Local government areas of the Northern Territory

The Northern Territory is a federal Australian territory in north-central Australia. It is the third largest Australian federal division with an area of 1,348,094.3 square kilometres (520,502 sq mi) but the least populous with 245,929 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]

Location of Northern Territory in Australia
Map of new local government areas in the Northern Territory from 1 July 2008

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 (1,237,999 km2 (477,994 sq mi) out of 1,349,130 km2 (520,900 sq mi)) 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 sq km (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 19,790 km2 (7,640 sq mi), 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 area Council seat Region Type Year est. Land area[1] Population Notes
km² sq mi 2014[5] 2019[5][1]
Alice Springs, Town ofAlice SpringsCentral AustraliaMunicipality1 July 1971 (1971-07-01)328 12727,48626,390
AlyangulaAlyangulaArnhem LandUnincorporated area1960s2 1986[6]873[7]
Barkly RegionTennant CreekBarkly TablelandRegion1 July 2008 (2008-07-01)322,713 124,6007,6637,369
Belyuen ShireBelyuenGreater DarwinShire1 July 2008 (2008-07-01)41 16188175
Central Desert RegionAlice SpringsCentral AustraliaRegion1 July 2008 (2008-07-01)281,312 108,6154,3164,231
Coomalie ShireBatchelorGreater DarwinShire7 December 1990 (1990-12-07)2,056 7941,3741,370
Darwin, City ofDarwinGreater DarwinCity1854 (1854)111 4383,09882,886Darwin Town and District Council formed, 1874; redesignated Darwin Town Council, 1915; redesignated Municipality of Darwin, 1955; redesignated City of Darwin, 1959
Northern Territory Rates Act AreaGreater DarwinUnincorporated area52 20
East Arnhem RegionNhulunbuyArnhem LandRegion1 July 2008 (2008-07-01)33,310 12,86110,46910,344
Katherine, Town ofKatherineKatherineMunicipality3 March 1978 (1978-03-03)7,417 2,86410,74410,623
Litchfield, Municipality ofFreds PassGreater DarwinMunicipality6 September 1985 (1985-09-06)2,903 1,12123,25625,561
MacDonnell RegionAlice SpringsCentral AustraliaRegion1 July 2008 (2008-07-01)268,329 103,6026,8756,917
Nhulunbuy CorporationNhulunbuyArnhem LandUnincorporated area7 34,072[8]3,240[9]
Palmerston, City ofPalmerstonGreater DarwinCity2000 (2000) (as a city)53 2034,00138,270
Roper Gulf RegionKatherineKatherineRegion1 July 2008 (2008-07-01)185,210 71,5107,2727,428
Tiwi Islands RegionDarwinGreater DarwinRegion1 July 2008 (2008-07-01)7,483 2,8892,9022,741
Unincorporated Top End RegionGreater DarwinUnincorporated area19,263 7,437
Victoria Daly RegionKatherineKatherineRegion1 July 2008 (2008-07-01)153,287 59,1843,2693,155De-amalgamated in 2014 into Victoria Daly and West Daly Regional Councils
Wagait ShireWagait BeachGreater DarwinShire1 July 2008 (2008-07-01)6 2467519Formerly the Cox Peninsula Community Government Council, established on 28 April 1995.
West Arnhem RegionJabiruArnhem LandRegion1 July 2008 (2008-07-01)49,675 19,1807,1576,881
West Daly RegionWadeyeKatherineRegion1 July 2014 (2014-07-01)[10]14,070 5,4323,5873,693Part of Victoria Daly Regional Council from 2008 until 2014 de-amalgamation
YularaYularaCentral AustraliaUnincorporated area103 40986[11]1099[12]

Former local government areas
Map of old local government areas in the Northern Territory prior 1 July 2008

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

  • Community Government Councils of which 51 existed,
  • Incorporated Associations (Commonwealth) of which three existed,
  • Municipalities of which six existed and
  • Special Purpose Towns of which there is only one example.

Towns

Community Government Councils

Incorporated Communities

Unincorporated Area
  • Unincorporated Area: A contiguous 92 percent of the area did not belong to any local government area. The LGAs were enclaves within unincorporated territory.

See also

References
  1. "3218.0 – Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2018-19: Population Estimates by Local Government Area , 2018 to 2019". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 25 March 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2020. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2019.
  2. Northern Territory LGA History Archived 26 October 2004 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Population of Northern Territory 2022". Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 11 July 2009. Retrieved 24 July 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) and "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 11 July 2009. Retrieved 24 July 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "People: Population: ERP by LGA (ASGS 2019), 2001 to 2019". ABS.Stat. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
  6. Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Alyangula (SLA)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  7. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Alyangula (State Suburb)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  8. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Nhulunbuy (State Suburb)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  9. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Nhulunbuy (State Suburb)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  10. https://dhcd.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/155922/West_Daly_Restructure_Order_2014.pdf
  11. Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Yulara (State Suburb)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  12. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Yulara (State Suburb)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 11 April 2018.

Sources
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