The Barwon South West is an economic rural region located in the southwestern part of Victoria, Australia. The Barwon South West region stretches from the tip of the Queenscliff Heads to the border of South Australia. It is home to Victoria’s largest provincial centre, Geelong and the major centres of Aireys Inlet, Apollo Bay, Camperdown, Colac, Hamilton, Lorne, Port Campbell, Port Fairy, Portland, Torquay and Warrnambool. It draws its name from the Barwon River and the geographic location of the region in the state of Victoria.

Comprising an area in excess of 40,000 square kilometres (15,000 sq mi) with approximately 360,000 residents as at the 2011 census, the Barwon South West region includes the Colac Otway, Corangamite, Glenelg, Greater Geelong, Moyne, Queenscliffe, Southern Grampians, Surf Coast and Warrnambool City local government areas and the Unincorporated area of Lady Julia Percy Island.

The Barwon South West region is located along the two major interstate transport corridors – the Princes Highway corridor and the Western Highway corridor. The region comprises two distinct and inter-connected sub-regions or districts: Greater Geelong and the Great South Coast. The region is bounded by Bass Strait and the Great Australian Bight in the south and southwest, the South Australian border in the west, the Grampians region in the north and the Greater Melbourne region in the east.

Administration

Political representation

For the purposes of Australian federal elections for the House of Representatives, the Barwon South West region is contained within all or part of the electoral divisions of Corangamite, Corio, and Wannon.

For the purposes of Victorian elections for the Legislative Assembly, the Barwon South West region is contained within all or part of the electoral districts of Bellarine, Geelong, Lara, Lowan, Polwarth, Ripon, South Barwon, and South-West Coast.

Local government areas

The region contains nine local government areas and one unincorporated area of Victoria, which are:

Hume region LGA populations

Local government area	Area		Population (2011 census)	Source(s)
	km	sq mi
Shire of Colac Otway	3,433	1,325	20,345
Shire of Corangamite	4,407	1,702	16,376
Shire of Glenelg	6,212	2,398	19,575
City of Greater Geelong	1,247	481	210,875
Shire of Moyne	5,478	2,115	15,955
Borough of Queenscliffe	36	14	3,000
Shire of Southern Grampians	6,652	2,568	16,359
Surf Coast Shire	1,560	600	25,870
City of Warrnambool	121	47	32,029
Totals	29,146	11,253	360,384

Environmental protection

The Barwon South West region contains the Brisbane Ranges, Cobboboonee, Great Otway, Lower Glenelg and Port Campbell national parks.

See also

• Geography of Victoria
• Regions of Victoria