The Town of Gawler is a local government area located north of Adelaide city centre in South Australia containing Gawler and its suburbs. The corporate town was established in 1857 due to the township's residents' dissatisfaction at being governed by three different district councils.

The Town of Gawler is located within the officially declared boundaries of the Adelaide metropolitan area. 1.0% of the population were Indigenous Australian, and 76.3% were born in Australia.

The current mayor of Gawler is Nathan Shanks, who was elected in 2025 following the resignation of long-serving mayor Karen Redman on 30 May 2025.

Shanks was first elected to the Town of Gawler Council as an Area Councillor in 2018. He later served as Deputy Mayor from 2022–2023 and again from 2024–2025, before stepping into the role of Acting Mayor between June and September 2025.

Redman, who had served as mayor since 2014, was the first elected female mayor in Gawler’s history and was re-elected for further terms in 2018 and 2022 before her resignation in 2025.

{| class="wikitable"

|-

!Ward!!colspan="2"|Party Affiliation!! style=width:12em |Councillor!!First elected!! style=width:20em |Notes

|-

| |Mayor

| | 

| Independent

| Nathan Shanks

|2018

| Deputy Mayor 2022-2023, 2024-2025, Acting Mayor 2025 (June - September) Current Mayor 2025

|-

| rowspan="10" |Area Councillor

| | 

| Labor

| Cody Davies

|2018

| Deputy Mayor 2023-2024

|-

| | 

| Independent

| Helen Hennessy

|2022

|

|-

| | 

| Independent

| David Hughes

|2010

|Deputy Mayor 2011-2013,2015-2016

|-

| | 

| Independent

| Mick Launer

|2022

|

|-

| | 

| Labor

| Isaac Solomon

|2022

| Deputy Mayor 2026 - present

|-

| | 

| Independent

| Brian Sambell

|2006

|Mayor 2006-2014

|-

| | 

| Liberal

| Jim Vallelonga

|2014

|

|-

|

|Independent

|Karen Redman

|2010

|Mayor 2014-2025 (Resigned May 2025).

|-

|

| Independent

| Paul Koch

|2010

|Died while in office early 2026.

|-

|

| Independent

| Ethan White

|2022

| Deputy Mayor 2025 (Resigned January 2026).

|}

Mayors

As of 2023, 41 people have served as mayor of Gawler in 58 terms of office since the first to hold the position, Richard James Turner, in 1857.

  • 1857–1860: Richard James Turner
  • 1861–1864: James Martin
  • 1865: George Nott
  • 1866: John Mitchell
  • 1867: Thomas Flett Loutit
  • 1867: Thomas Oliver Jones
  • 1868: James Martin
  • 1869–1870: Edward Clement
  • 1871–1872: Thomas Oliver Jones
  • 1873–1874: William Faulkner Wincey
  • 1875–1876: John Jones
  • 1877: James Dawson
  • 1877–1878: James Martin
  • 1879–1880: Henry Edward Bright Jr
  • 1881–1882: Herbert Dean
  • 1883: John Charles Wilkinson
  • 1884–1885: Leonard Samuel Burton
  • 1886: Benjamin Edward Deland
  • 1887: James Martin
  • 1888: Leonard Samuel Burton
  • 1889–1890: John Jones
  • 1891–1893: William Henry Cox
  • 1894–1895: Edward Lucas
  • 1896: William Henry Cox
  • 1897–1898: Frank Dixon Harris
  • 1899: William Henry Cox
  • 1900: Robert King Thomson
  • 1901–1902: Charles George Rebbeck
  • 1903–1904: George Bright
  • 1905–1906: James Fergusson
  • 1907: Arthur Smith
  • 1908–1909: William M. Dawkins
  • 1910–1911: Charles George Rebbeck
  • 1912–1913: Frederick David Temby
  • 1914–1917: William Henry Cox
  • 1918–1919: Hermann Ludwig Marsh
  • 1920–1921: James Busbridge Jr
  • 1922–1924: William Henry Cox
  • 1925–1926: Michael Lynch
  • 1927–1929: Dashwood Charles Connor
  • 1930: James Busbridge Jr
  • 1931–1934: William Henry Cox
  • 1934–1938: William Rice
  • 1938–1946: William Antwis
  • 1946–1952: Adolph Louis Ferdinand Ey
  • 1952–1959: Elliott Chivell Goodger
  • 1959–1960: Adolph Louis Ferdinand Ey
  • 1960–1968: Elliott Chivell Goodger
  • 1968–1972: Bruce Charles Eastick
  • 1972–1978: Cecil William "Cec" Creedon
  • 1978–1989: Gilbert Barry "Gil" Harnett
  • 1989–1992: Robert Lethbridge Bartlett
  • 1992–1993: Antonio "Tony" Piccolo
  • 1993–2000: Bruce Charles Eastick
  • 2000–2006: Antonio "Tony" Piccolo
  • 2006 (May to Nov): Helena Mary Dawkins
  • 2006–2014: Brian Donald Sambell
  • 2014–2025: Karen Redman
  • 2025–Present: Nathan Christopher Shanks

Suburbs

  • Bibaringa (5118) (part; shared with City of Playford)
  • Evanston (5116)
  • Evanston Gardens (5116)
  • Evanston Park (5116) (part; shared with City of Playford)
  • Evanston South (5116)
  • Gawler (5118)
  • Gawler East (5118)
  • Gawler South (5118)
  • Gawler West (5118)
  • Hillier (5116) (part; shared with City of Playford)
  • Kudla (5115)
  • Reid (5118) (part; shared with Light Regional Council)
  • Willaston (5118)

Waste management and recycling

Garbage, recycling, and green waste collection services are provided by the Northern Adelaide Waste Management Authority.

See also

  • Gawler, South Australia
  • List of Adelaide suburbs
  • Local Government Areas of South Australia

References

  • Official site