The Shire of Colac Otway is a local government area in the

Barwon South West The Barwon South West is an economic rural region located in the southwestern part of Victoria, Australia. The Barwon South West region stretches from the tip of the Queenscliff Heads to the border of South Australia. It is home to Victoria� ...

region of

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 south-western part of the state. It covers an area of and in June 2018 had a population of 21,503. It includes the towns of

Apollo Bay Apollo Bay is a coastal town in southwestern Victoria, Australia. It is situated on the eastern side of Cape Otway, along the edge of the Barham River and on the Great Ocean Road, in the Colac Otway Shire. The town had a population of 1,790 at ...

Beeac Beeac is a town in the Western District of Victoria, Australia. The town is located on the shore of the hyper-saline Lake Beeac in the Colac Otway Shire local government area, 160 kilometres southwest of the state capital, Melbourne. At the ...

, Beech Forest, Birregurra, Colac, Cressy, Forrest,

Johanna Johanna is a feminine name, a variant form of Joanna that originated in Latin in the Middle Ages, including an -h- by analogy with the Latin masculine name Johannes. The original Greek form ''Iōanna'' lacks a medial /h/ because in Greek /h/ cou ...

, Kennett River,

Lavers Hill Lavers Hill is a town in Victoria, Australia, located inland from Port Campbell and from Apollo Bay. The township is located approximately south-west of the state capital, Melbourne. At the 2016 census, Lavers Hill had a population of 78. ...

, Warrion and Wye River. It came into existence on 23 September 1994 through the amalgamation of the local government areas of

City of Colac The City of Colac was a local government area about west-southwest of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The city covered an area of , and existed from 1938 until 1994. Its area was surrounded by the separate and largely rural ...

Shire of Colac The Shire of Colac was a local government area about west-southwest of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1859 until 1994. History Colac was first incorporated as a road dis ...

, part of the

Shire of Otway The Shire of Otway was a local government area about southwest of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1919 until 1994. History Otway was incorporated as a shire on 6 May 1919, c ...

and part of the

Shire of Heytesbury The Shire of Heytesbury was a local government area about west-southwest of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1895 until 1994. History Heytesbury was originally located within ...

. The Shire is governed and administered by the Colac Otway 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 Colac, it also has a service centre located in Apollo Bay. The Shire is named after the combination of the names for the former City of ''Colac'', and Shires of ''Colac'' and ''Otway'', from which the majority of the LGA was formed. The name Colac is used for both the main urban settlement and the lake, Lake Colac, which are located in the north-centre of the LGA. Colac is also the most populous urban centre in the LGA with a population of almost 12,000. The name Otways is used for the major geographical features located in the south of the LGA, which are The Otways and

Cape Otway Cape Otway is a cape and a bounded locality of the Colac Otway Shire in southern Victoria, Australia on the Great Ocean Road; much of the area is enclosed in the Great Otway National Park. History Cape Otway was originally inhabited by the Gadu ...

. Cape Otway was originally named by Lieutenant James Grant who was the commander of the vessel, the Lady Nelson. He named it after Captain William Otway who was one of the commissioners of the Transport Board, on 7 December 1800.

History

The Colac district is the traditional land for the Gulidjan people and was known as “Kolak” or “Kolakgnat” which means ‘belonging to sand’. The Gulidjan people are of the Easter Maar Nation. The earliest European settlers arrived in the district in the 1830s and settled around Lake Colac.

Council

Current composition

The council is composed of seven councillors elected to represent an unsubdivided municipality. In order of election in 2020, they are:

Former Wards (1996–2008)

*Colac – had three councillors *Murray – had one councillor *Otway – had one councillor *Warrion – had one councillor

Administration and governance

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

Main towns in shire

In 2021 Census the shire had a population of 22,423.

References

External links

Colac Otway Shire Council official websiteColac Otway Web – Regional Web SiteMetlink local public transport mapLink to Land Victoria interactive mapsColac Otway Shire: Know Your Council
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colac Otway, Shire of Local government areas of Victoria (Australia) Barwon South West Otway Ranges