Local government areas of the Northern Territory explained

The Northern Territory is a federal Australian territory in north-central Australia. It is the third largest Australian federal division with an area of 1348094.3km2 but the least populous with inhabitants as at June 2019.[1] The Northern Territory is divided administratively into 17 Local government areas (LGAs) generally known as Councils who are responsible for providing local government services.[2]

Area types

As of 1 July 2008, there were two classifications of local government in the Northern Territory:

  1. Municipalities (predominantly inner-city suburban areas and smaller rural towns), of which there were five; and
  2. Shires or Regions (predominantly rural or outer suburban areas), of which there were eleven shire councils.

The Northern Territory was unusual as a comparatively large share of the territory's population lived in unincorporated areas. In 2006, prior to the reorganisation of local government areas in the territory, 92 percent of the land area (1237999km2 out of 1349130km2) with 16 percent of the population (30,523 out of 192,898), was unincorporated. This anomaly is due to the territory's very low population density, just 0.16 people per km2 (0.099 people per sq mi).[3]

Most of the unincorporated areas disappeared as a result of local government reform in 2008. The area remaining unincorporated is 19790km2, 1.47 percent of the total,[4] [1] and contains 3.0 percent of the population in June 2019.[1]

By comparison, in the only other states or territories in Australia with unincorporated areas, only 0.02% of the population of New South Wales, 0.002% of Victoria's population and 0.6% of the population of South Australia, live in unincorporated areas.

Current local government areas

Local government areaCouncil seatRegionTypeYear est.Land areaPopulation[5] class=unsortable scope="col" rowspan=2Notes
km2sq mi20212022
Central Australia Town 328km2
Region 322713km2
Belyuen Shire 41km2
Alice Springs Central Australia Region 281312km2
Greater Darwin Council 2056km2
Greater Darwin City 111km2 Darwin Town and District Council formed, 1874; redesignated Darwin Town Council, 1915; redesignated Municipality of Darwin, 1955; redesignated City of Darwin, 1959
Arnhem Land Region 33310km2
Katherine Town 7417km2
Freds PassGreater Darwin Council 2903km2
Alice Springs Central Australia Region 268329km2
Greater Darwin City 53km2
Katherine Katherine Region 185210km2
Darwin Greater Darwin Region 7483km2
Katherine Katherine Region 153287km2 De-amalgamated in 2014 into Victoria Daly and West Daly Regional Councils
Greater Darwin Shire 6km2 Formerly the Cox Peninsula Community Government Council, established on 28 April 1995.
Arnhem Land Region 49675km2
WadeyeKatherine Region [6] 14070km2 Part of Victoria Daly Regional Council from 2008 until 2014 de-amalgamation

Former local government areas

Prior to 1 July 2008, local government areas in the Northern Territory were classified as either :

Towns

Community Government Councils

Incorporated Communities

Unincorporated Area

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 3218.0 – Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2018-19: Population Estimates by Local Government Area, 2018 to 2019 . Australian Bureau of Statistics. 25 March 2020. 23 August 2020. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2019.
  2. http://www.lgant.nt.gov.au/home/nt_local_government/history/ Northern Territory LGA History
  3. Web site: Population of Northern Territory 2022 . 2022-04-24.
  4. Web site: DLGH – Bushtel | Northern Region . 2009-07-24 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090711190142/http://www.bushtel.nt.gov.au/northern_territory/region1 . 11 July 2009 . and Web site: DLGH – Bushtel | Alice Springs . 2009-07-24 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090711185910/http://www.bushtel.nt.gov.au/northern_territory/region3 . 11 July 2009 .
  5. Web site: 2023-04-20 . Regional population, 2021-22 financial year Australian Bureau of Statistics . 2023-05-03 . Australian Bureau of Statistics.
  6. https://dhcd.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/155922/West_Daly_Restructure_Order_2014.pdf