Shire of Broome

The Shire of Broome is one of the four local government areas in the Kimberley region of northern Western Australia, covering an area of 55,796 square kilometres (21,543 sq mi), most of which is sparsely populated. The Shire's estimated population as at the 2016 census was 16,222 most of whom reside in the town of Broome. Many Aboriginal communities are within the Shire, notably Beagle Bay and Bardi (One Arm Point).

Shire of Broome Western Australia
The Shire Administration Centre, 2019
Location in Western Australia
Population	16,959 (LGA 2021)[1]
Established	1918
Area	55,795.6 km2 (21,542.8 sq mi)
President	Chris Mitchell[2]
Council seat	Broome
Region	Kimberley
State electorate(s)	Kimberley
Federal division(s)	Durack
Website	Shire of Broome
LGAs around Shire of Broome: Cocos Christmas Island Derby-West Kimberley Indian Ocean Shire of Broome Derby-West Kimberley East Pilbara East Pilbara East Pilbara

The Shire of Broome includes the Rowley Shoals 260 km (162 mi) to the west.

History

The Shire of Broome was first established as the second Broome Road District on 20 December 1918, when it was separated from the West Kimberley Road District. The area had been previously represented by an earlier Broome Road District (1901-1908) and the Municipality of Broome (1904-1918) but both had merged back into the West Kimberley district.^[3]

It was declared a shire with effect from 1 July 1961 following the passage of the Local Government Act 1960, which reformed all remaining road districts into shires.^[3]

Elected council

The Shire is divided into two wards.

• Broome Ward (seven councillors)
• Dampier Ward (two councillors)

Ward	Councillor		Position
Broome Ward		Harold Tracey	President	[4]
		Desiree Male	Deputy president
		Chris Mitchell JP
		Bruce Rudeforth Jnr
		Peter Taylor
		Nik Wevers
		Vacant[5]
Dampier Ward		Elsta Foy
		Philip Matsumoto

2023 election results

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2023 Western Australian local elections § Broome.[edit]

2023 Western Australian local elections: Broome^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Melanie Virgo (elected)	389	21.43
	Labor	Ellen Smith (elected)	288	15.87
	Independent	Jan Lewis (elected)	200	11.02
	Independent	Elsta Foy	162	8.93
	Independent	Edward Fleming	155	8.54
	Independent	James Carpenter	134	7.38
	Independent	Gwen Knox	131	7.22
	Independent	Johani Mamid (elected)	127	7.00
	Independent	Brendan Renkin	118	6.50
	Independent	Mala Haji-Ali	81	4.46
	Independent	Jerome Herveux	30	1.65
Total formal votes			1,815	98.64
Informal votes			25	1.36
Turnout			1,840	20.48

Towns and localities

The towns and localities of the Shire of Broome with population and size figures based on the most recent Australian census:^[8][9]

Locality	Population	Area	Map
Bilingurr	1,540 (SAL 2021)[10]	13.1 km2 (5.1 sq mi)
Broome	3,797 (SAL 2021)[11]	7.4 km2 (2.9 sq mi)
Cable Beach	5,730 (SAL 2021)[12]	9.4 km2 (3.6 sq mi)
Dampier Peninsula	1,051 (SAL 2021)[13]	4,898.4 km2 (1,891.3 sq mi)
Djugun	3,291 (SAL 2021)[14]	9.7 km2 (3.7 sq mi)
Eighty Mile Beach	120 (SAL 2021)[15]	9,001.3 km2 (3,475.4 sq mi)
Gingerah	0 (SAL 2021)[16]	26,484.6 km2 (10,225.8 sq mi)
Lagrange	634 (SAL 2021)[17]	3,228.1 km2 (1,246.4 sq mi)
Minyirr	76 (SAL 2021)[18]	13.1 km2 (5.1 sq mi)
Roebuck *	606 (SAL 2021)[19]	5,582.4 km2 (2,155.4 sq mi)
Waterbank *	110 (SAL 2021)[20]	6,634 km2 (2,561 sq mi)

• (* indicates locality is only partially located within this shire)

Indigenous communities

Indigenous communities in the Shire of Broome:

• Ardyaloon (One Arm Point/Bardi)
• Beagle Bay
• Bidyadanga
• Djarindjin (Lombadina)

Heritage-listed places

Main article: List of State Register of Heritage Places in the Shire of Broome

As of 2023, 144 places are heritage-listed in the Shire of Broome,^[21][N1] of which 51 are on the State Register of Heritage Places, among them the Sun Picture Gardens, Broome Cable House and Anglican Church of the Annunciation.^[22][N2]

Notes

• ^[N1] A search for Broome LGA returns 356 hits, of which 216 are for the Broomehill-Tambellup LGA, 144 for Broome LGA and one for Wyndham-East Kimberley LGA
• ^[N2] A search for Broome LGA returns 56 hits, of which five are for the Broomehill-Tambellup LGA and 51 for Broome LGA