Shire - Shires in Australia

Shires in Australia

"Shire" is the most common word in Australia for rural Local Government Areas (LGA). The states of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia use the term "Shire" for this unit.

In contrast, South Australia uses district and region for its rural LGA units, while Tasmania uses municipality. Shires are generally functionally indistinguishable from towns, municipalities, or cities.

Three LGAs in outer metropolitan Sydney have populations exceeding that of towns or municipalities, but retain significant bushlands and/or semi-rural areas, have continued to use the title of 'Shire', possibly due to community demand or popularity, or for financial and socio-political gain. These three 'City-Shires' are:

• Sutherland Shire (which is commonly referred to as 'The Shire' )
• The Hills Shire ( 'The Garden Shire', previously 'Baulkham Hills Shire' )
• Hornsby Shire ( 'The Bushland Shire' )