The Tiwi Islands Region 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 ...

(LGA) of the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

, Australia. The LGA covers an area of and had an estimated population of 2,753 in June 2018, and is governed by the Tiwi Islands Regional Council, formerly Tiwi Islands Shire Council.

History

In October 2006 the

Northern Territory Government The Northern Territory Government is the executive branch of the Northern Territory. The Government of Northern Territory was formed in 1978 with the granting of self-government to the Territory. The Northern Territory is a territory of the Co ...

announced the reform of local government areas. The intention of the reform was to improve and expand the delivery of services to towns and communities across the Northern Territory by establishing eleven new shires. The Tiwi Islands Shire Council was created on 1 July 2008 as were the remaining ten shires. The Tiwi Islands Shire Council became the Tiwi Islands Regional Council under legislation passed by the Northern Territory Government in January 2014.

Description and governance

The local government area covers an area of and had an estimated population of 2,753 in June 2018. The most recent council elections (which also elected the Mayor) were held on 10 September 2021. The current mayor is Pirrawayingi Puruntatameri (an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

) and the current Deputy Mayor is Leslie Tungatalum (a member of the

Country Liberal Party The Country Liberal Party of the Northern Territory (CLP), commonly known as the Country Liberals, is a centre-right and conservative political party in Australia's Northern Territory. In territory politics, it operates in a two-party system wi ...

Wards

The Tiwi Islands Regional Council is divided into three wards: Bathurst, Milikapiti and Pirlangimpi. The council is governed by 12 councillors, six from Bathurst Ward and three each from the Milikapiti and Pirlangimpi Wards:

Localities and communities

Land within the Tiwi Islands Region was divided during 2007 into bounded areas for the purpose of creating an

address An address is a collection of information, presented in a mostly fixed format, used to give the location of a building, apartment, or other structure or a plot of land, generally using border, political boundaries and street names as references, ...

for a property. The bounded areas are called "localities" with those localities associated with existing Aboriginal communities being called "communities".

Localities

Tiwi Islands The Tiwi Islands ( meaning "two islands") are part of the Northern Territory, Australia, to the north of Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin adjoining the Timor Sea. They comprise Melville Island, Northern Territory, Melville Island, Bathurst I ...

Communities

Demographics

The demographics of the region are shown in the tables below.

Ancestry

Birthplace

Before 2016, all Tiwi Islanders who stated their country of birth were born in

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 ...

. Between 2011 and 2016, however, over ten arrivals each from the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

arrived in the islands.

Language

Language spoken at home

Proficiency in English

Religion

Notes

References

External links

Tiwi Islands Regional Council websiteMap of LGAsPolicy details
{{coord, 12.4500, S, 130.8330, E, source:wikidata, display=title Tiwi Islands Local Government