Narrabri Shire 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

North West Slopes The North West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia, refers generally to the area west of the Northern Tablelands, to the north of the Central West region and to the east of the Far West region. Despite its name, the region is in north- ...

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 Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The Shire is located adjacent to the

Namoi River The Namoi River, a major perennial river that is part of the Barwon catchment of the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the Northern Tablelands and North West Slopes districts of New South Wales, Australia. The Namoi River rises on the west ...

and the Newell and

Kamilaroi Highway Kamilaroi Highway is a state highway located in the north-western region of New South Wales, Australia, and links via and to . The highway is named after the Kamilaroi Indigenous Australian people who live in the area. Route The highway be ...

s. It was formed on 1 January 1981 from the amalgamation of the Municipality of Narrabri and Namoi Shire resulting from the ''

Local Government Areas Amalgamation Act 1980 The Local Government Areas Amalgamation Act 1980 (NSW) was an Act of the Parliament of New South Wales, which amended the ''Local Government Act 1919'', with the purpose of amalgamating a series of local government areas in New South Wales. The ...

''. Schedule 1. The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of Narrabri Shire Council is Cr. Ron Campbell, who is an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

Towns and localities

The seat of Council and major town in the Shire is

Narrabri Narrabri ( ) is a locality and seat of Narrabri Shire local government area in the North West Slopes, New South Wales, Australia on the Namoi River, northwest of Sydney. It sits on the junction of the Kamilaroi Highway and the Newell Highw ...

. Other towns, villages and localities in the Shire include Baan Baa, Bellata,

Boggabri Boggabri ( ) is a small town in north-eastern New South Wales, Australia. It is part of Narrabri Shire and lies between Gunnedah and Narrabri on the Kamilaroi Highway. At the , the town had a population of 856 people. The original town site ...

, Edgeroi,

Gwabegar Gwabegar () is a town in North Eastern New South Wales, Australia. The town is in the Narrabri Shire local government area, north west of the state capital, Sydney. At the 2011 census, Gwabegar had a population of 344. The town is in the midd ...

, Pilliga, and

Wee Waa Wee Waa () is a town located on the north-western slopes of the New England region in New South Wales, Australia. The town is within the Narrabri Shire local government area and is on the Namoi River. Wee Waa is north-west of Narrabri and n ...

Heritage listings

The Narrabri Shire has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * Narrabri, Bowen Street:

Narrabri Gaol and Residence The Narrabri Gaol and Residence is a heritage-listed former gaol and now museum at Bowen Street, Narrabri, Narrabri Shire, New South Wales, Australia. The building was designed by James Barnet and built from 1880 to 1881 by J. Conlon. The pro ...

Demographics

At the , there were people in the Narrabri local government area, of these 50.1 per cent were male and 49.9 per cent were female.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

made up 10.7% of the population which is more than four times higher than both the national and state averages. The median age of people in the Narrabri Shire was 39 years; slightly higher than the national median of 37 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 22.2% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 15.7% of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, half were married and 10.3% were either divorced or separated. Between the 2001 census and the 2011 census the Narrabri Shire experienced negative population growth in both absolute and real terms. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same periods, being 5.78% and 8.32% respectively, population growth in the Narrabri local government area was significantly lower than the national average. The median weekly income for residents within the Narrabri Shire was significantly below the national average. At the 2011 census, the proportion of residents in the Narrabri local government area who stated their

ancestry An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder or a forebear, is a parent or (recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from whom ...

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

or Anglo-Saxon exceeded 88% of all residents (national average was 65.2%). In excess of 80% of all residents in the Narrabri Shire nominated a

religious Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...

affiliation with

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

at the 2011 census, which was significantly higher than the national average of 50.2%. Meanwhile, as at the census date, compared to the national average, households in the Narrabri local government area had a significantly lower than average proportion (2.3%) where two or more languages are spoken (national average was 20.4%); and a significantly higher proportion (93.6%) where

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

only was spoken at home (national average was 76.8%).

Council

2018 AR Bluett Award Recipient

The Narrabri Shire Council was awarded the prestigious AR Bluett Memorial Award in 2018. The mayor and general manager (CEO) at the time were Cr. Cathy Redding and Stewart Todd respectively. The AR Bluett Award is awarded to the most progressive council in the state (of NSW) judged by a Trustee panel for the Award. The Award is considered as "''The greatest accolade a council can achieve''" and "''The pinnacle of local government achievement''". Winning the Award was quite a significant achievement, as the General Manager, Stewart Todd, had only been appointed for a little over 3 years in the role and was his first appointment as a General Manager.

Current composition and election method

Narrabri Shire Council is composed of nine

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 elected proportionally as a single

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

. All councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office. The

is elected by the councillors at the first meeting of the council. The most recent election was held on 22 September 2020, and the makeup of the council is as follows: The current Council, elected in 2020, in order of election, is:

References

{{Authority control

Newell Highway 1981 establishments in Australia