The Shire of Hindmarsh is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the western part of the state. It covers an area of 7,527 square kilometres (2,906 sq mi) and in June 2018 had a population of 5,645, having fallen from 5,852 in June 2013.

It includes the towns of Dimboola, Nhill, Rainbow and Jeparit. It was formed in 1995 from the amalgamation of the Shire of Lowan and Shire of Dimboola.

The Shire is governed and administered by the Hindmarsh Shire Council; its seat of local government and administrative centre is located at the Council headquarters in Nhill, it also has service centres located in Dimboola, Rainbow and Jeparit. The Shire is named after the major geographical feature in the region, Lake Hindmarsh, (which in turn was named after John Hindmarsh) located in the east of the LGA.

Council

Current composition

The council is composed of three wards and six councillors, with two councillors per ward elected to represent each ward. The current councillors, in order of election at the 2020 election, are:

Ward	Party		Councillor	Notes
East		Independent	Debra Nelson	Mayor (2015-2017)
		Independent	Wendy Bywaters	Position vacant following 2020 election. By-election held December 2020.
North		Independent	Ron Ismay	Mayor (2017-2019, 2020-2021)
		Independent	Brett Ireland
West		Independent	Melanie Albrecht	Mayor (2021- )
		Independent	Rob Gersch	Mayor (2019-2020)

Administration and governance

The council meets in the council chambers at the council headquarters in the Nhill Municipal Offices, which is also the location of the council's administrative activities. It provides customer services at its administrative centre in Nhill, and its service centres in Dimboola, Jeparit, and Rainbow.

Townships and localities

The 2021 census, the shire had a population of 5,698 down from 5,721 in the 2016 census

^ - Territory divided with another LGA

See also

• List of places on the Victorian Heritage Register in the Shire of Hindmarsh