Byron Shire
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "about". Template:Use Australian English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox Australian place Byron Shire is a local government area located in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia. The shire is located adjacent to the Coral Sea about Template:Convert south of the Queensland border. The shire, administered from the town of Mullumbimby, covers an area of Template:Convert, and has existed as a local government entity since 1906. The shire was named for Cape Byron, itself named by Captain James Cook in May 1770 in honour of Vice-Admiral John Byron.
Michael Lyon was first elected mayor to fill a casual vacancy on 13 May 2021 and then popularly elected at the council elections on 4 December 2021.
History
Byron Shire was created on 7 March 1906 under the Template:Cite Legislation AU as one of 134 local government areas in regional New South Wales. On 16 May 1906, a temporary council of five members was appointed to administer it, and elections were held in November. On 4 December, the council convened for the first time with William Baker as its inaugural president. William Baker was born in Great Stanmore, England. His cousin, Alfred Joseph Baker was the first person to score a goal in international football against Scotland in 1870.
On 1 July 1908, the Mullumbimby Municipality was created out of part of Byron. On 1 October 1980, the municipality and the shire were re-amalgamated by direction of the NSW Minister for Local Government.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
Heritage listings
The Byron Shire has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
Towns and localities
<templatestyles src="Col-begin/styles.css"/>
|
|
|
Demographics
In the 2016 census, there were 31,556 people in the Byron local government area, of these 48.2 per cent were male and 51.8 per cent were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 1.8 per cent of the population, which is lower than the national and averages of 2.8 per cent and lower than the NSW state average of 2.9 per cent. The median age of people in the Byron Shire area is 44 years (up from the 42 in the 2011 census) which was slightly higher than the national median of 38 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 16.8 per cent of the population (down from 18.5 in the 2011 census) and people aged 65 years and over made up 16.9 per cent per cent of the population (up from 13.3 per cent). This change over the 5-year period shows evidence of an increasingly ageing population in the Byron Shire which is in line with predictions of the nations future increase in age.[2] The ABS records marital status in everyone over the age of 15, in Byron Shire 37.1 per cent of the population is married whilst 18.1 per cent are divorced or separated. Whilst there has been little change in Byron since the 2011 census, compared to the national percentages there is a large difference. Of the Australian population aged 15 and older 48.1 per cent of the population is married and 11.7 per cent of the population is divorced or separated.[3] This shows that Byron Shire has a large discrepancy in marital status compared to the rest of the nation.
Population in the Byron Shire area has increased since the 2011 census with a population growth of 8 percent, this is a significant increase compared to the population growth between the 2006 and 2011 census which was 1.54 per cent. Whilst the growth since 2011 is similar to the Australian population growth on 8.8 percent, the growth in previous years, negative 0.51 per cent in 2001 to 2006 and 1.54 per cent in 2006 to 2011, is vastly different from the total population growth. This data suggests that Byron Shire's population is growing at an increasing rate much like the majority of Australia.[3] Byron Shire has an average of 2.4 people per dwelling, the same as in the 2011 census, and on average there are 1.8 motor vehicles per dwelling. In terms of median income Byron Shire lags behind the Australian average, with the median personal income in Byron Shire being $596 and the Australian median income being $662. The gap is even larger in the median household income bracket grouping with the Australian national median being $1438 compared to Byron Shire's $1149.[4]
A large proportion of Byron Shire residents are born in Australia with 68.4 per cent of the population, 52 percent of the population have had both parents born in Australia, meaning less than half the population is first generation Australian or a migrant.[5] The second largest country of origin is England with only 5.1 per cent, this reflects the diversity of those that aren't Australian born. Religion in Byron Shire is substantially different compared to the Australian population as a whole, 46.3 per cent of the Byron Shire population listed 'No Religion' in their 2016 census compared with only 25.1 per cent Australian wide. A total of 12.5 per cent of Byron Shire identified as Catholic contrasted to 24.7 per cent of Australia's population. Byron Shire area had a significantly lower proportion of houses where two or more languages are spoken at 9 per cent compared to the national amount of 26.5. The vast majority of houses in Byron Shire, 81.1, speak only English at home whereas 68.5 of houses Australia wide only speak English at home.[6]
