# Inverell Shire

Inverell Shire is a local government area in the North West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia adjacent to the Macintyre River and the Gwydir Highway.
The mayor of Inverell Shire Council is Cr. Kate Dight, who is unaligned with any political party.

## History

Inverell Shire was created on 1 July 1979 from the amalgamation of the Municipality of Inverell with Ashford Shire and Macintyre Shire.
Formerly part of the Armidale Region, on 1 July 2019, Tingha was transferred to the Inverell Shire.

## Main towns and villages

The shire includes the town of Inverell and small towns and villages including Gilgai, Stannifer, Elsmore, Bukkulla, Ashford, Bonshaw, Yetman, Wallangra, Graman, Oakwood, Delungra, Mount Russell and Tingha. The locality of Myall Creek is split being Inverell Shire and Gwydir Shire.

## Demographics

At the 2011 census, there were 16,075 people in the Inverell local government area, of these 49.1 per cent were male, and 50.9 per cent were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 6.5 per cent of the population which is approximately two-and-a-half times above both the national and state averages of 2.5 per cent. The median age of people in the Inverell Shire was 41 years; slightly higher than the national median of 37 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 21.3 per cent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 19.2 per cent of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 51.3 per cent were married and 11.8 per cent were either divorced or separated.
Between the 2001 census and the 2011 census, the Inverell Shire experienced nominal population growth in both absolute and real terms. When compared with the total population growth of Australia for the same periods, being 5.78 per cent and 8.32 per cent respectively, population growth in the Inverell local government area was significantly lower than the national average. The median weekly income for residents within the Inverell Shire was significantly below the national average.
At the 2011 census, the proportion of residents in the Inverell local government area who stated their ancestry as Australian or Anglo-Saxon exceeded 88 per cent of all residents (the national average was 65.2 per cent). In excess of 68 per cent of all residents in the Inverell Shire nominated a religious affiliation with Christianity at the 2011 census, which was higher than the national average of 50.2 per cent. Meanwhile, as at the census date, compared to the national average, households in the Inverell local government area had a significantly lower than average proportion (3.2 per cent) where two or more languages are spoken (the national average was 20.4 per cent); and a significantly higher proportion (94.5 per cent) where English only was spoken at home (national average was 76.8 per cent).

### Selected historical census data

Selected historical census data for Inverell Shire local government area :
| Census year | Census year | Census year | 2001 | 2006 | 2011 |
| Population | Population | Estimated residents on Census night | 15,020 | 15,510 | 16,075 |
| Population | Population | LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales | | 82nd | 74th |
| 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 | | | 36.8% |
| Ancestry, top responses | Ancestry, top responses | English | | | 31.7% |
| Ancestry, top responses | Ancestry, top responses | Irish | | | 8.2% |
| Ancestry, top responses | Ancestry, top responses | Scottish | | | 7.4% |
| Ancestry, top responses | Ancestry, top responses | German | | | 3.9% |
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Language, top responses (other than English) | Italian | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.3% |
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Language, top responses (other than English) | Portuguese | n/c | n/c | 0.3% |
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Language, top responses (other than English) | Tagalog | n/c | n/c | 0.2% |
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Language, top responses (other than English) | German | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.1% |
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Language, top responses (other than English) | Filipino | n/c | n/c | 0.1% |
| Religious affiliation | Religious affiliation | Religious affiliation | | | |
| Religious affiliation, top responses | Religious affiliation, top responses | Anglican | 37.0% | 34.0% | 32.8% |
| Religious affiliation, top responses | Religious affiliation, top responses | Catholic | 23.7% | 23.8% | 22.8% |
| Religious affiliation, top responses | Religious affiliation, top responses | No Religion | 7.1% | 10.7% | 13.7% |
| Religious affiliation, top responses | Religious affiliation, top responses | Presbyterian and Reformed | 9.0% | 8.2% | 7.5% |
| Religious affiliation, top responses | Religious affiliation, top responses | Uniting Church | 4.7% | 6.1% | 5.8% |
| Median weekly incomes | Median weekly incomes | Median weekly incomes | | | |
| Personal income | Personal income | Median weekly personal income | | A$352 | A$430 |
| Personal income | Personal income | % of Australian median personal income | | 75.5% | 74.5% |
| Family income | Family income | Median weekly family income | | A$840 | A$963 |
| Family income | Family income | % of Australian median family income | | 71.7% | 65.0% |
| Household income | Household income | Median weekly household income | | A$642 | A$792 |
| Household income | Household income | % of Australian median household income | | 62.5% | 64.2% |

## Council
### Current composition and election method

Inverell Shire 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 | Party | Councillors |
| | Independents and unaligned | 9 |
| | Total | 9 |

## Election results
### 2024

2024 New South Wales local elections: Inverell :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Independent | 1. Kate Dight (elected) 2. Ian Hooker (elected) | 2,551 | 25.66 |
| | Independent | 1. Paul Harmon (Ind. Nat) (elected) 2. John (Jacko) Ross (elected) | 2,372 | 23.86 |
| | Independent | Greg Kachel (elected) | 1,723 | 17.33 |
| | Independent | 1. Jo Williams (elected) 2. Fiona Brown (elected) | 1,350 | 13.58 |
| | Independent | 1. Paul King (elected) 2. Wendy Wilks (Ind. Nat) (elected) | 1,280 | 12.88 |
| | Independent | Kelvin Brown | 396 | 3.98 |
| | Independent National | Graem Murray | 268 | 2.70 |
| Total formal votes | Total formal votes | Total formal votes | 9,940 | 90.69 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 1,021 | 9.31 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 10,961 | 82.99 |

### 2021

2021 New South Wales local elections: Inverell :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Independent | 1. Paul Harmon (elected) 2. Kate Dight (elected) | 3,271 | 33.1 |
| | Di Baker & Jo Williams | 1. Di Baker (elected) 2. Jo Williams (elected) | 2,947 | 29.8 |
| | Independent | 1. Paul King (elected) 2. Wendy Wilks (elected) | 1,264 | 12.8 |
| | Independent | Nicky Lavender (elected) | 665 | 6.7 |
| | Independent | Stewart Berryman (elected) | 592 | 6.0 |
| | Independent | John (Jacko) Ross (elected) | 481 | 4.9 |
| | Independent | Phil Girle | 347 | 3.5 |
| | Independent | Jacki Watts | 320 | 3.2 |
| Total formal votes | Total formal votes | Total formal votes | 9,887 | 93.3 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 705 | 6.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 10,592 | 82.3 |