City profile
Central Goldfields is a shire at the geographical centre of Victoria, within an hour's drive of Ballarat and Bendigo and about two hours from Melbourne. Maryborough is its main town and business centre, and the council's offices are there. The other principal towns are Carisbrook, Dunolly, Talbot and Bealiba, with smaller places including Majorca, Adelaide Lead, Betley, Bowenvale, Timor and Daisy Hill. The shire borders Northern Grampians, Pyrenees, Hepburn, Mount Alexander and Loddon shires.
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.
The area at a glance
- Population (ERP, 30 June 2025)
- 13,753ABS Estimated Resident Population (preliminary). The council's pages give earlier figures: 12,995 on its 'Our people' page and 'just under 13,500' in the Council Plan 2025–2029.
- Area
- 1,533 km²ABS: 1,532.8 km². The council and the VEC give 1,532 km².
- Population density
- About 9 people per km²ABS ERP ÷ ABS area.
- Wards
- 7, with one councillor each
- Council group (LGPRF)
- Small shire
- Traditional Owners
- The Dja Dja Wurrung (Djaara) peopleAs acknowledged in the council's Council Plan 2025–2029.
Suburbs & postcodes
- Adelaide Lead3465
- Alma3465
- Amherst3371
- Archdale (part)3475
- Archdale Junction (part)3475
- Bealiba (part)3475
- Bet Bet3472
- Betley3472
- Bowenvale3465
- Bromley3472
- Bung Bong (part)3465
- Campbelltown (part)3364
- Caralulup3371
- Carisbrook (part)3464
- Cotswold3465
- Craigie3465
- Daisy Hill3465
- Dunach (part)3371
- Dunluce3472
- Dunolly (part)3472
- Eddington (part)3472
- Flagstaff3465
- Glengower (part)3370
- Golden Point (Maryborough)3465
- Goldsborough3472
- Havelock3465
- Inkerman (part)3472
- Joyces Creek (part)3364
- Lillicur (part)3371
- Majorca3465
- Maryborough3465
- Moliagul (part)3472
- Moolort (part)3465
- Moonlight Flat (Maryborough)3465
- Mount Cameron3370
- Mount Glasgow3371
- Mount Hooghly3472
- Natte Yallock (part)3465
- Rathscar (part)3465
- Red Lion3371
- Simson3465
- Stony Creek (Talbot) (part)3371
- Strathlea (part)3364
- Talbot3371
- Timor3465
- Timor West3465
- Wareek (part)3465
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. Shares inside Central Goldfields: Rathscar about 5%, Natte Yallock 18%, Campbelltown 25%, Strathlea 26%, Glengower 34%, Eddington 44%, Joyces Creek 46%, Moliagul 51%, Archdale 56%, Inkerman 58%, Dunach 61%, Dunolly 72%, Archdale Junction 74%, Bung Bong 76%, Stony Creek 77%, Bealiba 82%, Lillicur 84%, Carisbrook 86%, Wareek 88%, Moolort 88%. The towns of Dunolly, Bealiba and Carisbrook are inside the shire; parts of the wider localities that share their names are not. Postcodes come from the CSA's suburb and postcode table for Central Goldfields and, for Inkerman, Natte Yallock and Rathscar, which it doesn't list, from Vicmap postcode boundaries. 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
- ABS — Regional population 2024–25, data cube 32180DS0002 Table 2 (Victoria) · ERP 30 Jun 2025
- ABS — Regional population, latest release · Released Mar 2026
- Central Goldfields Shire Council — About the area · Sep 2026
- Central Goldfields Shire Council — Our people · Sep 2026
- Central Goldfields Shire Council — Council Plan 2025–2029, 'About our community' and Acknowledgement of Country (PDF) · 2025–2029
- Victorian Electoral Commission — Central Goldfields Shire Council (7 wards, one councillor each; area) · Sep 2026
- Crime Statistics Agency (CSA) — LGA Recorded Offences, Table 03 (suburb and postcode by LGA) · Jul 2025 to Jun 2026
- DataVic — Vicmap Admin locality polygons · Sep 2026
- Local Government Victoria — LGPRF 2020–2025 Full Council Data Set (council group: Small Shire) · 2024–25
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.