Byron Shire

This article is about the local government area. For the regional town, see Byron Bay, New South Wales.

Byron Shire is a local government area located in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia. The shire is located adjacent to the Coral Sea about 50 kilometres (31 mi) south of the Queensland border. The shire, administered from the town of Mullumbimby, covers an area of 566.7 square kilometres (218.8 sq mi), and has existed as a local government entity since 1906. The shire was named for Cape Byron, itself named by Captain James Cook in May 1770 in honour of Vice-Admiral John Byron.

Byron Shire New South Wales
Location in New South Wales
Coordinates	28°33′S 153°30′E
Population	31,556 (2016 census) 34,574 (2018 est.)
• Density	55.684/km2 (144.220/sq mi)
Established	7 March 1906
Area	566.7 km2 (218.8 sq mi)
Mayor	Sarah Ndiaye
Council seat	Mullumbimby
Region	Northern Rivers
State electorate(s)	Ballina
Federal division(s)	Richmond
Website	Byron Shire
LGAs around Byron Shire: Tweed Tweed Coral Sea (Pacific Ocean) Lismore Byron Shire Coral Sea (Pacific Ocean) Lismore Ballina Coral Sea (Pacific Ocean)

Michael Lyon was first elected mayor to fill a casual vacancy on 13 May 2021 and then popularly elected at the council elections on 4 December 2021.

History

Byron Shire was created on 7 March 1906 under the Shires Act 1906 (NSW) as one of 134 local government areas in regional New South Wales. On 16 May 1906, a temporary council of five members was appointed to administer it, and elections were held in November. On 4 December, the council convened for the first time with William Baker as its inaugural president. William Baker was born in Great Stanmore, England. His cousin, Alfred Joseph Baker was the first person to score a goal in international football against Scotland in 1870.

On 1 July 1908, the Mullumbimby Municipality was created out of part of Byron. On 1 October 1980, the municipality and the shire were re-amalgamated by direction of the NSW Minister for Local Government.

Heritage listings

The Byron Shire has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

• High Conservation Value Old Growth forest

Towns and localities

Byron (SE)

• Byron Bay
• Bangalow
• Broken Head
• Coopers Shoot
• Ewingsdale
• Hayters Hill
• McLeods Shoot
• Newrybar (shared with Ballina)
• Skinners Shoot
• Suffolk Park
• Talofa
• Tyagarah

Mullumbimby/Brunswick (NE)

• Mullumbimby
• Brunswick Heads
• Billinudgel
• Crabbes Creek
• Montecollum
• Mullumbimby Creek
• Myocum
• New Brighton
• Ocean Shores
• South Golden Beach
• The Pocket
• Wilsons Creek
• Wooyung (shared with Tweed)
• Yelgun

Other (W)

• Binna Burra
• Booyong (shared with Lismore)
• Coorabell
• Eureka
• Federal
• Goonengerry
• Huonbrook
• Koonyum Range
• Main Arm
• Middle Pocket
• Nashua
• Palmwoods
• Possum Creek
• Repentance Creek
• Upper Coopers Creek
• Upper Main Arm
• Upper Wilsons Creek
• Wanganui

Demographics

In the 2016 census, there were 31,556 people in the Byron local government area, of these 48.2 per cent were male and 51.8 per cent were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 1.8 per cent of the population, which is lower than the national and averages of 2.8 per cent and lower than the NSW state average of 2.9 per cent. The median age of people in the Byron Shire area is 44 years (up from the 42 in the 2011 census) which was slightly higher than the national median of 38 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 16.8 per cent of the population (down from 18.5 in the 2011 census) and people aged 65 years and over made up 16.9 per cent per cent of the population (up from 13.3 per cent). This change over the 5-year period shows evidence of an increasingly ageing population in the Byron Shire which is in line with predictions of the nations future increase in age. The ABS records marital status in everyone over the age of 15, in Byron Shire 37.1 per cent of the population is married whilst 18.1 per cent are divorced or separated. Whilst there has been little change in Byron since the 2011 census, compared to the national percentages there is a large difference. Of the Australian population aged 15 and older 48.1 per cent of the population is married and 11.7 per cent of the population is divorced or separated. This shows that Byron Shire has a large discrepancy in marital status compared to the rest of the nation.

