Byron Shire

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.^{[citation needed]}

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

• High Conservation Value Old Growth forest^[3]

In the 2021 census, there were 36,116 people in the Byron local government area, of these 47.9 per cent were male and 52.1 per cent were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 1.9 per cent of the population, which is lower than the national average of 3.2 per cent and lower than the NSW state average of 3.4 per cent. The median age of people in the Byron Shire area is 43 years (down from 44 in the 2016 census) which was slightly higher than the national median of 38 years. The ABS records marital status in everyone over the age of 15, in the Byron Shire 35.1 per cent of the population is married, whilst 15.9 per cent are divorced or separated, significantly more separated and divorced than the Australian average of 12 per cent.^[4]

Between 2011 and 2016 the population of the Byron Shire area increased 8 percent, this was 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.^[5] 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.^[6]

In 2016, a large proportion of Byron Shire residents were 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 were first generation Australian or a migrant.^[7] The second largest country of origin was England with only 5.1 per cent, this reflects the diversity of those that aren't Australian born. Religion in Byron Shire was 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. The 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, spoke only English at home in the 2016 census, whereas 68.5 of houses Australia wide only spoke English at home.^[8]

More information Selected historical census data for the Byron Shire local government area, Census year ...

Selected historical census data for the Byron Shire local government area
Census year			1976	1981	1986	1991	1996	2001[9]	2006[10]	2011[11]	2016[1]
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%

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