The Shire of Baw Baw () is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, in the eastern part of the state. It covers an area of and in 2021 had a population of 57,626. It includes the towns of Drouin, Longwarry, Neerim South, Trafalgar, Warragul and Yarragon.

The shire is governed and administered by the Baw Baw Shire Council; its seat of local government and administrative centre is located at the council headquarters in Drouin, and it has a service centre located in Warragul. The shire is named after the major geographical feature in the region, the Baw Baw Plateau; Mount Baw Baw is the second highest peak in the region. An unincorporated area, the Mount Baw Baw Alpine Resort, is enclaved within the shire.

History The Shire was formed in 1994 from the amalgamation of the Shire of Buln Buln, Shire of Narracan, Rural City of Warragul, and the part of the Shire of Upper Yarra that lay in the Thomson River catchment.

Location and geography The more densely populated southern half of the shire consists of low rolling hills given over primarily to dairy farming and other agriculture. The northern half lies in the Great Dividing Range and its foothills, where forestry remains an important industry. Tourism is also important in the region, aided by its proximity to and easy access from Melbourne. The shire is known for its rural scenery and natural environment, as well as gourmet foods and wines. The historic gold-mining town of Walhalla, located in the northeast of the shire, is a major tourist drawcard. The major electricity-producing region of the Latrobe Valley lies immediately to the shire's east and south.

Many of the shire's larger towns are located along the Princes Highway and Gippsland railway line, which cross the southern part of the shire. From west to east these include: Longwarry, Drouin, Warragul, Darnum, Yarragon, and Trafalgar. North of Warragul are Buln Buln, Neerim South, and Noojee, while south of Trafalgar in the Strzelecki Ranges lies the town of Thorpdale. The towns of Rawson, Erica, and Parkers Corner are located near Walhalla amongst the foothills of the Baw Baw Plateau. Aberfeldy is located in the far north east of the shire above the Thomson Dam, which supplies 50% of Melbourne's water.

Council

Composition up to November 2016 The council was composed of four wards and nine councillors, with three councillors elected to represent the Warragul Ward and two councillors per remaining ward elected to represent each of the other wards. WardPartyCouncillorNotesDrouin  Independent Tricia Jones   Independent Terry Williamson Mount Worth  Independent Murray Cook Mayor 2012/2013 and 2013/2014  Independent Peter Kostos North  Independent David Balfour   Independent Deborah Brown Mayor 2014/2015Warragul  Independent Joe Gauci Mayor 2015/2016  Independent Gerard Murphy   Independent Mikaela Power

Composition November 2016 to November 2020 The council was changed to a three-ward structure with three councillors per ward, with the new council sworn in on 2 November 2016. The new wards are West [660sq km] (primarily Drouin with some rural areas north/south), Central [66sq km] (Warragul town) and East [3,302sq km] making up the balance of the shire. WardPartyCouncillorNotesWest  Independent Tricia Jones   Independent Keith Cook  Independent Jessica O'DonnellEast  Independent Michael Leaney   Independent Peter Kostos   IndependentDarren Wallace Central  Independent Danny Goss Mayor 2019/2020  Independent Mikaela PowerMayor 2018/19  Independent Joe Gauci Mayor 2016/2017 and 2017/18

Current composition The council's three-ward structure continued with three councillors per ward, with the new council sworn in from November 2024. The wards are West [660sq km] (primarily Drouin with some rural areas north/south), Central [66sq km] (based on Warragul) and East [3,302sq km] making up the balance of the shire. WardPartyCouncillorNotesCentral  Independent Danny Goss   Independent Paul Pratt  Independent Suzanne Allen Deputy MayorEast  Independent Adam Sheehan   Independent Brendan Kingwill   Independent Kate Wilson MayorWest  Independent One Nation Ben Lucas   Independent Tricia Jones   Independent Jess Hamilton

Administration and governance The council meets monthly in the Fountain Room of the West Gippsland Arts Centre. The council's administrative activities are centred in Drouin in the former offices of the Buln Buln Shire. It also provides customer services at both Warragul and the council offices in Drouin. Service centres in Trafalgar and on Smith Street in Warragul were closed in 2015.

Townships and localities In the 2021 census, the shire's population was 57,626, up from 48,479 in the 2016 census.

Population Locality 2016 2021 0 7 0 0 19 24 ^ 95 96 76 61 0 4 122 147 0 0 109 107 0 0 100 94 17 14 548 551 164 182 19 16 106 91 192 178 49 55 * # 158 161 751 759 ^ 32 37 12,349 15,287 182 177 335 343 330 361 236 229 191 184 37 48 11 11 67 65 45 61 0 0 126 136 ^ 161 189 166 171 11 28 23 28 0 0 491 584 356 386 117 110 86 94 0 0 ^ 2,004 2,436 215 230 ^ 148 169 ^ 8,778 9,375 ^ 541 529 46 49 90 85 ^ 253 262 75 70 200 218 192 196 127 139 42 41 1,305 1,599 342 410 319 344 157 177 ^ 1,527 1,644 46 52 ^ 82 88 ^ 186 202 296 296 221 268 180 213 125 140 180 186 ^ 89 107 0 0 14 7 ^ 544 540 66 93 * # 0 0 471 475 ^ 30 27 0 0 ^ 989 1,085 ^ 0 0 50 49 3,912 4,349 426 401 276 305 ^ 62 87 42 50 ^ 20 35 15,757 19,856 253 280 19 33 157 163 590 654 ^ 1,545 1,511 1,650 1,893 164 204 ^ - Territory divided with another LGA * - Not noted in 2016 Census # - Not noted in 2021 Census

See also List of localities (Victoria) List of reduplicated Australian place names Local government in Australia

References

External links

Baw Baw Shire Council official website Visit Baw Baw official website Metlink local public transport map Link to Land Victoria interactive maps