# Tamworth Regional Council

Tamworth Regional Council is a local government area in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. The area under administration is located adjacent to the New England Highway and the Main North railway line. It was established in March 2004 through the amalgamation of the former City of Tamworth with surrounding shires of Barraba, Manilla, Nundle and Parry.
The mayor of Tamworth Regional Council is Cr. Russell Webb, who was elected (by councillors) despite earning only 6.73% of the community's first preference votes, compared to Mark Rodda, who earned 25.63% of the community's first preference votes.
The current Member for the state electoral district of Tamworth is Kevin Anderson, a member of the National Party.

## Towns and villages

The area includes the city of Tamworth and the towns and villages of Attunga, Barraba, Bendemeer, Dungowan, Duri, Kootingal, Limbri, Manilla, Moonbi, Niangala, Nundle, Ogunbil, Somerton, Upper Manilla and Woolbrook.

## Suburbs

* Calala
* Coledale
* Daruka Estate
* East Tamworth
* Forest Hills
* Hillvue
* Kingswood
* Nemingha
* North Tamworth
* Oxley Vale
* South Tamworth
* Taminda
* Tamworth
* Tamworth Central Business District
* Westdale
* West Tamworth

## Heritage listings

Tamworth Region has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
* Kootingal, New England Highway: Moonby House
* Manilla, Tamworth-Barraba railway: Manilla railway underbridges
* Tamworth, Fitzroy Street: Tamworth Post Office
* Tamworth, King George V Memorial Avenue (East): King George V Avenue of Memorial English Oaks
* Tamworth, Main Northern railway: Tamworth railway station
* Tamworth, Main Northern railway: Peel River railway bridge
* Tamworth, Marius Street (East): Dominican Roman Catholic Convent
* Tamworth, Peel Street (cnr): Tamworth Peel Barracks

## Demographics

At the 2021 census, there were 63,070 people in the Tamworth Regional Local Government Area, of these 49.0 per cent identified as male and 51.0 per cent identified as female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 12.7 per cent of the population, which was greater than three times higher than the national average of 3.2 per cent. The median age of people in the Tamworth Regional Council was 39 years, which was marginally higher than the national median of 38 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 20.2 per cent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 19.8 per cent of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 44.6 per cent were married and 11.8 per cent were either divorced or separated.
Population growth in the Tamworth Regional Local Government Area between the 2011 Census and the 2016 Census was 6.0 per cent. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same period, being 8.8 per cent, population growth in the Tamworth Regional Local Government Area was slightly lower than the national average.
The median weekly income for residents within the Tamworth Regional Council was lower than the national average, this downwards trend compared to the national average was also seen with personal and family incomes.
At the 2021 Census, the proportion of residents in the Tamworth Regional local government area who stated their ancestry as Australian or Anglo-Saxon was about 83.3 per cent of all residents (the national average was around 62.9 per cent). About 49.2% of all residents in the Tamworth Regional Local Government Area nominated a religious affiliation with Christianity at the 2021 Census, which was higher than the national average of approximately 32.4 per cent. Meanwhile, as at the 2021 Census date, compared to the national average, households in the Tamworth Regional Local Government Area had a significantly lower than average proportion (6.8 per cent) where two or more languages are spoken (the national average was 24.8 per cent); and a significantly higher proportion (87.2 per cent) where English only was spoken at home (the national average was 72.0 per cent).
Selected historical Census data for the Tamworth Regional Local Government Area :
| Census year | Census year | Census year | 2001 | 2006 | 2011 | 2016 | 2021 |
| Population | Population | Estimated residents on Census night | n/a | 53,590 | 56,292 | 59,663 | 63,070 |
| Population | Population | LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales | | | 43rd | 40th | |
| Population | Population | % of New South Wales population | | 0.80% | 0.81% | 0.80% | 0.78% |
| Population | Population | % of Australian population | n/a | 0.27% | 0.26% | 0.26% | 0.24% |
| Cultural and language diversity | Cultural and language diversity | Cultural and language diversity | Cultural and language diversity | | | | |
| Ancestry, top responses | Ancestry, top responses | Australian | | | 37.5% | 35.9% | 43.6% |
| Ancestry, top responses | Ancestry, top responses | English | | | 31.0% | 30.1% | 39.7% |
| Ancestry, top responses | Ancestry, top responses | Irish | | | 8.5% | 8.6% | 10.7% |
| Ancestry, top responses | Ancestry, top responses | Scottish | | | 7.3% | 7.4% | 9.7% |
| Ancestry, top responses | Ancestry, top responses | German | | | 3.2% | 3.2% | - |
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Language, top responses (other than English) | Tagalog | | n/c | 0.1% | 0.4% | 0.5% |
| 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) | Mandarin | | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.4% | 0.7% |
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Language, top responses (other than English) | Filipino | | | | 0.2% | - |
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Language, top responses (other than English) | German | | 0.1% | 0.1% | - | - |
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Language, top responses (other than English) | Italian | | 0.1% | 0.1% | - | - |
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Language, top responses (other than English) | Religious affiliation | Religious affiliation | | | | |
| Religious affiliation, top responses | Religious affiliation, top responses | Anglican | | 38.4% | 36.2% | 30.0% | 24.0% |
| Religious affiliation, top responses | Religious affiliation, top responses | Catholic | | 26.5% | 25.9% | 24.4% | 21.8% |
| Religious affiliation, top responses | Religious affiliation, top responses | No Religion | | 9.5% | 12.6% | 19.3% | 31.1% |
| Religious affiliation, top responses | Religious affiliation, top responses | Uniting Church | | 6.3% | 5.5% | 4.4% | 3.4% |
| Religious affiliation, top responses | Religious affiliation, top responses | Presbyterian and Reformed | | 5.3% | 5.0% | - | - |
| Median weekly incomes | Median weekly incomes | Median weekly incomes | Median weekly incomes | | | | |
| Personal income | Personal income | Median weekly personal income | | $405 | $515 | $633 | $755 |
| Personal income | Personal income | % of Australian median income | | 86.9% | 89.3% | 95.3% | 93.7% |
| Family income | Family income | Median weekly family income | | A$1,041 | A$1,181 | A$1,446 | $1,821 |
| Family income | Family income | % of Australian median income | | 88.9% | 79.7% | 81.2% | 85.8% |
| Household income | Household income | Median weekly household income | | A$818 | A$958 | A$1,180 | $1,416 |
| Household income | Household income | % of Australian median income | | 79.6% | 77.6% | 79.4% | 81.0% |

