely that the brothers never occupied their land. In 1812, a wealthy merchant named Simeon Lord bought the land of Captain John Townson and named it Lord's Forest. When Lord died, the land became the property of John Rose Holden and James Holt of the Bank of NSW.

Gladwyn is an historic, Italianate house at 96 Queens Road. It was built in 1893 by John Sproule, a local builder and alderman of Hurstville Council, who had acquired the land two years previously. It changed hands many times and was known as Gladwyn by 1906. Hurstville Council eventually acquired the house in 1986. It has been restored and adapted for commercial use, as well as serving as the base for the Hurstville Archival Research and Local Studies Centre. It is heritage-listed at state and local level.

In 1895, Ann Sproule bought land on the opposite side of Queens Road from the Winn brothers of Newcastle, New South Wales. John Sproule then built Yarra-Mundi in 1897, and lived there until 1904. The house then changed hands a number of times over the years. In 1981 it was acquired by the Danebank Church of England School for Girls. The school later sold the house in 2003 and it was subsequently adapted for commercial use. It is heritage-listed.

A dam with a roadway on top was constructed on the Cooks River at Tempe in 1839. In 1843, the road that was to become known as Forest Road was extended from the dam to a hand-winched punt in Lugarno. On the other side of the river, the road continued all the way to Wollongong; however, it was only suitable for travellers on horseback. The new road opened up the Hurstville region and created a settlement at Bottle Forest, now known as Heathcote.

In 1850, the Lord Forest estate was purchased by Michael Gannon (1800–61), who subdivided it into small farms along what is now Croydon Road and three larger farms that were purchased by Dent, Peake, and Ibbotson. The area became known as Gannon's Forest. The land originally granted to Robert Townson was purchased by John Connell in 1830 and, following his death in 1849, the estate was inherited by his grandsons, Elias Pearson Laycock and John Connell Laycock.

The Gannon's Forest post office opened in 1881. The local school was named "Hurstville" by School Inspector MacIntyre when it was established in 1876. When the railway station opened on 15 October 1884, it took the name Hurstville, from the school. Hurstville municipality was incorporated in 1887 and, in 1988, Hurstville was declared a city. The Centenary Bakery on Forest Road is a historic building that has been preserved and once housed a museum. The St George Regional Museum is now located in another historic building in MacMahon Street.

The Hurstville train crash on 3 August 1920 resulted in five people killed and fifty injured. It involved the collision of two steam trains, one arriving from Central Railway Station, which plunged into the back of the other, which was stationary at Hurstville railway station, bound for Sutherland.

Hurstville's residential developments are a mixture of low-density housing, medium-density flats, and high-density apartment buildings.

Hurstville is the central business district of the St George area. It is a large, multiethnic suburb with a multitude of commercial buildings and high-rise residential buildings dominating the skyline.

The commercial area is centered on the main street, Forest Road, on the northern side of Hurstville railway station. Forest Road is the main shopping street which features branches of many retail shops as well as numerous banks (Commonwealth, ANZ, National Australia Bank, Westpac, St George, HSBC, Bank of China) and other financial institutions. The commercial developments also extend to surrounding streets concentrated from Queens Road to The Avenue and on the southern side of Hurstville Railway station, around Ormonde Parade. The commercial developments extend further along Forest Road, west towards Penshurst and east towards Bexley.

Hurstville has two major shopping centres, Westfield Hurstville and Hurstville Central. There are also a few smaller shopping centres such as Hurstville Times Plaza, East Quarter, Metro Centre, Hurstville City Centre and Union Arcade.

Hurstville has a wide variety of restaurants and cafes and is known as a major dining destination in the St George area of Sydney. There are a large number of Chinese (including Cantonese), Japanese and Korean restaurants and eateries.

The administrative offices of the Georges River Council are located in the Hurstville Civic Centre in MacMahon Street. This street also features a number of historic buildings such as the Friendly Pharmacy, old Fire Station, Ritz Hotel and Hurstville Museum & Gallery (formerly known as the St George Regional Museum), which houses the cake decorating collection formerly held at the Australian Cakes and Sugar Art Museum. Hurstville City Library is located nearby on Queens Road.

The St Clair Recording Studio operated for about a year from December 1965 to December 1966 and recorded the Bee Gees among other musicians. AC/DC played at the Hurstville Civic Centre (Marana Hall/Rivoli Hall) on eight occasions between 1974 and 1977.

