# Muswellbrook Shire

Muswellbrook Shire is a local government area in the Upper Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire is situated adjacent to the New England Highway and the Hunter railway line.
Muswellbrook Shire was established on 1 July 1979 from the amalgamation of the Municipality of Muswellbrook with the adjacent Denman Shire, which had been called Muswellbrook Shire between 1907 and 1968.
The mayor of the Muswellbrook Shire Council is Cr. Jeffrey Drayton.

## Main towns and villages

The Shire includes Muswellbrook, Denman, Baerami, McCullys Gap, Martindale, Muscle Creek, Sandy Hollow, Widden and Wybong.

## Coal mining

Muswellbrook started as coal mining town in late 1800s and began open cut mining in 1944. The oldest coal was opened in 1906.

## Heritage listings

The Muswellbrook Shire has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
* Denman, 4883 Jerrys Plains Road: Merton
* Muswellbrook, Denman Road: Rous Lench
* Muswellbrook, 132 Bridge Street: Weidmann Cottage
* Muswellbrook, 142-144 Bridge Street: Loxton House
* Muswellbrook, 178, 180-188 Bridge Street: Eatons Group
* Muswellbrook, 710 Denman Road: Edinglassie
* Muswellbrook, Hunter Terrace: St Alban's Anglican Church
* Muswellbrook, Main Northern railway: Muswellbrook railway station

## Demographics

At the 2011 census, there were 15,791 people in the Muswellbrook Shire local government area, of these 51.7 per cent were male and 48.3 per cent were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 5.4 per cent of the population, which was significantly higher than the national and state averages of 2.5 per cent. The median age of people in the Muswellbrook Shire was 34 years, which was lower than the national median of 37 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 22.8 per cent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 10.6 per cent of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 47.0 per cent were married and 11.8 per cent were either divorced or separated.
Population growth in the Muswellbrook Shire between the 2001 census and the 2006 census was 3.25 per cent; and in the subsequent five years to the 2011 census, population growth was 3.64 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 Muswellbrook Shire local government area was approximately half the national average. The median weekly income for residents within the Muswellbrook Shire was marginally higher than the national average.
At the 2011 census, the proportion of residents in the Muswellbrook Shire local government area who stated their ancestry as Australian or Anglo-Saxon exceeded 81 per cent of all residents (national average was 65.2 per cent). In excess of 68% of all residents in the Muswellbrook Shire nominated a religious affiliation with Christianity at the 2011 census, which was considerably higher than the national average of 50.2 per cent. Meanwhile, as at the census date, compared to the national average, households in the Muswellbrook Shire local government area had a significantly lower than average proportion (4.3 per cent) where two or more languages are spoken (national average was 20.4 per cent); and a significantly higher proportion (89.7 per cent) where English only was spoken at home (national average was 76.8 per cent).
Selected historical census data for the Muswellbrook Shire local government area :
| Census year | Census year | Census year | 2001 | 2006 | 2011 |
| Population | Population | Estimated residents on Census night | 14,756 | 15,236 | 15,791 |
| Population | Population | LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales | | | |
| Population | Population | % of New South Wales population | | | 0.23% |
| Population | Population | % of Australian population | 0.08% | 0.08% | 0.07% |
| Cultural and language diversity | Cultural and language diversity | Cultural and language diversity | | | |
| Ancestry, top responses | Ancestry, top responses | Australian | | | 36.2% |
| Ancestry, top responses | Ancestry, top responses | English | | | 30.4% |
| Ancestry, top responses | Ancestry, top responses | Irish | | | 8.1% |
| Ancestry, top responses | Ancestry, top responses | Scottish | | | 6.6% |
| Ancestry, top responses | Ancestry, top responses | German | | | 2.9% |
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Language, top responses (other than English) | Shona | n/c | n/c | 0.2% |
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Language, top responses (other than English) | Cantonese | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Language, top responses (other than English) | Italian | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Language, top responses (other than English) | Thai | n/c | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Language, top responses (other than English) | Mandarin | n/c | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| Religious affiliation | Religious affiliation | Religious affiliation | | | |
| Religious affiliation, top responses | Religious affiliation, top responses | Anglican | 40.3% | 37.5% | 35.6% |
| Religious affiliation, top responses | Religious affiliation, top responses | Catholic | 28.0% | 27.7% | 26.1% |
| Religious affiliation, top responses | Religious affiliation, top responses | No Religion | 7.6% | 11.0% | 13.9% |
| Religious affiliation, top responses | Religious affiliation, top responses | Uniting Church | 5.2% | 4.4% | 3.9% |
| Religious affiliation, top responses | Religious affiliation, top responses | Presbyterian and Reformed | 3.8% | 3.2% | 3.1% |
| Median weekly incomes | Median weekly incomes | Median weekly incomes | | | |
| Personal income | Personal income | Median weekly personal income | | A$453 | A$619 |
| Personal income | Personal income | % of Australian median income | | 97.2% | 107.3% |
| Family income | Family income | Median weekly family income | | A$1,213 | A$1,697 |
| Family income | Family income | % of Australian median income | | 103.6% | 114.6% |
| Household income | Household income | Median weekly household income | | A$1,060 | A$1,399 |
| Household income | Household income | % of Australian median income | | 103.2% | 113.4% |

## Council
### Current composition and election method

Muswellbrook Shire Council is composed of twelve councillors elected proportionally as a single ward. All councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office. The mayor is elected by the councillors at the first meeting of the council. The most recent election was held on 11 January 2022 and the makeup of the council is as follows:
| Party | Party | Councillors |
| | Independents and Unaligned | 12 |
| | Total | 12 |
The current Council, elected in 2024, in order of election, is:
| Councillor | Party | Notes |
| Max MORRIS | Independent | |
| Jeffrey DRAYTON | Independent | Mayor |
| De-Anne DOUGLAS | Independent | Deputy Mayor |
| Rohit MAHAJAN | Independent | |
| Louise DUNN | Independent | |
| Rod SCHOLES | Independent | |
| Clare BAILEY | Independent | |
| Darryl MARSHALL | Independent | |
| Amanda BARRY | Independent | |
| Graeme MCNEILL | Independent | |
| Stephen WARD | | |
| David HARTLEY | Independent | |

### Mayors

The following is a list of mayors since the Shire of Denman amalgamated with the Municipality of Muswellbrook to form Muswellbrook Shire Council on 1 July 1979.
| Councillor | Party | Term of office |
| J.H. Jobling | Unaligned | 1979–1986 |
| E.I. Wolfgang | Unaligned | 1986–1989 |
| I.E. Seymour | Unaligned | 1989–1999 |
| J.E. Colvin | Unaligned | 1999–2008 |
| Martin Rush | Unaligned | 2008–2021 |
| Rod Scholes | Unaligned | 2021–2022 |
| Steven Reynolds | | 2022-2024 |
| Jeffrey Drayton | | 2024-present |