← Baw Baw Shire Council
Shire profile

Shire profile

Baw Baw Shire is in West Gippsland, about 100 kilometres east of Melbourne. Most people live in the towns along the Princes Freeway and the Gippsland railway line — Warragul, the largest town, Drouin, Trafalgar, Yarragon and Longwarry. The north of the shire is heavily forested, rising into the Great Dividing Range and the Baw Baw National Park, with towns such as Neerim South, Noojee, Erica and the historic township of Walhalla; the Strzelecki Ranges foothills lie to the south. The shire was formed in 1994 from the former Buln Buln and Narracan Shires, the Rural City of Warragul and part of the Shire of Upper Yarra.

New to these terms? Read them in plain English
Local Government Area (LGA)
The official area a council governs.
Estimated Resident Population (ERP)
The official population count for an area.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)
The national statistics agency behind population figures.
See the full explainer, with formulas →

The area at a glance

Population (ERP, 30 June 2025)
62,784ABS Estimated Resident Population (preliminary).
Area
4,027.6 km²ABS. The council's 'Our Shire' page gives 4,034 km², and the VEC's council page 4,025 km².
Population density
About 16 people per km²ABS population ÷ ABS area (our calculation). Most people live in the towns, so density varies widely.
Wards
3 (West, Central, East), with 3 councillors each
Council group (LGPRF)
Large Shire
Rateable properties
30,283 assessments (2026–27 budget)
Traditional Custodians
Acknowledged by the councilThe council acknowledges 'the Traditional Custodians and their ongoing connection to the land and waters that make up Baw Baw Shire'. Its acknowledgement and Council Plan don't name the Traditional Owner groups, so we don't either.
Customer service centres
Drouin (Civic Centre) and Warragul (West Gippsland Arts Centre)

Suburbs & postcodes

On the map

The shaded area is the official Local Government Area boundary.

The council doesn't publish a single list of its localities, so this list comes from the official Vicmap locality boundaries, checked against the council boundary. A locality is listed when at least 5% of its area is inside the council, and marked '(part)' when less than 95% is. Approximate shares inside Baw Baw: Delburn 6%, Allambee South 7%, Moe South 11%, Poowong North 13%, Strzelecki 14%, Glengarry North 15%, Moe 16%, Poowong East 23%, Heath Hill 33%, Yallourn North 34%, Toongabbie 43%, Trida 47%, Toorongo 51%, Walhalla 57%, Modella 62%, Allambee Reserve 77%, Thorpdale South 78%, Tanjil South 79%, Longwarry 81%, Narracan 84%. Postcodes come from the CSA's suburb and postcode table (for split localities, some from a neighbouring council's rows, and a few from earlier years of the same table). Two small localities, Coopers Creek and Thalloo, are wholly inside the shire but have no row in that table, so we don't list them with a postcode. If you live in a split locality, your rates notice shows which council you pay. The shaded area on the map is the council boundary from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ASGS 2025) — the same boundary the ABS area and population figures are measured on.

Sources — check it yourself

Figures are current as at the dates shown and may change — always confirm with the linked source. See the notice at the bottom of the page for full details and how to report a correction.