| Type: | lga |
| Shire of Otway | |
| State: | vic |
| Region: | Barwon South West |
| Area: | 1906.94 |
| Est: | 1919 |
| Seat: | Beech Forest |
| Pop: | 3960 |
| Pop Year: | 1992 |
| Pop Footnotes: | [1] |
| County: | Heytesbury, Polwarth |
| Near-Nw: | Heytesbury |
| Near-N: | Colac |
| Near-Ne: | Winchelsea |
| Near-W: | Heytesbury |
| Near-E: | Bass Strait |
| Near-Sw: | Southern Ocean |
| Near-S: | Bass Strait |
| Near-Se: | Bass Strait |
| Noautocat: | yes |
The Shire of Otway was a local government area about 190km (120miles) southwest of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of 1906.94km2, and existed from 1919 until 1994.
Otway was incorporated as a shire on 6 May 1919, carved out of parts of the Shires of Colac, Heytesbury and Winchelsea. In 1964, it annexed further parts of Heytesbury (in Coradjil Parish) and Winchelsea (in Kanglang Parish). In 1969, it lost the town of Simpson to Heytesbury.[2]
On 23 September 1994, the Shire of Otway was abolished, and along with the City of Colac and parts of the Shires of Colac, Heytesbury and Winchelsea, was merged into the newly created Shire of Colac Otway. The township of Princetown merged west into the newly created Shire of Corangamite.[3]
The Shire of Otway was divided into four ridings in 1987, each of which elected three councillors:
| Year | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| 1954 | 4,197 | |
| 1958 | 4,360* | |
| 1961 | 4,036 | |
| 1966 | 3,902 | |
| 1971 | 3,921 | |
| 1976 | 3,808 | |
| 1981 | 3,741 | |
| 1986 | 3,541 | |
| 1991 | 3,784 |