Central Darling Shire
Local government area
Shire Office Complex, Wilcannia Location inNew South Wales
Coordinates:31°34′S143°22′E / 31.567°S 143.367°E /-31.567; 143.367
Country	Australia
State	New South Wales
Region	Far West
Established	20 March 1959; 66 years ago (1959-03-20)[1][2]
Council seat	Wilcannia
Government
• Chairperson	Bob Stewart (appointed)
• State electorate	Barwon
• Federal division	Parkes[3]
Area
• Total	53,511 km2 (20,661 sq mi)
Population
• Total	1,725 (2021 census)[4]
• Density	0.032236/km2 (0.083492/sq mi)
Website	Central Darling Shire
LGAs around Central Darling Shire Unincorporated Far West Unincorporated Far West Bourke Unincorporated Far West Central Darling Shire Cobar Wentworth Balranald Carrathool

Central Darling Shire is alocal government area in theFar West region ofNew South Wales,Australia. The Shire is located adjacent to theBarrier Highway. Central Darling Shire was constituted in 1959 and at 53,511 square kilometres (20,661 sq mi), it is the largest incorporated local government area in New South Wales.

The Central Darling Shire Council left over a decade under administration in December of 2025 under the new Regional and Remote Council structure with a half elected and half appointed council. The Chairperson of the council, an appointed office equivalent to a mayor, is the former administrator Bob Stewart.^[5]

Central Darling Shire was preceded by theMunicipality of Wilcannia.

In 2014 the council placed under administration for a period of three months. Following a public inquiry, councillors were removed from office and an administrator originally appointed for three months had his term extended and at September 2018 was still acting in this capacity. It was expected that the council be removed from administration in September 2020, however as of 2024, the council remained under administration.^[6]

An election was held on 20 September 2025.^[7] Now designated a Rural and Remote Council, three councillors are elected by the community, and three are appointed by the NSW Government.

The Shire includes the towns ofIvanhoe,Menindee,Sunset Strip,Tilpa,Wilcannia andWhite Cliffs.

Central Darling Shire Council
Type
Type	Regional and Remote Council
History
Founded	20 March 1959 (1959-03-20)
Preceded by	Wilcannia Municipal Council
Leadership
Chairperson	Bob Stewart since 27 October 2025
Deputy Chair	Daniel Fusi, Independent since 4 December 2025
Structure
Seats	6 (3 elected & 3 appointed)
Political groups	Independents (2)  Independent National (1)   Appointed members (3)
Elections
Last election	2025
Meeting place
Central Darling Shire Office Complex 21 Reid St,Wilcannia New South Wales

Central Darling Shire Council operates under the Regional and Remote Council structure. It is composed of six councillors, halfelected by the people of Central Darling Shire, and the other three appointed by theMinister for Local Government.^[8][9]

The council has an appointed Chairperson, currentlyBob Stewart, and an elected Deputy Chairperson, who will be elected by the council at its inaugural meeting in December.^[10]

Party		Councillors
	Independents	2
	Independent National	1
	Appointed	3
	Total	6

Party		Councillors
	Administrator	1
	Total	1

Central Darling Shire Council was formerly composed of ninecouncillors electedproportionally as threemulti-memberwards, each electing three councillors. All councillors were elected for a fixed four-year term of office. Themayor was elected by the councillors at the first meeting of the council. The final election to be held under this system was on 8 September 2012, and the makeup of the council at the time of moving to Administration was as follows:^[11][12][13]

Party		Councillors
	Independents and Unaligned	9
	Total	9

The previous Council, elected in 2012, in order of election by ward, is:

This section is an excerpt from2025 Central Darling Shire election § Central Darling results.[edit]

Ward	Elected councillor		Party
A		Peter Sullivan	Independent
B		Max Bradley	Independent National
C		Daniel Fusi	Independent

2025 Central Darling Shire election

Party		Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Independents	372	79.0		2	2
	Independent National	63	13.4	+13.4	1	1
	Independent Indigenous-Aboriginal	56	11.9	+11.9	0
Total formal votes	471	97.3
Informal votes	13	2.7
Turnout	484
Registered voters

This section is an excerpt fromResults of the 2012 New South Wales local elections in Murray and Far West § Central Darling results.[edit]

Ward	Elected councillor		Party
A		Honor Liversidge	Independent
		Eamon Sammon	Unaligned
		Peter Sullivan	Unaligned
B		Denis Standley	Independent
		Clive Linnett	Unaligned
		Ray Longfellow	Unaligned
C		Loraine Looney	Unaligned
		Gary Astill	Unaligned
		Ron Page	Unaligned

2012 New South Wales local elections: Central Darling Shire

Party		Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Independents & Unaligned	807	100.0		9
Total formal votes	807	94.1
Informal votes	51	5.9
Turnout	858	[a]
Registered voters	[b]

Selected statistics for the shire are set out below:

Selected historical census data for Central Darling Shire local government area
Census year			2011[14]	2016[15]	2021[4]
Population		Estimated residents oncensus night	1,991	1,833	1,725
		LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales	128th	127th	128th
		% of New South Wales population	0.03%
		% of Australian population	0.01%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses		Australian Aboriginal	19.1%	20.7%	33.9%
		Australian	32.5%	27.5%	25.4%
		English	20.7%	19.6%	22.0%
		Irish	5.9%	4.7%	6.3%
		Scottish	5.3%	5.4%	5.3%
Language, top responses (other thanEnglish)
		German	0.2%	0.4%	0.2%
		Paakantyi (Darling language)	0.9%	-	0.2%
		Telegu	-		0.2%
		Aboriginal English	-		0.2%
		Fijian	-		0.2%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses
		No religion	16.8%	22.3%	35.6%
		Catholic	37.9%	29.5%	20.0%
		Anglican	18.8%	14.1%	10.8%
		Uniting Church	6.2%	4.5%	3.0%
		Presbyterian and Reformed	3.6%	-
		Not Stated	–	23.3%	21.8%
Median weekly incomes
Personalincome		Median weekly personal income	A$387	A$460	A$524
		% of Australian median income	67.1%	69.3%	61.6%
Family income		Median weekly family income	A$889	A$1075	A$1,128
		% of Australian median income	60.0%	62.0%	53.2%
Household income		Median weekly household income	A$787	A$901	A$988
		% of Australian median income	63.8%	62.7%	56.6%

The principal economic activities within the Shire include pastoral, horticultural, agricultural, mining and tourism. Rural grazing properties represent the largest land use within the Shire, accounting for 97% of the entire area. Major horticultural and agricultural production is centred on Menindee. The relative ease of access to water from the Darling River andMenindee Lakes Storage Scheme enables producers to grow a large variety of crops and fruits.

Opal mining has been the predominant mining industry within the Shire. Opal was discovered in White Cliffs in 1884 and the first commercial opal field commenced operation in 1890, reaching its peak in 1899.^[16]

• List of local government areas in New South Wales

• Central Darling Shire
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• Far West (New South Wales)
• 1959 establishments in Australia
• Populated places established in 1959

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