Shortland is a suburb of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, located 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) from Newcastle's central business district. It is part of the City of Newcastle local government area. The Awabakal and Worimi peoples are acknowledged by City of Newcastle as the descendants of the traditional custodians of the land situated within the Newcastle local government area, including wetlands, rivers creeks and coastal environments. It is known that their heritage and cultural ties to Newcastle date back tens of thousands of years. Shortland was named after Lt. John Shortland, master's mate of the Sirius, the escorting vessel to the First Fleet. The area is restricted in development growth due to surrounding wetlands.