Population in the Byron Shire area has increased since the 2011 census with a population growth of 8 percent, this is a significant increase compared to the population growth between the 2006 and 2011 census which was 1.54 per cent. Whilst the growth since 2011 is similar to the Australian population growth on 8.8 percent, the growth in previous years, negative 0.51 per cent in 2001 to 2006 and 1.54 per cent in 2006 to 2011, is vastly different from the total population growth. This data suggests that Byron Shire's population is growing at an increasing rate much like the majority of Australia. Byron Shire has an average of 2.4 people per dwelling, the same as in the 2011 census, and on average there are 1.8 motor vehicles per dwelling. In terms of median income Byron Shire lags behind the Australian average, with the median personal income in Byron Shire being $596 and the Australian median income being $662. The gap is even larger in the median household income bracket grouping with the Australian national median being $1438 compared to Byron Shire's $1149.

A large proportion of Byron Shire residents are born in Australia with 68.4 per cent of the population, 52 percent of the population have had both parents born in Australia, meaning less than half the population is first generation Australian or a migrant. The second largest country of origin is England with only 5.1 per cent, this reflects the diversity of those that aren't Australian born. Religion in Byron Shire is substantially different compared to the Australian population as a whole, 46.3 per cent of the Byron Shire population listed 'No Religion' in their 2016 census compared with only 25.1 per cent Australian wide. A total of 12.5 per cent of Byron Shire identified as Catholic contrasted to 24.7 per cent of Australia's population. Byron Shire area had a significantly lower proportion of houses where two or more languages are spoken at 9 per cent compared to the national amount of 26.5. The vast majority of houses in Byron Shire, 81.1, speak only English at home whereas 68.5 of houses Australia wide only speak English at home.

Selected historical census data for the Byron Shire local government area
Census year			1976	1981	1986	1991	1996	2001	2006	2011	2016
Population		Estimated residents on census night	10,916	15,426	18,342	22,599	27,007	28,916	28,766	29,209	31,556
		LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales								61st	58th
		% of New South Wales population								0.42%	0.42%
		% of Australian population						0.15%	0.14%	0.14%	0.13%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses		English								29.7%	27.9%
		Australian								25.7%	24.1%
		Irish								11.2%	10.5%
		Scottish								8.2%	8.0%
		German								4.0%	3.8%
Language, top responses (other than English)		German						1.0%	1.1%	1.1%	1.0%
		French						0.5%	0.5%	0.7%	0.7%
		Hebrew						n/a	0.4%	0.6%	0.6%
		Italian						0.3%	0.4%	0.5%	0.6%
		Spanish						n/c	0.3%	0.4%	0.6%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses		No Religion						24.4%	30.0%	37.6%	46.3%
		Catholic						18.0%	16.6%	15.9%	12.5%
		Anglican						19.0%	15.7%	14.0%	9.7%
		Uniting Church						5.9%	4.8%	3.9%	2.8%
		Buddhism						n/c	n/c	3.6%	n/c
Median weekly incomes
Personal income		Median weekly personal income							A$383	A$477	A$596
		% of Australian median income							82.2%	82.7%	89.7%
Family income		Median weekly family income							A$932	A$1,053	A$1389
		% of Australian median income							79.6%	71.1%	77.6%
Household income		Median weekly household income							A$738	A$885	A$1149
		% of Australian median income							71.9%	71.7%	77.3%

Population

The table below gives a picture of the estimated resident population as at the census night. Between 1911 and 1966, data was sourced from the New South Wales Statistical Register, covering the Byron Shire and Mullumbimby Municipality. Since 1976, data was sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics for the merged Byron Shire.