| Selected historical census data for the Byron Shire local government area | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Census year | 1976 | 1981 | 1986 | 1991 | 1996 | 2001[7] | 2006[8] | 2011[9] | 2016[10] | ||
| Population | Estimated residents on census night | 10,916 | Increase 15,426 | Increase 18,342 | Increase 22,599 | Increase 27,007 | Increase 28,916 | Decrease 28,766 | Increase 29,209 | Increase 31,556 | |
| LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales | 61stScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | Increase 58thScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | |||||||||
| % of New South Wales population | 0.42% | Steady 0.42% | |||||||||
| % of Australian population | 0.15% | Template:Loss 0.14% | Steady 0.14% | Template:Loss 0.13% | |||||||
| Cultural and language diversity | |||||||||||
| Ancestry, top responses |
English | 29.7% | Template:Loss 27.9% | ||||||||
| Australian | 25.7% | Template:Loss 24.1% | |||||||||
| Irish | 11.2% | Template:Loss 10.5% | |||||||||
| Scottish | 8.2% | Template:Loss 8.0% | |||||||||
| German | 4.0% | Template:Loss 3.8% | |||||||||
| Language, top responses (other than English) |
German | 1.0% | Increase 1.1% | Steady 1.1% | Template:Loss 1.0% | ||||||
| French | 0.5% | Steady 0.5% | Increase 0.7% | Steady 0.7% | |||||||
| Hebrew | n/a | Increase 0.4% | Increase 0.6% | Steady 0.6% | |||||||
| Italian | 0.3% | Increase 0.4% | Increase 0.5% | Increase 0.6% | |||||||
| Spanish | n/c | Increase 0.3% | Increase 0.4% | Increase 0.6% | |||||||
| Religious affiliation | |||||||||||
| Religious affiliation, top responses |
No Religion | 24.4% | Increase 30.0% | Increase 37.6% | Increase 46.3% | ||||||
| Catholic | 18.0% | Template:Loss 16.6% | Template:Loss 15.9% | Template:Loss 12.5% | |||||||
| Anglican | 19.0% | Template:Loss 15.7% | Template:Loss 14.0% | Template:Loss 9.7% | |||||||
| Uniting Church | 5.9% | Template:Loss 4.8% | Template:Loss 3.9% | Template:Loss 2.8% | |||||||
| Buddhism | n/c | n/c | Increase 3.6% | n/c | |||||||
| Median weekly incomes | |||||||||||
| Personal income | Median weekly personal income | A$383 | A$477 | A$596 | |||||||
| % of Australian median income | 82.2% | Increase 82.7% | Increase 89.7% | ||||||||
| Family income | Median weekly family income | Template:AUD932 | Template:AUD1,053 | A$1389 | |||||||
| % of Australian median income | 79.6% | Template:Loss 71.1% | Increase77.6% | ||||||||
| Household income | Median weekly household income | Template:AUD738 | Template:AUD885 | A$1149 | |||||||
| % of Australian median income | 71.9% | Template:Loss 71.7% | Increase77.3% | ||||||||
Population
The table below gives a picture of the estimated resident population as at the census night. Between 1911 and 1966, data was sourced from the New South Wales Statistical Register, covering the Byron Shire and Mullumbimby Municipality. Since 1976, data was sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics for the merged Byron Shire.
| Estimated resident population | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Byron Shire | Mullumbimby Municipality |
Total | Notes | ||
| 1911 | 6,553 | 951 | 7,504 | |||
| 1921 | 8,299 | 1,329 | 9,628 | |||
| 1933 | 7,967 | 1,362 | 9,329 | |||
| 1947 | 8,784 | 1,609 | 10,393 | |||
| 1954 | 8,904 | 2,017 | 10,921 | |||
| 1961 | 8,505 | 1,964 | 10,469 | |||
| 1966 | 7,972 | 1,981 | 9,953 | |||
Council
Current composition and election method
Byron Shire Council is composed of nine councillors, including the mayor, for a fixed four-year term of office. The mayor is directly-elected, while the eight other councillors are elected proportionally to a single ward.
The most recent election was held on 14 September 2024, and the makeup of the council (including the mayor) is as follows:
| Party | Councillors | |
|---|---|---|
| Template:Australian party style| | Greens | 4 |
| Template:Australian party style| | Labor | 2 |
| Template:Australian party style| | Byron Shire Compass | 1 |
| Template:Australian party style| | Byron Independents | 1 |
| Template:Australian party style| | Bright Future Byron | 1 |
| Total | 9 | |
The current council, elected in 2024, in order of election, is:
| Councillor | Party | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Australian party style| | Sarah Ndiaye | Greens | Mayor since 2024 |
| Template:Australian party style| | Elia Hauge | Greens | |
| Template:Australian party style| | Asren Pugh | Labor | |
| Template:Australian party style| | David Warth | Byron Shire Compass | |
| Template:Australian party style| | Michael Lyon | Byron Independents | Mayor from 2021 until 2024 |
| Template:Australian party style| | Delta Kay | Greens | |
| Template:Australian party style| | Janet Swain | Labor | |
| Template:Australian party style| | Michelle Lowe | Greens | |
| Template:Australian party style| | Jack Dods | Bright Future Byron | |
Election results
2024
2021
References
Template:Northern Rivers region Template:Local Government Areas of New South Wales
- ↑ Template:Cite NSW SHR
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Template:Census 2001 AUS
- ↑ Template:Census 2006 AUS
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedCensus2016