The Surf Coast 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

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 . It had a population of 32,251 in June 2018. It includes the towns of Aireys Inlet, Anglesea, Lorne, Moriac, Torquay and Winchelsea. It was formed in 1994 from the amalgamation of the Shire of Winchelsea, Shire of Barrabool and part of the former City of South Barwon, which was, at that point, part of the City of Greater Geelong. The Shire is governed and administered by the Surf Coast 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 Torquay. The Shire is named after its location on the popular surf coast of Victoria. Post-2008, following an electoral representation review, the decision was made to re-subdivide the municipality into four wards, the current wards are Torquay, Anglesea, Winchelsea and Lorne. Between 2004 and 2008, the Shire was an unsubdivided municipality and as a result, the entire municipality voted to elect nine councillors. Between 1996 and 2004, the municipality was subdivided into six wards, where three councillors per ward were elected from the Torquay and Anglesea wards, and one councillor per ward was elected from the Lorne, Winchelsea, Moriac and Aireys Inlet wards. A position of Deputy Mayor was created in 2004, but it was abolished for the 2005 mayoral election.

Council

Current composition

The council is composed of four wards and nine councillors, with four councillors elected to represent the Torquay Ward, two councillors per ward elected to represent each of the Anglesea and Winchelsea wards, and one councillor elected to represent the Lorne Ward.

List of former and current mayors

* Cr Noel Bates (1995–1997) * Cr Henry Love (1997–1998) * Cr Julie Hansen (1998–2000) * Cr Mike Barrow (2000–2001) * Cr Beth Davidson (2001–2004) * Cr Keith Grossman (2004–2005) * Cr Libby Mears (2005–2006) * Cr Rose Hodge (2006–2007) * Cr Dean Webster (2007–2008) * Cr Libby Mears (2008–2009) * Cr Libby Coker (2009–2010) * Cr Dean Webster (2010–2011) * Cr Brian McKiterick (2011–2012) * Cr Libby Coker (2012–2013) * Cr Rose Hodge (2013–2014) * Cr Margot Smith (2014–2015) * Cr Rose Hodge (2015–2016) * Cr Brian McKiterick (2016-2017) * Cr David Bell (2017-2018) *Cr Rose Hodge (2018–2020) * Cr Libby Stapleton (2020–2022) * Cr Liz Pattison (2022–Present)

Administration and Governance

The council meets in the council chambers at the council headquarters in the Torquay Municipal Offices, which is also the location of the council's administrative activities. It also provides customer services at its Municipal Office in Torquay.

Election results

2024

2016

Townships and localities

According to the 2021 census, the shire had a population of 37,694, up from 29,397 in the 2016 census. ^ - ''Territory divided with another LGA''

Notes

References

External links

Surf Coast Shire Council official websiteGreat Ocean Road Journey, Victoria, Australia
(replaces th
Surf Coast Tourist website

Metlink local public transport mapLink to Land Victoria interactive mapsThe Anglesea & District Historical Society Inc.
* {{Coord, 38, 18, 00, S, 144, 00, 00, E, type:adm2nd_region:AU-VIC, display=title Local government areas of Victoria (state) Barwon South West (region)