Kempsey Shire
Local government area
Location inNew South Wales
Coordinates:31°05′S152°50′E / 31.083°S 152.833°E /-31.083; 152.833
Country	Australia
State	New South Wales
Region	Mid North Coast
Established	1 October 1975 (1975-10-01)
Council seat	Kempsey
Government
• Mayor	Kinne Ring (Independent)
• State electorate	Oxley
• Federal division	Cowper
Area
• Total	3,380 km2 (1,310 sq mi)
Population
• Totals	28,885 (2016 census)[1] 29,665 (2018 est.)[2]
• Density	8.546/km2 (22.13/sq mi)
Website	Kempsey Shire
LGAs around Kempsey Shire Armidale Bellingen &Nambucca Tasman Sea Walcha Kempsey Shire Tasman Sea Walcha Port Macquarie-Hastings Tasman Sea

Kempsey Shire is alocal government area in theMid North Coast region ofNew South Wales,Australia.

The shire services an area of 3,380 square kilometres (1,310 sq mi) and is located on thePacific Highway and theNorth Coast railway line. Kempsey Shire was formed on 1 October 1975 by the amalgamation of the former Kempsey Municipality and the formerMacleay Shire.^[3]

At the2011 census, Kempsey Shire had a high proportion ofAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people residing within its boundaries; being 11.1 per cent of the resident population, more than four times the national and stateaverages of 2.5 per cent. The shire also contains a coastal strip that was identified in 2007, and confirmed in 2015, as one of the mostsocially disadvantaged areas in Australia.^[4][5][6]

Themayor of the Kempsey Shire is Kinne Ring, anindependent politician.

• Aldavilla
• Burnt Bridge
• Dondingalong
• East Kempsey
• Euroka
• Greenhill
• Kempsey
• Sherwood
• South Kempsey
• West Kempsey
• Yarravel

Towns and localities in the Kempsey Shire are:

• Kempsey
• East Kempsey
• South Kempsey
• West Kempsey

This sectionneeds expansion with:2021 census data. You can help byadding missing information.(July 2017)

At the2016 census, there were 28,885 people in the Kempsey Shire local government area, of these 50 per cent were male and 50 per cent were female. Themedian age of people in the Kempsey Shire was 47 years; some nine years older than the national median. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 17.2 per cent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 23.9 per cent of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 43.9 per cent were married and 15.7 per cent were either divorced or separated.^[7] At the2011 CensusAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 11.1 per cent of the population, more than four times the national average.

Population growth in the Kempsey Shire between the2001 census and2006 census was 1.86 per cent; and in the subsequent five years to the 2011 census was 2.73 per cent. Following this, the growth between the 2011 Census and the 2016 Census was 2.67 per cent. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same periods, being 5.78 per cent, 8.32 per cent and 8.81 per cent respectively, population growth in the Kempsey Shire local government area was significantly lower than the national average.^[8] The medianweekly income for residents within the Kempsey Shire was significantly below the national average,^[7][9] being one of the factors that place parts of the Kempsey Shire in anarea of social disadvantage.^[10]

At the 2011 Census, the proportion of residents in the Kempsey Shire local government area who stated theirancestry asAustralian orAnglo-Celtic exceeded 81 per cent of all residents (national average was 65.2 per cent) and in the 2016 Census, this value was 79.4 per cent compared to the national average of 62.3 per cent. In excess of 62 per cent of all residents in the Kempsey Shire nominated areligious affiliation withChristianity at the 2011 census (62.9 per cent in 2016), which was higher than the national average of 50.2 per cent (49.2 per cent in 2016).

Meanwhile, as at the 2011 Census date, compared to the national average, households in the Kempsey Shire local government area had a significantly lower than average proportion (3.3 per cent) where two or more languages are spoken (national average was 20.4 per cent); and a significantly higher proportion (91.9 per cent) whereEnglish only was spoken at home (national average was 76.8 per cent).^[7]

Selected historical census data for Kempsey local government area
Census year		2001[8]	2006[9]	2011[7]	2016[11]	2021
Population	Estimated residents oncensus night	26,887	27,387	28,134	28,885	30,688
	LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales			62nd	61st	60th
	% of New South Wales population			0.41%
	% of Australian population	0.14%	0.14%	0.13%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses	Australian			35.3%	34.2%	41.1%
	English			31.7%	30.4%	40.4%
	Aboriginal Australian					11.3%
	Irish			8.3%	8.5%	9.5%
	Scottish			6.0%	6.3%	8.7%
	German			2.6%	2.7%	3.5%
Language, top responses (other thanEnglish)	German	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%
	Tagalog	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%
	Cantonese	n/c	n/c	0.1%
	Dutch	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%
	French	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses	Anglican	29.9%	27.7%	26.6%	22.1%	17.2%
	Catholic	25.9%	25.4%	25.1%	22.0%	18.5%
	No religion	11.9%	14.6%	17.8%	25.6%	37.5%
	Uniting Church	9.8%	8.7%	7.6%	5.9%	4.5%
	Presbyterian and Reformed	3.9%	3.5%	3.2%
Median weekly incomes
Personal income	Median weekly personal income		A$319	A$386	A$474	A$550
	% of Australian median income		68.5%	66.9%	71.6%	68.32%
Family income	Median weekly family income		A$614	A$902	A$1,107	A$1,347
	% of Australian median income		59.8%	60.9%	63.84%	63.54%
Household income	Median weekly household income		A$737	A$748	A$894	A$1,085
	% of Australian median income		62.9%	60.6%	62.17%	62.14%

Kempsey Shire Council is composed of ninecouncillors, including themayor, for a fixed four-year term of office. The mayor isdirectly elected while the eight other councillors are electedproportionally as one entireward. Themost recent election was held on 30 July 2022.

• Local government in New South Wales

• Kempsey Shire
• Local government areas of New South Wales
• Mid North Coast
• 1975 establishments in Australia

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