The Town of Gawler is a local government area located north of Adelaide city centre in South Australia containing Gawler and its suburbs. The corporate town was established in 1857 due to the township's residents' dissatisfaction at being governed by three different district councils.
The Town of Gawler is located within the officially declared boundaries of the Adelaide metropolitan area. 1.0% of the population were Indigenous Australian, and 76.3% were born in Australia.
The current mayor of Gawler is Nathan Shanks, who was elected in 2025 following the resignation of long-serving mayor Karen Redman on 30 May 2025.
Shanks was first elected to the Town of Gawler Council as an Area Councillor in 2018. He later served as Deputy Mayor from 2022–2023 and again from 2024–2025, before stepping into the role of Acting Mayor between June and September 2025. His election as Mayor in late 2025 marked the continuation of his long-standing involvement in local government and community leadership.
Redman, who had served as mayor since 2014, was the first elected female mayor in Gawler’s history and was re-elected for further terms in 2018 and 2022 before her resignation in 2025.
History Local government was established in the area from 1853 with the creation of the District Council of Barossa West (covering the western half of the Hundred of Barossa). Residents of the township of Gawler, at the confluence of the North and South Para rivers, were dissatisfied with the state of local governance. The township intersects four separate cadastral divisions, being at the corners of the hundreds of Mudla Wirra, Nuriootpa, Barossa and Munno Para. As such, the east half of the township was locally governed by the Barossa West council, the western half by the District Council of Mudla Wirra and the southern outskirts by the District Council of Munno Para West. The Barossa West council was seated at Lyndoch some east of the township. The Gawler ratepayers petitioned for their own local government, centred in Gawler, and the Corporation of the Town of Gawler was established on 9 July 1857.
Council Council consists of 11 Elected Members comprising a Mayor, and 10 Area Councillors.The current council is:
WardParty AffiliationCouncillorFirst electedNotesMayor Independent Nathan Shanks2018 Deputy Mayor 2022-2023, 2024-2025, Acting Mayor 2025 (June - September) Current Mayor 2025Area Councillor Labor Cody Davies2018 Deputy Mayor 2023-2024 Independent Helen Hennessy2022 Independent David Hughes2010Deputy Mayor 2011-2013,2015-2016 Independent Mick Launer2022 Labor Isaac Solomon2022 Deputy Mayor 2026 - present Independent Brian Sambell2006Mayor 2006-2014 Liberal Jim Vallelonga2014IndependentKaren Redman2010Mayor 2014-2025 (Resigned May 2025). Independent Paul Koch2010Died while in office early 2026. Independent Ethan White2022 Deputy Mayor 2025 (Resigned January 2026).
Mayors As of 2023, 41 people have served as mayor of Gawler in 58 terms of office since the first to hold the position, Richard James Turner, in 1857.
1857–1860: Richard James Turner 1861–1864: James Martin 1865: George Nott 1866: John Mitchell 1867: Thomas Flett Loutit 1867: Thomas Oliver Jones 1868: James Martin 1869–1870: Edward Clement 1871–1872: Thomas Oliver Jones 1873–1874: William Faulkner Wincey 1875–1876: John Jones 1877: James Dawson 1877–1878: James Martin 1879–1880: Henry Edward Bright Jr 1881–1882: Herbert Dean 1883: John Charles Wilkinson 1884–1885: Leonard Samuel Burton 1886: Benjamin Edward Deland 1887: James Martin 1888: Leonard Samuel Burton 1889–1890: John Jones
1891–1893: William Henry Cox 1894–1895: Edward Lucas 1896: William Henry Cox 1897–1898: Frank Dixon Harris 1899: William Henry Cox 1900: Robert King Thomson 1901–1902: Charles George Rebbeck 1903–1904: George Bright 1905–1906: James Fergusson 1907: Arthur Smith 1908–1909: William M. Dawkins 1910–1911: Charles George Rebbeck 1912–1913: Frederick David Temby 1914–1917: William Henry Cox 1918–1919: Hermann Ludwig Marsh 1920–1921: James Busbridge Jr 1922–1924: William Henry Cox 1925–1926: Michael Lynch 1927–1929: Dashwood Charles Connor 1930: James Busbridge Jr 1931–1934: William Henry Cox
1934–1938: William Rice 1938–1946: William Antwis 1946–1952: Adolph Louis Ferdinand Ey 1952–1959: Elliott Chivell Goodger 1959–1960: Adolph Louis Ferdinand Ey 1960–1968: Elliott Chivell Goodger 1968–1972: Bruce Charles Eastick 1972–1978: Cecil William "Cec" Creedon 1978–1989: Gilbert Barry "Gil" Harnett 1989–1992: Robert Lethbridge Bartlett 1992–1993: Antonio "Tony" Piccolo 1993–2000: Bruce Charles Eastick 2000–2006: Antonio "Tony" Piccolo 2006 (May to Nov): Helena Mary Dawkins 2006–2014: Brian Donald Sambell 2014–2025: Karen Redman 2025–Present: Nathan Christopher Shanks
Suburbs
Bibaringa (5118) (part; shared with City of Playford) Evanston (5116) Evanston Gardens (5116) Evanston Park (5116) (part; shared with City of Playford) Evanston South (5116) Gawler (5118) Gawler East (5118) Gawler South (5118) Gawler West (5118) Hillier (5116) (part; shared with City of Playford) Kudla (5115) Reid (5118) (part; shared with Light Regional Council) Willaston (5118)
Waste management and recycling Garbage, recycling, and green waste collection services are provided by the Northern Adelaide Waste Management Authority.
See also Gawler, South Australia List of Adelaide suburbs Local Government Areas of South Australia
References
External links Official site