← Gwydir Shire Council
Area profile

Area profile

A quick snapshot of Gwydir Shire, drawn from official ABS estimates and the NSW Government's council data. Gwydir sits on the North West Slopes and plains, about 160 km north of Tamworth, 85 km east of Moree and 65–85 km west of Inverell, at the crossroads of the Fossickers Way and the Gwydir Highway. It is a two-centre shire: the council was formed on 17 March 2004 by merging the Bingara and Yallaroi shires with a northern part of Barraba Shire, and it still runs offices in both Bingara (the seat) and Warialda, with five villages — Gravesend, North Star, Croppa Creek, Coolatai and Upper Horton — and around 21 rural localities besides.

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, 2023–24)
4,893ABS Estimated Resident Population, per OLG time-series data. The 2021 Census counted 4,910 residents.
Area
9,259.7 km²OLG time-series figure; the council's own About Us page describes the shire as 9,122 km².
Population density
~1 person per km²
Region
North West Slopes and plains, NSW (New England North West)
Council classification
Large Rural (OLG group 10)
Two administrative centres
Bingara (council seat) and WarialdaCouncil offices at 33 Maitland Street, Bingara and 2 Geddes Street, Warialda, each open 9:00am–12:30pm and 1:30pm–4:00pm on weekdays. Each town has its own visitor information centre, swimming pool, caravan park, landfill and after-hours roads and water/sewer call-out number. A new council administration building is under construction in Bingara.
What the local economy runs on
Agriculture — cattle and sheep production and broadacre croppingCouncil describes agriculture as the shire's primary land use and economic activity. Tourism is a growing contributor, centred on the Fossickers Way, Copeton Dam, Cranky Rock and the restored Roxy Theatre complex in Bingara. Managers are the largest occupation group at 30.8% of workers, followed by labourers at 14.2% (ABS Census 2021, via Council's Annual Report).
Roads and infrastructure Council maintains
2,335 km of local roads — 1,637 km unsealed and 698 km sealed — plus 110 bridgesAlso 18 km of footpaths, 33 km of kerb and guttering, 79 km of water pipes and 42 km of sewerage pipes (Delivery Program 2026/2030, figures as at 15 April 2025).
Myall Creek Massacre Memorial Site
In the Gwydir LGA; maintained with Council supportThe site commemorates the 1838 Myall Creek massacre and is on the National Heritage List. Council reports in its Annual Report 2024–25 that the site is maintained and presented by Council, that it supports the Friends of Myall Creek Memorial Committee's annual memorial event with traffic control, set-up and cleaning, and that the 25th anniversary of the Committee and the memorial was marked on 9 June 2025 with more than 500 people attending. NESA has announced that study of the Myall Creek massacre becomes mandatory learning for Year 7–8 students from 2027.

Suburbs & postcodes

On the map

The shaded area is the official Local Government Area boundary.

The suburb list and postcodes are a selection of the localities in the Gwydir Shire LGA; Council also lists rural localities including Yallaroi, Crooble, Blue Nobby, Boonal, Elcombe, Cobbadah, Pallal, Riverview, Gineroi, Upper Bingara, Keera and Copeton. The shaded area on the map is the official Local Government Area boundary (OpenStreetMap administrative boundary for Gwydir Shire Council). Gwydir Shire Council acknowledges the Gomeroi People as the Traditional Custodians of the land.

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.