Southern Sydney is the southern metropolitan area of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Southern Sydney includes the suburbs in the local government areas of Georges River Council and part of Bayside Council (collectively known as the St George area), and broadly it also includes the suburbs in the local government area of Sutherland Shire, south of the Georges River (colloquially known as 'The Shire'). As a result, the area is often referred to as St George and Sutherland, as in the Australian Bureau of Statistics' St George-Sutherland Statistical Subdivision.