Shire of Buloke

The Shire of Buloke is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the western part of the state. It covers an area of Template:Convert and, in August 2021, had a population of 6,201.<ref name=ABSLGA/> It includes the towns of Birchip, Charlton, Donald, Sea Lake and Wycheproof.

The Shire is governed and administered by the Buloke Shire Council; its seat of local government and administrative centre is located at the Council headquarters in Wycheproof, it also has service centres located in Birchip, Charlton, Donald and Sea Lake. The Shire is named after a major geographical feature in the region, Lake Buloke, which is located in the south of the LGA; the name also comes from the "buloke" or "bulloak" tree Allocasuarina luehmannii, which is common in the region.<ref name="BSCbuloke">Template:Cite web</ref>

Within the Shire, agriculture, particularly grain production, is the predominant source of income and employment.<ref name=BSCbuloke/>

History

The Shire of Buloke was formed in 1995 from the amalgamation of the Shire of Wycheproof, Shire of Birchip, Shire of Charlton, Shire of Donald, and parts of the Shire of Kara Kara.<ref name="Gazette" />

Buloke Shire's predecessor LGAs (green) as they were in 1994. The administrative centres of the former LGAs are marked by green dots.

Council

Current composition

The Council is composed of three wards and six Councillors, with two Councillors elected to represent each of the wards.<ref name="Council">Template:Cite web</ref>

Ward	Councillor		Notes
Lower Avoca	Template:Australian party style|	Bruce Stafford
	Template:Australian party style|	Stephen Barratt
Mallee	Template:Australian party style|	Bernadette Hogan
	Template:Australian party style|	Alan Getley	Mayor 2024-25
Mount Jeffcott	Template:Australian party style|	Graeme Milne	Deputy Mayor 2024-25
	Template:Australian party style|	Charmaine Delaney

Administration and governance

The council meets in the council chambers at the council headquarters in the Wycheproof Municipal Offices, which is also the location of the council's administrative activities. It also provides customer services at its administrative centre in Wycheproof.

Townships and localities

In the 2021 census, the shire's population was 6,178, down from 6,201 in the 2016 census.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Population
Locality	2016	2021
Template:VICcity	10	19
Template:VICcity	25	22
Template:VICcity	18	22
Template:VICcity	184	180
Template:VICcity	9	11
Template:VICcity	702	694
Template:VICcity	3	9
Template:VICcity	8	19
Template:VICcity^	51	52
Template:VICcity	21	18
Template:VICcity	18	18
Template:VICcity	1,050	1,095
Template:VICcity	8	8
Template:VICcity	3	0
Template:VICcity^	31	30
Template:VICcity^	58	42
Template:VICcity	23	33
Template:VICcity	22	10
Template:VICcity	101	86
Template:VICcity	26	20
Template:VICcity	1,498	1,472
Template:VICcity	9	13

Population
Locality	2016	2021
Template:VICcity	24	18
Template:VICcity	12	23
Template:VICcity	6	7
Template:VICcity^	13	14
Template:VICcity	*	#
Template:VICcity	34	34
Template:VICcity	9	18
Template:VICcity	14	6
Template:VICcity	18	17
Template:VICcity	28	28
Template:VICcity	20	15
Template:VICcity	32	26
Template:VICcity^	*	4
Template:VICcity	11	6
Template:VICcity	15	14
Template:VICcity^	21	21
Template:VICcity	0	0
Template:VICcity^	19	16
Template:VICcity	51	36
Template:VICcity	0	6
Template:VICcity	10	23
Template:VICcity	9	10

Population
Locality	2016	2021
Template:VICcity	10	17
Template:VICcity	39	30
Template:VICcity	23	24
Template:VICcity	46	50
Template:VICcity	14	9
Template:VICcity^	22	19
Template:VICcity	93	92
Template:VICcity	24	17
Template:VICcity	8	6
Template:VICcity	24	28
Template:VICcity	3	3
Template:VICcity^	3	9
Template:VICcity	640	619
Springfield	3	9
Template:VICcity	4	11
Template:VICcity	3	3
Template:VICcity	17	23
Template:VICcity	15	12
Template:VICcity^	22	20
Template:VICcity	10	4
Template:VICcity^	3	3
Template:VICcity^	11	4

Population
Locality	2016	2021
Template:VICcity	0	0
Template:VICcity	3	7
Template:VICcity	3	4
Template:VICcity^	13	16
Template:VICcity	11	9
Template:VICcity	5	11
Template:VICcity	16	31
Template:VICcity	4	13
Template:VICcity	114	124
Template:VICcity^	18	29
Template:VICcity	41	43
Template:VICcity	30	25
Template:VICcity^	49	28
Template:VICcity	35	35
Template:VICcity	20	26
Template:VICcity^	11	12
Template:VICcity	635	610
Template:VICcity	12	6
Template:VICcity	0	5
Template:VICcity	31	34
Template:VICcity^	16	11

Template:Columns-end ^ - Territory divided with another LGA
* - Not noted in 2016 Census
# - Not noted in 2021 Census

Traditional owners

The traditional owners of this area are the Wotjobaluk, Jaadwa, Jadawadjali, Wergaia and Jupagalk and Dja Dja Wurrung.

See also

• List of places on the Victorian Heritage Register in the Shire of Buloke

External links

• Buloke Shire Council official website
• Metlink local public transport map
• Link to Land Victoria interactive maps Template:Webarchive
• Template:Victorian local government areas pre-1994 vs present map link

Template:Australia-gov-stub Template:Mallee-geo-stub