Estimated resident population
Year	Byron Shire	Mullumbimby Municipality	Total	Notes
1911	6,553	951	7,504
1921	8,299	1,329	9,628
1933	7,967	1,362	9,329
1947	8,784	1,609	10,393
1954	8,904	2,017	10,921
1961	8,505	1,964	10,469
1966	7,972	1,981	9,953

Council

Byron Shire Council
Type
Type	Unicameral
Leadership
Mayor	Sarah Ndiaye, Greens
Deputy Mayor	TBA, TBA
Seats	Nine councillors, including a directly-elected mayor
Elections
Last election	14 September 2024
Next election	9 September 2028

Current composition and election method

Byron Shire Council is composed of nine councillors, including the mayor, for a fixed four-year term of office. The mayor is directly-elected, while the eight other councillors are elected proportionally to a single ward.

The most recent election was held on 14 September 2024, and the makeup of the council (including the mayor) is as follows:

Party		Councillors
	Greens	4
	Labor	2
	Byron Shire Compass	1
	Byron Independents	1
	Bright Future Byron	1
	Total	9

The current council, elected in 2024, in order of election, is:

Councillor		Party	Notes
	Sarah Ndiaye	Greens	Mayor since 2024
	Elia Hauge	Greens
	Asren Pugh	Labor
	David Warth	Byron Shire Compass
	Michael Lyon	Byron Independents	Mayor from 2021 until 2024
	Delta Kay	Greens
	Janet Swain	Labor
	Michelle Lowe	Greens
	Jack Dods	Bright Future Byron

Election results

2024

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2024 New South Wales local elections in Northern Rivers § Byron results.[edit]

2024 New South Wales local elections: Byron

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Greens	1. Sarah Ndiaye 2. Elia Hauge (elected 1) 3. Delta Kay (elected 5) 4. Michelle Lowe (elected 7) 5. Nell Schofield	6,772	36.7	+15.2
	Labor	1. Asren Pugh (elected 2) 2. Janet Swain (elected 6) 3. Mark Swivel 4. Peter Doherty 5. Diana James 6. Linda Watson	5,001	27.1	+13.7
	Byron Shire Compass	1. David Warth (elected 3) 2. Susie Figgis 3. Nyck Jeanes 4. Trisha Gizas-Barker	2,503	13.6	+13.6
	Byron Independents	1. Michael Lyon (elected 4) 2. Max Foggon 3. Rhett Holt 4. Jeannette Martin	2,161	11.7	−8.8
	Bright Future Byron	1. Jack Dods (elected 8) 2. David Michie 3. Meredith Wray 4. Niamh Dove	1,765	9.6	+9.6
	Independent	Lucy Vader	240	1.3	+1.3
Total formal votes			18,442	93.99
Informal votes			1,181	6.01
Turnout			19,623

2021

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2021 New South Wales local elections in Northern Rivers § Byron.[edit]

Elected councillor		Party
	Duncan Dey	Greens
	Cate Coorey	Independent (Group B)
	Mark Swivel	Mark Swivel Team
	Sama Balson	Byron Independents
	Asren Pugh	Labor
	Sarah Ndiaye	Greens
	Peter Westheimer	Byron Independents
	Alan Hunter	Byron Alliance

2021 New South Wales local elections: Byron

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Greens		3,755	21.2	−21.7
	Byron Independents		3,627	20.5
	Mark Swivel Team		2,969	16.7
	Independent (Group B)		2,633	14.8
	Labor		2,196	12.4
	Byron Alliance		1,235	7.0
	Byron Shire Action Group		975	5.5
	Independent	John Anderson	345	1.9
Total formal votes			17,735	94.6
Informal votes			1,021	5.4
Turnout			18,756	73.8
Party total seats				Seats	±
	Independent			5	3
	Greens			2	1
	Labor			1	1

• Incumbent councillor Basil Cameron (Our Sustainable Future) did not seek re-election