A karaoke place opened in 2011 near the Meridian Hotel, the first ever one in Hurstville.

The Hurstville Museum & Gallery focuses on local history, art, and culture. According to the Museum's website, it "is home to high quality exhibitions, a diverse range of public programs and a collection of approximately 5,000 objects and artworks from the local area."

Hurstville railway station is a major station on the T4 Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line of the Sydney Trains network and the South Coast Line on the NSW TrainLink network. All Suburban and Intercity trains stop at Hurstville. Hurstville is 20 minutes from Sydney Central railway station on the express service. Hurstville is a major bus interchange with bus services departing from Forest Road and Ormonde Parade.

Hurstville is also serviced by St George Community Transport, a HACC funded transport service for the Frail Aged, people with disability and their carers.

St George's Hurstville Anglican Church, St Michael's Roman Catholic Church, Hurstville Presbyterian Church, Hurstville Church of Christ, Hurstville Uniting Church, Hurstville Seventh-day Adventist Church, Hurstville Assemblies of God, Salvation Army, Church of the Living God.

The first European settlers in the area were mostly of British and Irish ancestry. From the late 1960s, Hurstville, like many surrounding areas, became home to migrants from all around the world. The first wave of migrants included Greeks and Italians who began moving south from Sydney's inner-city suburbs. They were followed by more European migrants, including many from the former Yugoslavia.

From the 1990s, the Chinese community within Hurstville has grown considerably. Much of this was related to significant migration from Hong Kong during the 1990s and migration from Mainland China during the 2000s. Many local businesses are operated by people of Chinese background, the interests of which are advanced by the St. George Asian Business Association. Hurstville is a hub for Asian groceries, food and services.

According to the 2016 Australian Bureau of Statistics Census of Population, there were 29,822 residents in Hurstville. 27.8% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were China 36.9%, Nepal 7.1%, Hong Kong 4.0%, Indonesia 1.8% and India 1.5%. 18.1% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 32.3%, Cantonese 17.9%, Nepali 7.2%, Arabic 2.8% and Greek 2.5%. The most common responses for religion were No Religion 42.7%, Catholic 11.8%, Hinduism 8.2% and Buddhism 8.1%. The most common ancestries in Hurstville were Chinese 49.4%, English 6.6%, Nepalese 6.6%, Australian 5.1% and Greek 2.9% and 1.3% Filipinos.

The Georges River Council area is located in the southern suburbs of Sydney, about 15-17 kilometres from the Sydney CBD. The Georges River Council area is bounded by the City of Canterbury Bankstown in the north, the Bayside Council area in the east, the Georges River in the south, and Salt Pan Creek in the west.

The Georges River Council is named after the Georges River which bounds the southern part of the municipality.

The Hurstville City Council was a local government area in the St George and southern region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The city seat of Hurstville is located 17 kilometres (11 mi) south–west of Sydney and west of Botany Bay. Hurstville was incorporated as a municipality in 1887, declared a city in 1988, and abolished in 2016, forming with Kogarah City Council the new Georges River Council.

On 25 March 1887 the NSW Government Gazette published a proclamation declaring the "Municipal District of Hurstville". On 29 December 1887, the Municipality was divided into three wards: Bexley Ward, Hurstville Ward and Peakhurst Ward. On 28 June 1900, a further proclamation declared the separation of Bexley Ward as the Borough of Bexley.

A proclamation on the same day reconstituted Hurstville, divided into two wards: Hurstville and Peakhurst. On 10 September 1908, Hurstville was divided into four wards: Hurstville Ward, Woodville Ward, Peakhurst Ward and Penshurst Ward. On 2 August 1922, a part of Hurstville was transferred to the Sutherland Shire; on 5 December 1924 part of Canterbury Municipality was transferred to Hurstville; and on 1 January 1931 part of Hurstville was transferred to Kogarah Municipality. On 3 July 1968 Woodville Ward was abolished, with the council divided into three wards: Hurstville, Peakhurst and Penshurst.

In December 1920, Hurstville combined with the councils of Rockdale, Kogarah, and Bexley to form the St George County Council. The elected County Council was established to provide electricity to the Kogarah, Rockdale, Hurstville, and Bexley areas and ceased to exist when it was amalgamated with the Sydney County Council on 1 January 1980. On 25 November 1988 the Municipality of Hurstville was proclaimed as the "City of Hurstville".

