The City of Shoalhaven is a

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

in the south-eastern coastal region of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. The area is about south of Sydney. The

Princes Highway Princes Highway is a major road in Australia, extending from Sydney via Melbourne to Adelaide through the states of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. It has a length of (along Highway 1) or via the former alignments of the hi ...

passes through the area, and the South Coast railway line traverses the northern section, terminating at

Bomaderry Bomaderry (locally known as "Bommo") is a town in the Shoalhaven council district area of New South Wales, Australia. At the , it had a population of 8,718 people. It is on the north shore of the Shoalhaven River, across the river from Nowra, ...

. At the , the population was 108,531. The City was established on 1 July 1948 as the Shoalhaven Shire, following the amalgamation of the Municipalities of

Nowra Nowra is a city in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south-southwest of the state capital of Sydney (about as the crow flies). As of the 2021 census, Nowra has an estimated population of 22,584. Situated in t ...

, Berry, Broughton's Vale,

Ulladulla Ulladulla is a coastal town in New South Wales, Australia in the City of Shoalhaven local government area. It is on the Princes Highway about south of Sydney, halfway between Batemans Bay to the south and Nowra to the north. Ulladulla has clos ...

, South Shoalhaven, and the shires of Cambewarra and Clyde.The Governor of NSW on 13 July 1979 proclaimed Shoalhaven as a city. The Shire was converted and constituted on 1 August 1979 simultaneously as a municipality and city.

History

Modern-day groupings of the

Illawarra The Illawarra is a coastal region in the Australian state of New South Wales, nestled between the mountains and the sea. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast region. It encompasses the two cities of Wollong ...

and South Coast Aboriginal peoples are based on information compiled by white

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms an ...

s from the late 1870s. Two divisions were initially presented (refer Ridley, 1878), using geographical location and language, though these criteria are now expanded into five divisions and given Aboriginal names, as follows (after C.Sefton, 1983): *

Dharawal The Dharawal people, also spelt Tharawal and other variants, are an Aboriginal Australian people, identified by the Dharawal language. Traditionally, they lived as hunter–fisher–gatherers in family groups or clans with ties of kinship, ...

– general name for the Aboriginal people of the area on the east coast of New South Wales from

Botany Bay Botany Bay ( Dharawal: ''Kamay''), an open oceanic embayment, is located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point and the Cook ...

to Shoalhaven, and west to Berrima and Camden. * Wodi-Wodi (or Wadi-Wadi) – a subdivision of Thuruwal, includes the Aboriginal people of the coast from

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near w ...

to Shoalhaven. * Gurandada and Tharumba (or Dharumba) – those people living around the

Shoalhaven River The Shoalhaven River is a perennial river that rises from the Southern Tablelands and flows into an open mature wave dominated barrier estuary near Nowra on the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia. Location and features The Shoalha ...

. The Jerrinja people record their traditional lands as stretching from Crooked River in the north to Clyde River in the south, from the mountains to the sea at Roseby Park.

George Bass George Bass (; 30 January 1771 – after 5 February 1803) was a British naval surgeon and explorer of Australia. Early years Bass was born on 30 January 1771 at Aswarby, a hamlet near Sleaford, Lincolnshire, the son of a tenant farmer, George ...

explored the area in 1797, following Seven Mile Beach. He crossed the shoals at the entrance to the river, calling it "Shoals Haven" due to the shallowness of the river mouth. This river is now known as the Crookhaven, but the name was adopted for the Shoalhaven area and the

Towns and localities

Shoalhaven, although designated a city, is a dispersed region spread over of coastline, with the vast majority of its population located in the north-east around

Jervis Bay Jervis Bay () is a oceanic bay and village on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia, said to possess the whitest sand in the world. A area of land around the southern headland of the bay is a territory of the Commonwealth of Australia ...

and Sussex Inlet. It includes the following towns, suburbs and localities: Localities with no population in 2016 included:

Council

Current composition and election method

Shoalhaven City Council is composed of thirteen

Councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

s, including the mayor, for a fixed four-year term. The mayor is directly elected while the twelve other councillors are elected proportionally as three separate wards, each electing four councillors. The most recent election was held in 2021 and the makeup of the Council, including the mayor, is: Amanda Finley.

Tourism and culture

The Shoalhaven can be reached from Sydney by car via the Princes Highway and by rail via the South Coast railway line which terminates just north of Nowra at

. The Shoalhaven is adjacent to the

Jervis Bay Territory The Jervis Bay Territory (; JBT) is an internal territory of Australia. It was established in 1915 from part of New South Wales (NSW), in order to give the landlocked Australian Capital Territory (ACT) access to the sea. It was administered ...

. The area is approximately long along the coastline, including 109 beaches, which allegedly possesses the whitest sand in the world, as well as pristine natural Australian bushland. The Shoalhaven area is home to numerous species of native Australian flora and fauna. The area is well known for its strong commitment to the arts and music, featuring the See Change and See Celebrations festivals in the Jervis Bay and St Georges Basin areas, as well as the EscapeArtfest festival and Blessing of the Fleet in the Ulladulla area. Tourists to Shoalhaven can enjoy a wealth of cultural and nature-based activities and experiences, including whale-watching, kayaking, visiting beaches and tastings at wineries. Some of the most famous establishments for visitors in Shoalhaven are Rick Stein at Bannisters, Cupitt's Estate and Coolangatta Estate.

Heritage listings

Heritage listings for the City of Shoalhaven include: * Bherwerre Beach, Wreck Bay: Hive shipwreck

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shoalhaven Coastal cities in Australia 1948 establishments in Australia