The Shire of Colac Otway is a

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

in the

Barwon South West The Barwon South West is an economic rural region located in the southwestern part of Victoria, Australia. The Barwon South West region stretches from the tip of the Queenscliff Heads to the border of South Australia. It is home to Victori ...

region of Victoria,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, located in the south-western part of the state. It covers an area of and in June 2018 had a population of 21,503. It includes the towns of Apollo Bay, Beeac,

Beech Forest Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted species i ...

Birregurra Birregurra, is a town in Colac Otway Shire, Victoria, Australia, approximately south-west of Melbourne. At the 2021 census, it had a population of 942. The name comes from an Aboriginal word thought to mean "kangaroo camp". The town is on G ...

, Colac, Cressy,

Forrest Forrest may refer to: Places Australia *Forrest, Australian Capital Territory *Forrest, Victoria, a small rural township *Division of Forrest, a federal division of the Australian House of Representatives, in Western Australia *Electoral distric ...

Johanna Johanna is a feminine name, a variant form of Joanna that originated in Latin in the Middle Ages, including an -h- by analogy with the Latin masculine name Johannes. The original Greek form ''Iōanna'' lacks a medial /h/ because in Greek Spiritus ...

, Kennett River, Lavers Hill, Warrion and Wye River. It came into existence on 23 September 1994 through the amalgamation of the local government areas of City of Colac, Shire of Colac, part of the Shire of Otway and part of the Shire of Heytesbury. The Shire is governed and administered by the Colac Otway Shire Council; its

seat of local government The seat of government is (as defined by ''Brewer's Politics'') "the building, complex of buildings or the city from which a government exercises its authority". In most countries, the nation's capital is also seat of its government, thus that ...

and administrative centre is located at the council headquarters in Colac, it also has a service centre located in Apollo Bay. The Shire is named after the combination of the names for the former City of ''Colac'', and Shires of ''Colac'' and ''Otway'', from which the majority of the LGA was formed. The name Colac is used for both the main urban settlement and the lake, Lake Colac, which are located in the north-centre of the LGA. Colac is also the most populous urban centre in the LGA with a population of almost 12,000. 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 is a cape and a bounded locality of the Colac Otway Shire in southern Victoria, Australia on the Great Ocean Road; much of the area is enclosed in the Great Otway National Park. The cape marks the boundary between the Southern Ocea ...

. 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.

History

The Colac district is the traditional land for the Gulidjan people and was known as “Kolak” or “Kolakgnat” which means ‘belonging to sand’. The Gulidjan people are of the Easter Maar Nation. The earliest European settlers arrived in the district in the 1830s and settled around Lake Colac.

Council

Current composition

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

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 ^ - ''Territory divided with another

LGA LaGuardia Airport ( ) – colloquially known as LaGuardia or simply LGA – is a civil airport in East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City, situated on the northwestern shore of Long Island, bordering Flushing Bay. Covering , the facility wa ...

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
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Colac Otway, Shire of Local government areas of Victoria (state) Barwon South West (region) Otway Ranges