The Mount Alexander Shire (officially Shire of Mount Alexander) 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 ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, Australia, located in the central part of the state. It covers an area of and, in June 2018, had a population of 19,514. It includes the towns of Castlemaine, Chewton, Elphinstone,

Maldon Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the River Blackwater, Essex, Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea ...

, Newstead, Harcourt, Taradale,

Vaughan Vaughan () (2021 population 323,103) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Regional Municipality of York, just north of Toronto. Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada between 1996 and 2006 with its population increas ...

, Fryerstown and Campbells Creek. It was formed in 1995 from the amalgamation of the

City of Castlemaine The City of Castlemaine was a local government area about north-northwest of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia, and south of the regional city of Bendigo. The city covered an area of , and existed from 1855 until 1995. Hi ...

Shire of Newstead The Shire of Newstead was a local government area about northwest of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1860 until 1995. History Newstead was first incorporated as a road di ...

, and most of the

Shire of Maldon The Shire of Maldon was a local government area about northwest of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia, and southwest of the regional city of Bendigo. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1858 until 1995. History ...

and

Shire of Metcalfe The Shire of Metcalfe was a local government area about north-northwest of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia, and south of the regional city of Bendigo. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1860 until 1995. His ...

. The traditional owners of the land are

Dja Dja Wurrung Dja Dja Wurrung (Pronounced Ja-Ja-war-rung), also known as the Djaara or Jajowrong people and Loddon River tribe, are an Aboriginal Australian people who are the Traditional owners of lands including the watersheds of the Loddon and Avoca rive ...

. The Shire is governed and administered by the Mount Alexander Shire Council; its

seat of local government The seat of government is (as defined by ''Brewer's Politics'') "the building, complex of buildings or the city from which a government exercises its authority". In most countries, the nation’s capital is also seat of its government, thus that ...

and administrative centre is located at the council headquarters in Castlemaine, it also has service centres located in Maldon and Newstead. The Shire is named after the first European settlers name for the Castlemaine region and goldfields.

Council

Current composition

The council is composed of five wards and seven councillors, with three councillors elected to represent the Castlemaine Ward and one councillor per remaining ward elected to represent each of the other wards.

Administration and governance

The council meets in the council chambers at the council headquarters in the Castlemaine Municipal Offices, which is also the location of the council's administrative activities. It also provides customer services at both its administrative centre in Castlemaine, and its service centres in Maldon and Newstead.

Main towns in shire

In June 2018 the shire had a population of 19,514.

References

External links