Municipality of Kiama


The Municipality of Kiama is a local government area in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The area is situated south of Shellharbour and the City of Wollongong and is located adjacent to the Pacific Ocean, the Princes Highway and the South Coast railway line.

Towns and localities

The Municipality of Kiama contains the following towns and localities:
The municipality of Kiama was created in 1859. There were three wards: Kiama, Gerringong and Jamberoo. The first council comprised James Colley, John Sharpe and Joseph Pike ; John Hukins, John Colley and John Hanrahan ; and Joseph Blow, Robert Miller and James Robinson. The first mayor of Kiama was James Colley.
In 1871, Gerringong separated from the Kiama municipality and Jamberoo in 1892. In 1954, the Gerringong, Jamberoo and Kiama municipalities were amalgamated forming today's current municipal boundaries.
Kiama has had three female mayors: Ruth Devenney, Joyce Wheatley and Sandra McCarthy.
A 2015 review of local government boundaries recommended that the Municipality of Kiama merge with the City of Shoalhaven to form a new council with an area of and support a population of approximately. The Kiama community along with the Shoalhaven community actively campaigned against any forced council amalgamation between the two councils. Kiama council held a non-compulsory poll on 7 May 2016 to grasp community attitudes to the proposal. The results of the poll concluded that 95% of the community supported remaining an independent council, with a 49.9% turnout. On 12 May 2016, the NSW State Government determined not to amalgamate Kiama and Shoalhaven council areas.

Demographics

At the the total population of the Municipality was 21,464 people. The median age of the community was 47 years.
Almost 21% of the population was born outside of Australia, predominately migration from North-West Europe. The Indigenous Australian population is 2% of the total community population.
English was spoken as a first language by 90% of the population. The top response for language other than English spoken was Italian.

Council

Current composition and election method

The Council of the Municipality of Kiama is composed of nine Councillors elected proportionally as a single ward. All Councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office. The Mayor is elected by the Councillors at the first meeting of the Council. The most recent election was held on 10 September 2016 and the makeup of the Council is as follows:
The current Council, elected in 2016, in order of election, is: