Shire of Irwin


The Shire of Irwin is a local government area in the Mid West region of Western Australia, about south of Geraldton and about north of the state capital, Perth. The Shire covers an area of, and its seat of government is the town of Dongara.

History

The Irwin Road District was created on 24 January 1871 as one of the first regional local government areas in Western Australia. On 16 June 1916, Irwin received a large land area from the Upper Irwin Road Board shortly before that entity's dissolution. Sections of the district separated as part of the formation of the Carnamah Road District on 24 August 1923 and the Three Springs Road District on 2 November 1928.
On 1 July 1961, it became a shire following the passage of the Local Government Act 1960, which reformed all remaining road districts into shires.
YearPopulation
1933555
1947465
1954611
1961657
1966810
1971941
19761,196
19811,578
19861,905
19912,100
19962,433
20012,810
20063,052
20113,567
20163,569

In June 2015, Irwin declared itself gasfield free.

Wards

The Shire is divided into four wards:
As of 2020, 157 places are heritage-listed in the Shire of Irwin, of which 16 are on the State Register of Heritage Places.