Warrumbungle Shire

This article is about the local government area. For the mountain range, see Warrumbungles. For the national park, see Warrumbungle National Park.

Warrumbungle Shire
Local government area
Location in New South Wales
Coordinates: 31°15′S149°16′E / 31.250°S 149.267°E / -31.250; 149.267
Country	Australia
State	New South Wales
Region	Orana
Established	2004
Council seat	Coonabarabran [1]
Government
• Mayor	Denis Todd (Unaligned)
•  State electorate	Barwon
•  Federal division	Parkes
Area
• Total	12,380 km2 (4,780 sq mi)
Population
• Totals	9,384 (2016 census) [2] 9,399 (2018 est.) [3]
• Density	0.7580/km2 (1.9632/sq mi)
Website	Warrumbungle Shire
LGAs around Warrumbungle Shire Coonamble Narrabri Gunnedah & Tamworth Gilgandra Warrumbungle Shire Liverpool Plains Dubbo Dubbo Upper Hunter

The Warrumbungle Shire is a local government area in the central western region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire is traversed by the Newell Highway. The Warrumbungle mountain range and Warrumbungles National Park are major tourist attractions for the Shire. Its seat is located in Coonabarabran, a town in the southwest.

The mayor of Warrumbungle Shire Council is Cr. Kathryn Rindfleish, who is unaligned with any political party.

The Warrumbungle Shire local government area sits on Gamilaraay land to the north-east, Wiradjuri land to the south, and Weilwan land to the west. ^{[4] [5]}

Main towns and villages

The Shire incorporates the towns of Binnaway, Coolah, Coonabarabran, Dunedoo, Baradine and Mendooran.

Heritage listings

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

• Coolah, 74 Binnia Street: Old Police Station and Courthouse ^[6]
• Coonabarabran, Oxley Highway: Burra Bee Dee Mission ^[7]
• Dunedoo, Wallerawang-Gwabegar railway: Dunedoo railway station ^[8]
• Kenebri, Old Wooleybah Road: Wooleybah Sawmill and Settlement ^[9]

Demographics

Selected historical census data for Warrumbungle Shire local government area
Census year		2011 [10]	2016 [2]	2021 [11]
Population	Estimated residents on census night	9,588	9,384	9,225
	LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales	93rd	92nd	94th
	% of New South Wales population	0.14%	0.13%	0.11%
	% of Australian population	0.04%	0.04%	0.04%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses	English		30.8%	40.6%
	Australian		36.3%	41.6%
	Scottish		7.7%	9.1%
	Irish		7.6%	9.9%
	Australian Aboriginal			9.8%
Language, top responses (other than English)	German	0.3%	0.3%	0.2%
	Filipino	n/c	n/c	0.2%
	Tagalog	n/c	n/c	0.2%
	Italian	n/c	0.1%	0.1%
	Malayalam	n/c	0.1%	0.1%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses	No religion	14.4%	20.6%	26.2%
	Anglican	36.3%	30.7%	25.6%
	Catholic	23.7%	21.8%	20.5%
	Presbyterian and Reformed	6.0%	5.5%	4.5%
Median weekly incomes
Personal income	Median weekly personal income	$380	$479	$559
	% of Australian median income	65.9%	72.4%	69.4%
Family income	Median weekly family income	$869	$1,103	$1,387
	% of Australian median income	58.7%	63.6%	65.4%
Household income	Median weekly household income	$689	$878	$1,068
	% of Australian median income	55.8%	61.1%	61.2%

Council

The Shire was created in 2004 by the amalgamation of Coolah and Coonabarabran Shire councils. Following amalgamation, the Shire was run by an administrator, until elections were held in March 2005.

Current composition and election method

Warrumbungle Shire Council is composed of nine councillors elected proportionally as a single ward. All councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office. The most recent election was held in 2021, and the makeup of the council is as follows: ^[12]

The current Council, elected in 2021, is: ^[12]

Councillor	Party		Notes
Kathryn Rindfleish		Unaligned
Jason Newton		Unaligned
Zoe Holcombe		Unaligned
Ray Lewis		Unaligned
Debra Bell		Unaligned
Dale Hogden		Unaligned
Kodi Brady		Unaligned
Denis Todd		Unaligned
Naomi Taylor		Unaligned

The mayor is elected by the councillors every two years. At the last mayoral election held 21 September 2023, Cr Rindfleish was elected as mayor and Cr Newton elected as deputy mayor.

Election results

2024

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

2024 New South Wales local elections: Warrumbungle

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Zoe Holcombe (elected)	unopposed
	Independent	Ray Lewis (elected)	unopposed
	Independent	Debra Ball (elected)	unopposed
	Independent	Kathryn Rindfleish (elected)	unopposed
	Independent	Dale Hogden (elected)	unopposed
	Independent	Kodi Brady (elected)	unopposed
	Independent	Denis Todd (elected)	unopposed
	Independent	Naomi Taylor (elected)	unopposed
	Independent	Jason Newton (elected)	unopposed
Registered electors

See also

• New South Wales portal

• List of local government areas in New South Wales

References

1. "Warrumbungle Shire Council". Division of Local Government . Retrieved 2 December 2006.
2. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Warrumbungle Shire (A)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
3. "3218.0 – Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2017-18". Australian Bureau of Statistics. 27 March 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2019. Estimated resident population (ERP) at 30 June 2018.
4. Somerville, Margaret (1994). The sun dancin' : people and place in Coonabarabran. Internet Archive. Canberra, Australia: Aboriginal Studies Press. ISBN   978-0-85575-253-8.
5. Longdin, Ruth (January 2019). Warrumbungle Thematic History: A Community Heritage Study for the Warrumbungle Shire in 2017-2018. Monitor Heritage Consultants. p. 11.
6. "Old Police Station & Courthouse". New South Wales State Heritage Register . Department of Planning & Environment. H00048. Retrieved 18 May 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence .
7. "Burra Bee Dee Mission". New South Wales State Heritage Register . Department of Planning & Environment. H01688. Retrieved 18 May 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence .
8. "Dunedoo Railway Station and yard group". New South Wales State Heritage Register . Department of Planning & Environment. H01134. Retrieved 18 May 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence .
9. "Wooleybah Sawmill and Settlement". New South Wales State Heritage Register . Department of Planning & Environment. H01846. Retrieved 18 May 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence .
10. Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Warrumbungle Shire (A)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
11. "2021 Warrumbungle Shire, Census All persons QuickStats | Australian Bureau of Statistics". www.abs.gov.au. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
12. "Warrumbungle Shire Council: Summary of First Preference Votes for each Candidate". Local Government Elections 2016. Electoral Commission of New South Wales. 19 September 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2016.