Kempsey Shire 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

Mid North Coast The Mid North Coast is a country region in the north-east of the state of New South Wales, Australia. The region, situated 416km north of Sydney, covers the mid northern coast of the state, beginning from Port Stephens at Hawks Nest to as far ...

region of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

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 ...

. The shire services an area of and is located on the Pacific Highway and the North Coast railway line. Kempsey Shire was formed on 1 October 1975 by the amalgamation of the former Kempsey Municipality and the former Macleay Shire. At the , Kempsey Shire had a high proportion of

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups, w ...

residing within its boundaries; being 11.1 per cent of the resident population, more than four times the national and state

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

s of 2.5 per cent. The shire also contains a coastal strip that was identified in 2007, and confirmed in 2015, as one of the most socially disadvantaged areas in Australia. The

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of the Kempsey Shire is Kinne Ring, an

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politician.

Suburbs

* Aldavilla * Burnt Bridge * Dondingalong * East Kempsey * Euroka * Greenhill * Kempsey * Sherwood * South Kempsey * West Kempsey * Yarravel

Towns and localities

Towns and localities in the Kempsey Shire are:

Kempsey suburbs

* Kempsey * East Kempsey * South Kempsey * West Kempsey

Other localities

Demographics

At the 2016 census, there were 28,885 people in the Kempsey Shire local government area, of these 50 per cent were male and 50 per cent were female. The

median The median of a set of numbers is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a Sample (statistics), data sample, a statistical population, population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as the “ ...

age of people in the Kempsey Shire was 47 years; some nine years older than the national median. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 17.2 per cent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 23.9 per cent of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 43.9 per cent were married and 15.7 per cent were either divorced or separated. At the 2011 Census

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

people made up 11.1 per cent of the population, more than four times the national average. Population growth in the Kempsey Shire between the and was 1.86 per cent; and in the subsequent five years to the 2011 census was 2.73 per cent. Following this, the growth between the 2011 Census and the 2016 Census was 2.67 per cent. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same periods, being 5.78 per cent, 8.32 per cent and 8.81 per cent respectively, population growth in the Kempsey Shire local government area was significantly lower than the national average. The median weekly income for residents within the Kempsey Shire was significantly below the national average, being one of the factors that place parts of the Kempsey Shire in an area of social disadvantage. At the 2011 Census, the proportion of residents in the Kempsey Shire local government area who stated their

ancestry An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder, or a forebear, is a parent or ( recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from ...

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

or Anglo-Celtic exceeded 81 per cent of all residents (national average was 65.2 per cent) and in the 2016 Census, this value was 79.4 per cent compared to the national average of 62.3 per cent. In excess of 62 per cent of all residents in the Kempsey Shire nominated a

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affiliation with

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at the 2011 census (62.9 per cent in 2016), which was higher than the national average of 50.2 per cent (49.2 per cent in 2016). Meanwhile, as at the 2011 Census date, compared to the national average, households in the Kempsey Shire local government area had a significantly lower than average proportion (3.3 per cent) where two or more languages are spoken (national average was 20.4 per cent); and a significantly higher proportion (91.9 per cent) where English only was spoken at home (national average was 76.8 per cent).

Council

Current composition and election method

Kempsey Shire Council is composed of nine

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

s, including the

, for a fixed four-year term of office. The mayor is directly elected while the eight other councillors are elected proportionally as one entire

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. The most recent election was held on 30 July 2022.

Election results

2024

2022

2021

References

{{Authority control Local government areas of New South Wales Mid North Coast 1975 establishments in Australia