## Council
### Current composition and election method

Tamworth Regional Council is composed of nine 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 4 December 2021, and the makeup of the council is as follows:
| Party | Councillors |
| Independent | 7 |
| Independent National | 1 |
| Labor | 1 |
| Total | 9 |
The current council, elected in 2021, in order of election, is:
| Councillor | Party | Notes |
| Bede Bourke | Independent National | Deputy Mayor |
| Russell Webb | Independent | Mayor |
| Mark Rodda | Independent | |
| Marc Sutherland | Independent | |
| Phil Betts | Independent | |
| Helen Tickle | Independent | |
| Brooke Southwell | Independent | |
| Stephen Meares | Labor | |
| Judy Coates | Independent | |

## Election results
### 2024

2024 New South Wales local elections: Tamworth :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Independent | Mark Rodda (elected 1) | 9,523 | 25.6 | +7.9 |
| | Labor | 1. Stephen Mears (elected 2) 2. Laura Hughes 3. Thomas Robinson 4. Denise McHugh 5. Sergio Rindo | 6,680 | 18.0 | +4.4 |
| | Greens | 1. Ryan Brooke (elected 9) 2. Gemma-Lea Tolmie 3. Sewa Emojong 4. Robin Gunning 5. Catherine Fogarty | 3,183 | 8.6 | +8.6 |
| | Independent | Russell Webb (elected 4) | 2,500 | 6.7 | −4.1 |
| | Independent | Brendon North (elected 3) | 2,246 | 6.0 | +6.0 |
| | Independent | Jeffrey Budd (elected 5) | 2,039 | 5.5 | +5,5 |
| | Independent | Marc Sutherland (elected 8) | 1,714 | 4.6 | −5.6 |
| | Independent | Charles Impey (elected 7) | 1,611 | 4.3 | +0.8 |
| | Independent | Matt Sharpam (elected 6) | 1,582 | 4.3 | +4.3 |
| | Independent National | Bede Burke | 1,573 | 4.2 | −7.6 |
| | Independent | Judy Coates | 1,474 | 4.0 | +0.7 |
| | Independent | Ray Tait | 808 | 2.2 | −1.0 |
| | Independent National | Heidi Williamson | 754 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| | Independent | Marie Fenn | 582 | 1.6 | +1.6 |
| | Independent National | Daniel Gillett | 566 | 1.5 | +1.5 |
| | Independent | Greg Meyer | 318 | 0.9 | +0.9 |
| Total formal votes | Total formal votes | Total formal votes | 37,153 | 92.8 | +0.5 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 2,887 | 7.2 | −0.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 40,040 | 86.0 | +0.1 |