Shire of Colac Otway

The Shire of Colac Otway is a local government area in the Barwon South West region of Victoria, 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. 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 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. The Gulidjan people are of the Easter Maar Nation.

The Shire of Colac Otway came into existence on 23 September 1994 through the amalgamation of the City of Colac, Shire of Colac, the bulk of the Shire of Otway and part of the Shire of Heytesbury. The name originally proposed for the Shire was "Shire of Gellibrand", after the Gellibrand River and the locality of the same name.

center|thumb|A map of Colac Otway Shire showing the predecessor LGAs that overlapped the area before the 1994 local government amalgamations

Council

Current composition

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

{| class="wikitable"

!Ward!!colspan="2"|Party

!Councillor!!Notes

| rowspan="7"|Unsubdivided

| |

|Independent|| Tosh-Jake Finnigan || Elected on a countback in 2023 to replace Joe McCracken|

| |

|Independent|| Chris Potter ||

| |

|Independent|| Graham Lesie Costin ||

| |

|Independent|| Kate Hanson ||

| |

|Greens|| Stephen Hart ||

| |

|Independent|| Jamie Bell ||

| |

|Independent|| Margaret White ||

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.

Election results

2024

2020

Townships and localities

The 2021 census, the shire had a population of 22,423 up from 20,972 in the 2016 census

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"

! colspan="3" | Population

! Locality !! 2016 !! 2021

| || 0 || 0

| || 132 || 141

| || 1,598 || 1,790

| || 67 || 59

| || 434 || 458

| || 235 || 291

| || 7 || 11

| || 9 || 10

| || 131 || 136

| || 370 || 394

| || 82 || 125

| ^ || 828 || 942

| || 62 || 65

| || 15 || 34

| ^ || 135 || 168

| ^ || 134 || 115

| ^ || 36 || 42

| || 9,048 || 9,243

| || 217 || 168

| || 81 || 89

| || 161 || 171

| || 310 || 358

| || 115 || 119

| ^ || 175 || 176

| || 11 || 15

| ^ || 9 || 10

| || 55 || 77

| || 30 || 28

| || 2,900 || 3,260

| || 65 || 43

| || 19 || 13

| || 230 || 257

| || 210 || 230

| ^ || 13 || 19

| || 105 || 112

| || 28 || 33

| || 4 || 4

| || 43 || 44

| || 345 || 365

| || 125 || 100

| || 76 || 84

| ^ || 188 || 185

| || 63 || 85

| || 166 || 189

| || 41 || 74

| || 194 || 200

| || 78 || 87

| || 239 || 272

| || 0 || 0

| || 83 || 95

| || 76 || 72

| ^ || 97 || 93

| || 94 || 101

| ^ || 86 || 110

| || 0 || 7

| ^ || 113 || 132

| || 19 || 28

| ^ || 569 || 583

| || 164 || 249

| || 16 || 19

| ^ || 51 || 65

| || 14 || 20

| || 121 || 127

| || 19 || 15

| || 130 || 146

| || 198 || 204

| || 11 || 15

| || 67 || 62

| || 18 || 25

| ^ || 1,954 || 2,456

| ^ || 23 || 26

| || 37 || 47

| || 38 || 55

| || 63 || 67

| || 38 || 40

| || 148 || 124

| || 121 || 107

| || 37 || 49

^ - Territory divided with another LGA

Notes

References

External links

Colac Otway Shire Council official website
Colac Otway Web – Regional Web Site
Metlink local public transport map
Link to Land Victoria interactive maps
Colac Otway Shire: Know Your Council