Federal Australian territory in north-central Australia
Location of Northern Territory in AustraliaMap of local government areas in the Northern Territory as of 1 July 2014
The Northern Territory is a federal Australian territory in north-central Australia. It is the third largest Australian federal division with an area of 1,348,094.3 square kilometres (520,502 sq mi) but the least populous with 245,929 inhabitants as at June 2019.[1] The Northern Territory is divided administratively into 17 Local government areas (LGAs) generally known as Councils who are responsible for providing local government services.[2]
Area types
As of 1 July 2008, there were two classifications of local government in the Northern Territory:
Municipalities (predominantly inner-city suburban areas and smaller rural towns), of which there were five; and
Shires or Regions (predominantly rural or outer suburban areas), of which there were eleven shire councils.
The Northern Territory was unusual as a comparatively large share of the territory's population lived in unincorporated areas. In 2006, prior to the reorganisation of local government areas in the territory, 92 percent of the land area (1,237,999 km2 (477,994 sq mi) out of 1,349,130 km2 (520,900 sq mi)) with 16 percent of the population (30,523 out of 192,898), was unincorporated. This anomaly is due to the territory's very low population density, just 0.16 people per km2 (0.099 people per sq mi).[3]
Most of the unincorporated areas disappeared as a result of local government reform in 2008. The area remaining unincorporated is 19,790 km2 (7,640 sq mi), 1.47 percent of the total,[4][1] and contains 3.0 percent of the population in June 2019.[1]
By comparison, in the only other states or territories in Australia with unincorporated areas, only 0.02% of the population of New South Wales, 0.002% of Victoria's population and 0.6% of the population of South Australia, live in unincorporated areas.
Current local government areas
Former local government areas
Map of old local government areas in the Northern Territory prior 1 July 2008
Prior to 1 July 2008, local government areas in the Northern Territory were classified as either :
Community Government Councils of which 51 existed,
Incorporated Associations (Commonwealth) of which three existed,
Municipalities of which six existed and
Special Purpose Towns of which there is only one example.
Unincorporated Area: A contiguous 92 percent of the area did not belong to any local government area. The LGAs were enclaves within unincorporated territory.
^ a b c d"3218.0 – Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2018-19: Population Estimates by Local Government Area , 2018 to 2019". Australian Bureau of Statistics. 25 March 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2020. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2019.
^Northern Territory LGA History Archived 26 October 2004 at the Wayback Machine
^"Population of Northern Territory 2022". Retrieved 24 April 2022.
^"DLGH – Bushtel | Northern Region". Archived from the original on 11 July 2009. Retrieved 24 July 2009. and "DLGH – Bushtel | Alice Springs". Archived from the original on 11 July 2009. Retrieved 24 July 2009.
^"Regional population, 2021-22 financial year | Australian Bureau of Statistics". Australian Bureau of Statistics. 20 April 2023. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