In 1889 Hurstville Council purchased a property on the corner of Forest Road, Hurstville, for £1750, as the first Council Chambers until 1913. However, its small size meant that within a few decades, Council sought options for a new purpose-built Council Chambers further up on a site fronting McMahon Street on the corner with Dora Street occupied by the fire station. By November 1913 the old fire station was remodelled into new Council Chambers by architect (and former Mayor of Kogarah) Charles Herbert Halstead.

On 31 July 1930 Council approved a proposal for new chambers on the site of the 1913 chambers. The foundation stone, placed next to the re-laid foundation stone from the demolished 1913 chambers, was laid by Mayor Hill on 6 December 1930. The new Chambers, designed in the Inter-War Georgian Revival style by architects Herbert & Wilson (Leonard Federick Herbert and Edward Douglas Wilson), was officially opened on 16 May 1931 by the Minister for Local Government, William McKell.

A new 'Civic Centre' concept with the provision of a performance hall, for a site on McMahon Street north of Dora Street was first proposed Mayor Olds on 17 July 1947, and was the subject of continuing debate throughout the 1950s. The project was finally approved by Council in June 1954. Designed in the Post-War International Style by architects Peddle Thorp & Walker and built by James S. Samson & Co. of Parramatta, the new Civic Centre included an auditorium which seated 1264 people (named Marana Hall in 1964, meaning 'place of stars') and a smaller hall (named Amaroo Hall in 1964, meaning 'lovely place'). Completed at a cost of £320,000, the Civic Centre was officially opened on 2 June 1962 by the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Eric Woodward.

After the completion of the Civic Centre in 1962, the former Council Chambers further down on McMahon Street was tenanted by the Bank of New South Wales from 1963 to 1965 and the St George Police-Citizens Boys' Club from 1966 to 1969, before being demolished in January 1974 for the 'Hurstville House' office/retail development. The foundation stones from the old Council Chambers were incorporated into façade of 1962 Civic Centre.

In January 1977, Hurstville Council acquired the former 'Rivoli Hall' on the other corner of Dora Street and McMahon Street, which was soon demolished to make way for a Brutalist style extension to the Civic Centre that would incorporate a new central library designed by the Council Architect. The extension and library, completed at a cost of approximately $4.3 million, was officially opened on 30 July 1982 by the Premier of New South Wales, Neville Wran.

Efforts to bring about a unified council for the St George area were raised regularly since 1901 and the 1946 Clancy Royal Commission into local government boundaries recommended the amalgamation of the municipalities of Hurstville, Kogarah, Rockdale and Bexley. In the following act of parliament passed in December 1948, the Local Government (Areas) Act 1948, the recommendations of the commission were modified, leading only to the merger of Bexley and Rockdale councils. A merger was again considered in the 1970s, but 1977 plebiscites run in Hurstville and Kogarah rejected the idea. A further idea of amalgamating Kogarah and Hurstville with Sutherland Shire to the south was raised in 1999 but did not progress.

A 2015 review of local government boundaries by the NSW Government Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal recommended that Hurstville merge with the City of Kogarah to form a new council with an area of 38 square kilometres (15 sq mi) and support a population of approximately 147,000. On 12 May 2016 the NSW Government announced that Hurstville and Kogarah would merge to form the Georges River Council, with immediate effect.

Suburbs in the Hurstville City Council area were:

The following unofficial localities were also located within Hurstville:

At the 2011 Census, there were 78,855 people in the Hurstville local government area, of these 48.5% were male and 51.5% were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 0.6% of the population. The median age of people in the City was 37 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 17.7% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 15.4% of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 53.4% were married and 9.2% were either divorced or separated.

Population growth in Hurstville City Council between the 2001 Census and the 2006 Census was 5.31%; and in the subsequent five years to the 2011 Census, population growth was 6.96%. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same periods, being 5.78% and 8.32% respectively, population growth in Hurstville local government area was marginally lower than the national average. The median weekly income for residents within the City was generally on par with the national average.

Hurstville City Council was composed of twelve Councillors elected proportionally as three separate wards, each ward electing four Councillors. All Councillors were elected for a fixed four-year term of office. The Mayor and Deputy Mayor were elected annually by the Councillors at the first meeting of the Council in September. The last election was held on 8 September 2012, and the final makeup of the Council in the term 2012–2016, in order of election by ward, was as follows:

Hurstville City Council adopted the current coat of arms as part of the Council’s centenary celebrations in 1987 and was designed by H. Ellis Tomlinson of the College of Arms.