Ballina 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

Northern Rivers Northern Rivers is the most north-easterly region of the Australian state of New South Wales, located between north of the state capital, Sydney, and encompasses the catchments and fertile valleys of the Clarence, Richmond, and Tweed rivers. ...

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 was formed on 1 January 1977 by the amalgamation of the Municipality of Ballina and

Tintenbar Shire Tintenbar Shire was a local government area in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia. Tintenbar Shire was proclaimed on 7 March 1906, one of 134 shires created after the passing of the ''Local Government (Shires) Act 1905''. ...

. The Shire is located adjacent to the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea (Māori: ''Te Tai-o-Rēhua'', ) is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abe ...

and the Pacific Highway. The council seat is located in the town of Ballina. The population of the Ballina Shire area was 44,208 in June 2018. 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 Ballina Shire Council is Sharon Cadwallader.

Towns and localities

Heritage listings

The Ballina Shire has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: *

High Conservation Value Old Growth forest The High Conservation Value Old Growth forest is a heritage-listed forest located across twelve local government areas in the Northern Rivers, Mid North Coast, and New England regions of New South Wales, Australia. The conservation area is als ...

Demographics

At the 2016 census, there were people in the Ballina local government area; of these 48.2 per cent were male and 51.8 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 3.3 per cent of the population, which was higher than the national (2.9%) and state averages (2.8%). The

median In statistics and probability theory, the median is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a data sample, a population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as "the middle" value. The basic fe ...

age of people in the Ballina Shire area was 48 years, which was significantly higher than the national median of 38 years. Children aged 0–14 years made up 16.7 per cent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 25.0 per cent of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 48.9 per cent were married and 14.4 per cent were either divorced or separated. Population growth in the Ballina Shire area between the 2001 census and the was 3.89 per cent; and in the subsequent five years to the 2011 census, population growth was 2.11 per cent. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same periods, being 5.78 per cent and 8.32 per cent respectively, population growth in the Ballina local government area was significantly lower than the national average. Growth increased to a 9.2% increase between 2011 and 2016, compared to a national average of 8.8%. The median weekly income for residents within the Ballina Shire area was significantly lower than the national average. At the 2016 census, the proportion of residents in the Ballina 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 ...

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 ...

exceeded 60 per cent of all residents (national average was 48.3 per cent). Nearly 60% of all residents in the Ballina nominated a

religious Religion is usually defined as a social system, social-cultural system of designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morality, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sacred site, sanctified places, prophecy, prophecie ...

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. Ballina Shire had a significantly higher proportion of households (89.1 per cent) where

only was spoken at home (national average was 72.7 per cent).

Council

Current composition and election method

Ballina Shire Council is composed of ten

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

, for a fixed four-year term of office. The mayor is directly elected while the nine other councillors are elected proportionally as three separate

wards 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 priso ...

, each electing three councillors. The most recent election was held on 4 December 2021, and the makeup of the council, including the mayor, is as follows: The current Council, elected in 2021, in order of election by ward, is:

References

External links

Ballina Shire Council
{{Authority control Local government areas of New South Wales 1977 establishments in Australia Northern Rivers Ballina, New South Wales