| Type: | lga |
| Shire of Wimmera | |
| State: | vic |
| Region: | Wimmera |
| Area: | 2611 |
| Est: | 1862 |
| Seat: | Horsham |
| Pop: | 2,920 |
| Pop Year: | 1992 |
| Pop Footnotes: | [1] |
| County: | Borung |
| Near-Nw: | Dimboola |
| Near-N: | Warracknabeal |
| Near-Ne: | Dunmunkle |
| Near-W: | Arapiles |
| Near-E: | Stawell |
| Near-Sw: | Dundas |
| Near-S: | Dundas |
| Near-Se: | Ararat |
| Noautocat: | yes |
The Shire of Wimmera was a local government area in the Wimmera region of western Victoria, Australia. The municipality covered an area of 2611km2, and existed from 1862 until 1995. Although its shire offices were located in Horsham, Horsham itself was governed by a separate council after it succeeded in 1882.[2]
The Wimmera road district was incorporated on 3 March 1862, and this district became a shire on 4 March 1864. It was originally a very large district, including a significant portion of Walpeup, plus Arapiles, Dimboola, Dunmunkle, Kaniva, Kowree and Lowan, centred on the town of Horsham. By 1900, all of these areas had severed and separately incorporated, and Wimmera's boundaries remained largely unchanged for over 90 years.[3]
On 20 January 1995, the Shire of Wimmera was abolished, and along with the City of Horsham and parts of the Shires of Arapiles and Kowree, was merged into the newly created Rural City of Horsham. The section within the Grampians National Park was transferred to the newly created Shire of Northern Grampians, whilst the Kewell West and Wallup districts were transferred to the newly created Shire of Yarriambiack.[4]
Wimmera was divided into four ridings, each of which elected three councillors:
| Year | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| 1954 | 3,569 | |
| 1958 | 3,790* | |
| 1961 | 3,535 | |
| 1966 | 3,481 | |
| 1971 | 3,046 | |
| 1976 | 3,060 | |
| 1981 | 2,960* | |
| 1986 | 2,850* | |
| 1991 | 2,930 |