The Southern Downs Region is a local government area (LGA) in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia. The region runs along the state's southern boundary with New South Wales and was created in 2008 from a merger of the Shire of Warwick and the Shire of Stanthorpe. As at 2024, it has an area of .

In the , the Southern Downs Region had a population of 36,290 people.

History The majority of the former Warwick Shire is home to the Githabul people who have lived around this area for tens of thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans in the early 1840s.

The current area of the Southern Downs Region existed as two distinct local government areas:

the Shire of Warwick; which in turn consisted of four previous local government areas: the City of Warwick; the Shire of Allora; the Shire of Glengallan; the Shire of Rosenthal; and the Shire of Stanthorpe.

The City of Warwick came into being as the Warwick Municipality on 25 May 1861 under the Municipalities Act 1858, a piece of New South Wales legislation inherited by Queensland at its separation two years earlier. On 21 July 1869, the Municipality of Allora was established under the Municipal Institutions Act 1864.

On 11 November 1879, the Clifton, Glengallan and Stanthorpe Divisions were created as three of 74 divisions within Queensland under the Divisional Boards Act 1879. In 1886, Rosenthal was created out of parts of Glengallan.

With the passage of the Local Authorities Act 1902, Warwick and Allora became Towns and the four Divisions became Shires. On 23 January 1915 the Town of Allora was abolished and a new Shire of Allora was created from the southern part of the Shire of Clifton.

On 4 April 1936, Warwick was proclaimed a city.

On 21 November 1991, the Electoral and Administrative Review Commission, created two years earlier, produced its second report, and recommended that local government boundaries in the Warwick area be rationalised. The Local Government (Allora, Glengallan, Rosenthal and Warwick) Regulation 1994 was gazetted on 20 May 1994. On 25 June, an election was held for the new Shire of Warwick, and on 1 July 1994, the original entities passed out of existence. Stanthorpe was unaffected by these changes.

In July 2007, the Local Government Reform Commission released its report and recommended that Warwick and Stanthorpe amalgamate. It noted that Warwick was the regional centre for the region, with the maximum travelling time between Warwick and any other town being one hour. Both councils opposed the amalgamation citing cultural differences and different river catchment areas and economic drivers. On 15 March 2008, the two Shires formally ceased to exist, and elections were held on the same day to elect eight councillors and a mayor to the Regional Council.

Wards The Southern Downs Region is not divided into wards/divisions for elections. All voters elect eight councillors and a mayor to serve a four-year term.

Current council The current council, elected in 2024, is: PositionCouncillorParty Mayor  Melissa Hamilton Independent Councillor  Sheryl Windle Independent  Ross Bartley Independent  Sarah Deane Independent  Morwenna Harslett Independent  Cynthia McDonald Independent  Carla Pidgeon Independent  Joel Richters Independent Labor  Russell Wantling Independent

Mayors 2008–2012 : Ron Bellingham 2012–2016: Peter Blundell 2016–2020: Tracy Dobie 2020–2024: Victor Frank Pennisi 2024–Present: Melissa Jane Hamilton

Towns and localities The Southern Downs Region includes the following settlements:

Warwick region

Warwick area: Warwick

Allora area: Allora Berat Clintonvale Deuchar Ellinthorp Goomburra Hendon Mount Marshall Talgai Willowvale*

Glengallan area: Killarney Canningvale Danderoo Elbow Valley Emu Vale Freestone Gladfield Glengallan Junabee Loch Lomond Maryvale Morgan Park Mount Colliery Mount Sturt Mount Tabor Sladevale Swanfels Tannymorel The Falls Tregony Wiyarra Womina Yangan

Rosenthal area: Rosenthal Heights Allan Cunningham Dalveen Greymare Karara Leslie Leslie Dam Leyburn Palgrave Pratten Rosehill Thane Wheatvale

* - not to be confused with Willow Vale, Queensland

Stanthorpe region Stanthorpe Amiens Applethorpe Ballandean Broadwater Cottonvale Dalcouth Diamondvale Eukey Glen Aplin Greenlands Kyoomba Lyra Messines Mingoola Nundubbermere Passchendaele Pikedale Pikes Creek Pozieres Severnlea Somme The Summit Thorndale Wallangarra Wyberba

Libraries The Southern Downs Regional Council operates public libraries at Allora, Stanthorpe, and Warwick. It also operates a mobile library servicing Dalveen, Karara, Killarney, Leyburn, Maryvale, Pratten, Wheatvale and Yangan.

Demographics The populations given relate to the component entities prior to 2008. The was the first for the Southern Downs Region.

Year Population(Region total) Population(Stanthorpe) Population(Warwick) Population(Allora) Population(Glengallan) Population(Rosenthal) Notes 1933 25,016 6,934 6,664 2,624 6,334 2,460 1947 24,009 7,419 7,129 2,217 5,269 1,975 1954 25,862 8,335 9,151 2,106 4,639 1,631 1961 26,288 8,514 9,843 1,961 4,388 1,582 1966 25,917 8,503 10,065 1,890 3,906 1,553 1971 24,115 8,189 9,303 1,719 3,410 1,494 1976 24,583 8,709 9,169 1,666 3,491 1,548 1981 24,300 8,576 8,853 1,679 3,611 1,581 1986 26,270 9,143 9,435 2,041 3,688 1,963 1991 28,288 9,556 10,393 2,132 3,966 2,241 1996 29,563 9,596 10,896 2,234 3,990 2,742 2001 30,554 9,860 10,956 2,439 4,088 3,129 2006 31,385 9,968 11,143 2,437 4,169 3,558 33,883 35,110 36,290

References